Kerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10

Read an article (which, alas I cannot find) which made an interesting comparison between Australian and US attitudes towards success and history. History isn't quite the right word but... storytelling of events of recent history, perhaps. The US, he said, treats everything as a performance - it must be perfect, it must be shiny, it must be dramatic, it must be inspirational; it must be retold to highlight the glory of the heroes (and one must obfuscate or suppress those stories where there are no heroes). Australia, by contrast, is pragmatic in its stories; history is a source of lessons to remember, not legends to aspire to. Laugh at your failures (and remember what didn't work), play down your successes (because what worked is more important than who did it). That's why we remember and laugh at the Emu Wars; why we celebrate a defeat (Gallipoli), why we prefer down-to-earth effectiveness over polished prettiness.

Some of the anecdotes related... a guy who told of falling asleep on a country train, woke up to find he'd missed his stop by 300 kilometres, got off, bought some lunch, caught the next train back.

The American was expecting some dramatic punchline, and asked the Aussie "Why didn't you complain?"

The Aussie looked at him blankly. "It wasn't the train's fault I missed the stop."

This explains so much.

#Australia #USA #Culture #AustralianCulture

Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10
This is why the USA tells itself that it "saved everybody" by entering World War II late, while Australia remembers the Gallipoli campaign of World War I (and the stupidity of British Generals).
Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10
This is why... Americans do things like put on huge light displays for Christmas, because it is less about having fun, and more about putting your all into things that are important to you; or even things that aren't that important to you. Because you *ought* to take it *seriously*.
Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10

This is why... USAians and Australians really do not understand each other. Australians are put off by USAians boasting. USAians are irritated by Australians' slapdash "she'll be right mate" attitude.

Mutual confusion and annoyance ensue.

Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)

This is why... Hollywood tells stories where right is might -- because you are a Hero, you will win, and if you don't win, you aren't heroic.

Whereas Australia tells stories about quirky misfits who may or may not succeed.

Mar 10 at 12:01pmWeb
Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10

Australians tend to treat mistakes like bad weather: "it happens". The important thing is to fix it, and learn from it.

Wheras I'm now wondering if USAians are so used to framing things in terms of "heroes and villains" that, when mistakes happen, the important thing is to find someone to blame. Hence the surprise in the article about the Aussie not complaining when he missed his stop.

Show threadKerr Avonsen (she/her)Mar 10
I'm now wondering if one of the reasons why people never seem to learn from history is because history is written by the winners, and thus it is full of glorious victories rather than mistakes to learn from.