The American flag flies from a historic sailboat in the Maritime Museum of San Diego, 2018

On this day, 250 years ago, the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America was adopted. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate my American friends on this very special date. Long live America!

In the past, I’ve had a difficult relationship to the USA — as any European, especially a German, would have. On one hand, I’ve grown up with the almost mythical understanding of history, based on truth as much as propaganda, every German in my generation has grown up with: That the United States has saved my country, Germany, not once but twice. First, it saved us from ourselves in World War II. Then, it saved us from the evil Russian Empire, by cutting our country in half and separating us from our own capital city.

I don’t actually remember the Cold War, but I remember what growing up during it felt like. And I remember the elation that swept my country in 1989 / 1990, when the Berlin Wall finally fell. I remember how thankful Germans were to the Americans for our country’s reunification and I came of age in the boundless time of optimism that marked the obvious folly of the so-called End of History.

I’ve grown up wearing blue jeans and listening to Bruce Springsteen. I’ve watched American television shows all my life and, from Star Trek: The Next Generation to MacGyver to Sons of Anarchy, they’ve defined how I think about the world. Because of (mostly) American video games, which have become a life-long passion, I decided to learn English and later studied English Literature in university.

Yours truly in November 2018 on a road in Goodsprings, Nevada, that should be very familiar to anyone who has played “Fallout: New Vegas”

But I also studied history. And in doing so, I learned about the many callous wars the US has fought all over the planet, since becoming the de facto world hegemon after 1945. A brief period after 9/11 not withstanding, I have been constantly inundated, throughout my life, with the idea that “those stupid Americans“ are crazy. That Americans have no understanding of geography, but constantly mess around with the geopolitical situation and stupidly shoot each other at home — these are concepts that have been repeated ad nauseam throughout European culture and politics ever since I was old enough to take note of the public discourse.

At the core of European-American relations, looked at from the European (and especially the German) side, there is a peculiar dichotomy. On one hand there is an almost thoughtless subservience to American military might and culture. Germany, to this day, is basically an occupied country that has more US and British military power within its borders than its own. We celebrate US scientific and cultural achievements while constantly denigrating our own. The fact that I am writing this very blog post in English tells you a lot. Europeans have blindly hung on every word Presidents Clinton, Obama and Biden said. It was somewhat different with Bush Jr., but even there our leaders almost uniformly complied with every major US policy.

On the other hand, we think that Americans are stupid. They can’t find our countries on a map, they stole most of their food and culture from us and they seem to shoot off guns every two seconds with gusto we can’t even fathom. They like stupid, barbarous sports like football and cage fighting and they seem to keep dragging us into the dumbest wars nobody needs. Starting with Bush Jr., but really with Trump, we are now also convinced that American heads of state are idiots. On the one hand, Europeans despise Americans, on the other, we always buy their shit and do what they say when it comes down to it. This is a really weird love / hate relationship!

I used to fall for most of the anti-American prejudices until well into my thirties. What can I say, your upbringing is a very hard, almost impossible, thing to shake. These days, I’d like to think I am much more open-minded than your average European. I’ve come to properly love the US, in fact. Sure, the country has its problems. But which country hasn’t? We Germans shouldn’t go around judging. Even forgetting our recent history, we have enough troubles at home, right now, as it is.

In recent years, I’ve kindled a quiet admiration for the US and I even find myself defending it, and its policies, to other Europeans quite regularly. This change of mind mostly happened because of all the Americans I have interacted with over social media over the last few decades. Some of which have become my friends. I have talked to, and in some instances even met, many very decent folks from America. In the last few years, I’ve listened to a lot of American country music. Having come of age partly in Australia, I’ve been a fan of country music all of my adult life, but lately the American style has become especially endearing to me. I feel that, in many ways, it has become the modern version of punk.

A view right from the “Bosch” novels: the panorama at Laurel Canyon Boulevard in the Hollywood Hills at night

I’ve watched Bosch and Yellowstone, fell in love with its characters, and have started to see the country through another lens. Actually learning to shoot helped me properly understand guns and becoming a UFC fan gave me a new appreciation for American sports. But what I most admire about the USA is the country’s unwavering commitment to personal freedoms and especially to the freedom of speech. Its unique place in history has created a culture that holds these values much dearer than any European ever did. And since, for one reason or another — maybe due to all the US cultural products I absorbed all throughout my life that must just have worked better on me than on the average European — I value personal freedom, justice (as opposed to blindly following the law) and, obviously, freedom of speech, enormously myself, I cannot help but look jealously across the pond at places like Texas or Montana. Here in Europe, these values seem to be very much in decline and our democratic process, helped studiously along by the bureaucrats in Brussel, seems to be wilting.

I feel that, as Europeans, on this very special anniversary of the United States of America, we should look to the US with open hearts and open minds. No, the USA are not perfect. But we can nonetheless learn a lot from this very special country. And if we look deep within ourselves, we know this already. Why else would we take so much of our cultural inspiration from America? We love their TV shows, movies, music and fashion. They lead what we see as progress in science, technology and even most political trends. Let’s face it: As much as we bitch about the Americans, we love them dearly. Let’s be honest to ourselves and embrace them on this 250^th anniversary of their great country!

🎵 YouTube: Sierra Ferrell – American Dreaming

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