Virtually no Hillary signs

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Sep 22, 2016 at 09:20

HI, Moh

"I was talking about where you and people like you would fit in to the bell curve of 'average' Americans (whatever that might mean)."

Moh, I am:

1. White, like 77% of Americans

2. Male, like half of Americans

3. English-speaking, like over 90% of Americans

4. Have college degree, like 44% of Americans over 25; though my Master's degree puts me more on the upper side of the "curve"

5. I am somewhat more educated and well-off than the average American -- "upper middle class", and borderline "thriving", which is to say, around the edge of the middle 50%

6. Religion: Christian, like 83% of Americans.

7. Ancestry: A mix of British and European, with some Native American and Jewish. I have ancestors who have lived here for thousands of years, ancestors who came over on the Mayflower, and ancestors who came on the Great Migration through Ellis Island. It is impossible, to be more "average American" than that

8. Dialect: Great Lakes, which used to be the Radio and TV standard

9. Sexual preference: heterosexual, like 96% of Americans

10. Married, like half of Americans OVER 16. For men over 65, the figure is 72%

Honestly, Moh. There is no "average" American; but I am certainly a typical senior citizen here. Even so, I am closer overall to an average American male, than those depicted on television. Hardly any Americans are "gay", though every major TV series has prominent homosexual characters. Most Americans are not fornicators and adulterers; though these are the main activities, it seems, of our TV "representatives". Most Americans do not live in houses that are big enough to be camera sets. By far, the average American is not an immigrant, or a black. The vast majority do not live in New York, Miami, Los Angeles or Hawaii. We don't break-dance to heavy-metal music. Most importantly, we have not backed any of the candidates for President that the odds-makers have been predicting, big money has been funding, insider politicians have been backing and newscasters have been praising for the past year. If there is a "bell curve", only one thing is for certain: the people presenting "America" to the rest of the world are NOT on it.

You went on,

"Are you saying saying you would have been disappointed with Australia had you been exposed to the media's fantasy portrayal of Australia?"

What I knew about Australia, was that it had a climate much like America's, that its population was largely English, Irish and Scottish, much like America's, that they spoke English, and that they were largely descendants of settlers, as are we. I didn't learn that from the media; I looked it up in the World Almanac and Book of Facts. The media gave me the TV series "Whiplash" (about Cobb & Co.), and pictures of shapely young women in swimsuits on Bondi Beach.

What I found, was largely what I had read in the almanac: Aussies did not travel in Cobb & Co. stagecoaches; they bought foot-long hot dogs from Cobb & Co.; but my daily fare there was lamb, lamb, lamb, lamb and custard pudding, custard pudding, custard pudding and custard pudding -- always served with mashed potatoes and vegetables, exactly as my mum used to serve. Yes, there were some good-looking girls on the beach; but we only went to Bondi once. The rest of the time, I was either working or too broke to go to the beach. There were some differences, but what I experienced of Australia was far more like the US than like the TV shows and travel adverts.

I think that if you came to live in the US for a year, you would find much the same here that I found there. Oh, we have Douglas firs and redwoods here, and not too many eucalyptus; but you wouldn't feel like you had landed on Mars. We have rhodies and roses here; and the Coast Ranges don't look all that different from the Blue Mountains. Speak slowly around here, and most people would understand you. We've got hippies and cowboys here; but most people dress pretty much like you do.

Some things you are very UNLIKELY to find here are: cops shooting black people, race riots, lunatic Trump supporters, drooling from their lips, Muslims getting beaten up (There are hardly any Muslims here), Jews collecting tolls from unsuspecting travelers, and otherwise plotting world domination, Mexicans being hounded by border patrol agents who have been worked into a frenzy by Trump speeches.

One thing you MIGHT notice in the liberal college town I live in, is not too few Trump signs, plenty of Bernie signs, and virtually no Hillary signs.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".