Dear Dr K,
A recently conducted BBC opinion poll finds that people outside of the USA overwhelmingly support Barack Obama over Mitt Romney in the coming US presidential election. Why is it then that there seems to be no such overwhelming majority among Americans themselves? Is the rest of the world not perceiving something that only Americans are able to?
Mack Romama Dear Mack,
The election in question is already under way and the results will be revealed not long from now. At that time we will know just how close the race really was. What really bothers us is why this isn’t as obvious a decision for the Americans as it is for the rest of the world. However, we can also frame the question by asking why Obama seems to enjoy a much higher approval rating relative to his opponent in foreign countries than he does within his own.
These are my speculations in response to this question:
In order to communicate with the world at large, it is necessary for one’s message to carry a level of intelligence that will allow it to be acknowledged and taken seriously by the world. There are, of course, several kinds of intelligence — logical intelligence, emotional intelligence, fruit-based intelligence, and so on — but what I am referring to here is a kind of human intelligence. What I mean to say is that in order for your words to be appreciated by people across the world, they should appeal to certain universal values that are shared by humanity.
Now Obama’s ideals are of a much more universal, human nature than Romney’s. He doesn’t completely reject climate science as some kind of conspiracy theory. He seems to place the health and basic needs of citizens at a higher priority than the profit motives of American corporations or wealthy individuals. He seems to want to end wars rather than perpetuate them. Whether or not he has or will work effectively towards these ideals is another debate entirely, but these ideals themselves hold a greater appeal towards humanity at large than Romney’s ideals, which are pretty much the opposite of those I just listed.
But if Obama’s ideals are so universal, how come they don’t appeal to what seems like almost half of the American public? After all, if they are truly universal, there should be no reason why they aren’t favoured as strongly by Americans as they are by the rest of the world. The answer could be, to modify the opening lines of Anna Karenina, that all cultures’ human intelligence is essentially alike, while every culture is stupid in its own unique way. I’m sure if the BBC conducted similar polls about elections in other countries (and people around the world were informed enough to answer them), a pattern would emerge that reflected this. Just as the intelligent ideals of a healthy environment, free access to basic amenities and an effort to maintain peace have universal appeal, the rejection of climate science, the subservience of human interests to business interests, and the perpetuation of war, among others, seem to be uniquely American stupidities. While these are found in other parts of the world, none do it with as much gusto as the USA.
Other cultures, of course, have their own stupidities that they carry out with equal fervour. If I had to start listing all the unique stupidities of Indian governance, I would run out of space. And look, I already have.
Yours questionably,
Dr K