Drunk on Americana

I read an interesting editorial in today's paper regarding a recent report stating that Britian should consider raising the drinking age from 18 to 21...

"The latest expert report states that we should restrict drinking to over-21s, following the US model rather than the more mature European way where children grown up with a healthier attitude toward drinking. The reason that we have so many young people hooked on binge drinking is because our society has, for too long, followed the US model of culture, rather than looked to our close neighbors for inspiration, or indeed stayed true to our own long history. We have all but become the 51st state of America. It has become normal for us to have a daily dose of Yankee TV and films, a money-making obsession, long working hours, a shopping mall fixation, car dependence, infatuation with shallow US stars and violent rap music. We have replaced the British identity with a poor copy of the US one and are reaping the rewards with a disilluisioned and unhappy youth. Let's just hand Britian to George Bush and be done with it."

One of the things I've found most interesting about living here is to find out what stereotypes exist about Americans. For example, I've been told that I'm quieter, more polite and skinnier than most Americans. It wasn't until visiting London recently that I began to see what the British see. The American tourists were very easy to identify because they were often being loud and rude.

I have yet to meet anyone that thinks the US is a good place to live. Many people do like to visit and they love watching American TV shows and movies...but never has anyone said they'd actually like to live in the US, which I find fascinating.