Saturday, June 1, 2013

On Returning and America

So my semester here in Toulouse is winding down and I fly back to the United States tomorrow. My exams are done, my volunteer job is over, my goodbyes have been said and the suitcases are packed. Tomorrow I fly from Toulouse to Madrid, and then to Boston. It would be tedious for me to write out (and have you read) all my thoughts on being abroad, and I’m sure I’ll get the chance to talk to you about it in person in the near future. The bottom line is I’m glad I did it and I learned a lot – about myself, about France, about the French, and about the United States. I could go on and on about all the cultural similarities and differences.

La place du Capitole in Toulouse


I wanted to share some thoughts about something I learned in my class at Sciences-Po, Socio-histoire des idées politiques (Social history of political ideas). This isn’t really linked to being abroad, but it’s interesting nonetheless. We studied the three main types of political thought in the 19th and 20th century in France – traditionalism, liberalism, and socialism. In the day, the traditionalists (politically conservative) were losing power and influence because they were unable to appeal to the voting masses. Their ideas weren't keeping up with the modernization of the political theories, and their political attitudes did not mesh with the revolutionary, rights of man attitude of the modern political field. The French republicans (politically liberal) appealed to the voting masses with their calls for human rights, universal suffrage, and the like. The traditionalists fell by the wayside, and as time went on, more people gained the right and ability to vote, and those people tended to vote for the more liberal French republicans. Interestingly, this is exactly what you see now with the current American GOP: they aren't keeping up with the modernity of society and the progressiveness of the electorate, so they are losing influence and elections. As the electorate becomes bigger and more diverse, the Republicans (American) are struggling to maintain power, just like the 19th century French traditionalists. This is true political science – no matter where you look in history, you can see this repetition. It’s fascinating.

The Garonne River

Back to the subject of being abroad. Like I said earlier, I learned a lot about the United States from studying in France. I’ll explain some of my core takeaways from that learning experience. When we think of the faults of America – racism, gender inequality, homophobia – we sometimes think that they are the faults of only America. But being abroad has showed me that these ugly practices can be found in every country, and oftentimes in larger doses. Americans think of Europe as the liberal citadel of the world because you can smoke pot in Amsterdam and Spanish women regularly sunbathe topless on public beaches. It is true that you can find more progressive attitudes among Europeans in some areas, but that doesn’t mean progressivity is more prolific in Europe than in America. For example, only nine European countries recognize same-sex marriage (while twelve U.S. states do), and ten European countries constitutionally define marriage as only between one man and one woman. Women gained the right to vote in the U.S. in 1920 – female suffrage did not come to fruition in the Netherlands until 1922, in Spain until 1931, in France until 1945, in Italy until 1946, in Belgium until 1948, and in Switzerland until, shockingly, 1971. The French Parliament is made up of 19 percent women, to the U.S. Congress’s 18.3 percent. In the U.S. Congress, 96 of the 538 members (17.84 percent) are racial minorities; in the EU Parliament, 15 of the 736 members (2.04 percent) have an ethnic background. On average, the European woman makes 16.4 percent less than her male counterpart, while in America the disparity was 19 percent in 2010. So yes, there are areas in which we fall behind the Europeans, but as you can see these numbers are neither mind blowing nor cause to move out of the states and into the EU.

The point here is not to bash Europe or to nationalistically bellow about American supremacy, but instead to point out that our country is not as backward or behind as we northeast liberals tend to think. Every country experiences social and economic problems like America has, and we are not unique in our struggles with race relations, gender inequality, and sexual orientation discrimination (to name a few). I have loved living in France for the past five months – the food is wonderful, the history is rich, the streets are old, and the people have been more than welcoming. But I love my country even more, and these five months have showed me that the U.S. is my country, for better or for worse. We hear constantly American politicians rallying the troops with cries of American supremacy and the promise of a new American century. Sometimes we roll our eyes at what we consider to be pandering and false patriotism. But honestly, they’re right. America really is the country of opportunity and innovation, the land of the free and the home of the brave. In Europe, you get a sense of pessimism first, and optimism only if things work out. By that I mean the first reaction of Europeans is to consider that you will probably go wrong in whatever attempt you are making at that moment – think carefully, because chances are you’ll screw up, and you probably won’t be able to fix whatever it is you intend to fix. In America, our philosophy is the opposite – we always think we can, we always imagine ourselves in a place better than the last, and we are encouraged to constantly push our limits and became more creative and innovative than ever before. Think of Barack Obama’s entire 2008 campaign philosophy. For example, my family has a relative who lives in France and has a 17-year-old son who is looking forward to his college years. This relative hopes his son will go to college in the U.S. because that is where he sees the future and where he sees the opportunity for an individual to thrive and be creative. Yes, my vision of the American mantra may be a romanticized version of reality, but the sentiment remains all the same.

The Jardin des plantes in the middle of Toulouse


You probably think I’m crazy – “This privileged brat just spent five months living the good life in France and all he can talk about is how great America is and how much Europe sucks!” That’s not true at all. I think my sejour abroad has been deeply meaningful and incredibly important (never a slacker on the adjectives, am I). My interest and appreciation of European culture has grown, I became much more proficient in French, I saw more countries and cities in five months than I did in twenty years, I met many fabulous people and my palate has expanded more than I could have imagined (Roquefort anyone?) I am extraordinarily lucky to be able to do this (thanks to Dickinson) but the experience has also proved that I love America, and am more than happy to call it my home. Some people come away from their time abroad with the opposite view, and want nothing more than to shed their American identity for a chicer European one, and I applaud their decision – there are so many good things about Europe. But for me, I couldn’t be happier to return to the United States, to my family, to the way of life I love so much. See you on Sunday!