Just back from one of my trips over to Indiana and Chicago.
Several things strike me about the USA, apart from the cars and huge portions of food and real lemonade.
The first is how militarised the country seems. Its not a case of guns being everywhere (the only guns I see tend to be carried by the police, which in itself is unnerving) but things like special veterans number plates on cars an MIAPOW (Missing In Action, Prisoner of War) bumper stickers (probably people who have relatives who are in that MIAPOW). It all leads to me feeling that there is a significant military presence throughout the country, which I don't get in the UK.
In some ways this is no bad thing, veterans are accorded far more respect than they are in the UK, but it will sometimes go too far with the feeling of military service being good no matter what and a culture of militarism and gung-ho attitudes in some parts of society.
The other thing I noticed was the diversity. My fiancée is pretty much a libertarian in US terms and opposed to the reign of Bush and his abuses of power. In my time over there I've seen 'red-necks' and the 'christian right', 'white-trash', gangsta wannabe's and many of the mid-west american stereotypes.
Then there's the Poor Handmaids who my future mother-in-law works for, who are a liberal bunch of nuns and very friendly and caring people, counterpoised by the Bishop who is as conservative as the catholic church can get (we have a leaflet from him saying we're going to hell for being fornicators and corrupting the young).
Walking the streets of Chicago I saw a group campaigning to impeach Cheney.
One car I saw had a bumper sticker saying 'Guns don't shoot people, Dick Cheney does' (pro-gun anti-bush people?).
Most people are generally friendly 'ordinary' people. Many seem to be jerks when behind the wheel (nothing new there), some get offended if you refer to 'pop' instead of 'soda'. Some are loud, some quieter (none seem to be as quiet as me though). Some are health freaks, others massive slobs.
Most are christian of one stripe or another, but I saw several women wearing the hajib (something you wouldn't expect in bible-belt small town america, especially in today's climate).
Most people however are united by a feeling of Americanism, even if their conceptions of freedom differ hugely and their view of what's patriotic are often contradictory... (and many seem to be arm chair patriots)
Mostly its a lesson against stereotyping and a reminder of the diversity of all large societies in which everyone is in a minority of some sort.
The final thing I noticed was the amount of localism. Sometimes it seems to be taken to the extreme with 4 different police forces in one area (state, county, city and campus) but local politics seems very alive, with many different levels of politics plus communities. When we view the US we forget that each state has its own legislature, and then each county and each city has its own government (down to its own chamber of commerce) and even voting districts (known as townships) sometimes have their own councils.
Granted, there are many problems, in some areas this system falls apart and politics is still mainly the territory of the middle classes and there's the ever present power grabs by the federal government, but it gives us one instance of localism working.
All in all I find the US fascinating, there are many lessons it can teach us, both with how things can be done and how they shouldn't, as well as much which isn't particularly applicable to the UK. It has many different problems, and drawing direct correspondance with other countries must be cautioned against.
The most important thing I've learnt through my visits there is it highlights the short sightedness of the anti-americanism which sometimes seems so prevalent and it has given me another lesson in the futility of stereotypes.
