Like much of humanity outside the United States — I’m Canadian — I’ve been spending far too much time following the American election campaign. Unlike most outsiders, however, I’ve also been travelling widely in the US, speaking with an array of audiences, and having conversations along the way.
As a foreigner following American news and social media, the United States I see is — no surprise to anyone paying attention — profoundly fractured. Americans are divided into camps that spend their days alternately shouting at each other and expressing bewilderment that the other side could possibly support such obvious madness.
They are stupid. They are ignorant. They are deluded. They mindlessly regurgitate the propaganda they are fed by their cynical mind-manipulating media and leaders.
But as a foreigner travelling the United States, the America I see is … pretty much the United States I’ve known and liked my whole life. As always, Americans are ridiculously friendly and will happily talk a stranger’s ear off about sports or the weather or any old thing. They work hard and put in long hours. They’ve got plans and ambitions. There’s a reason why the American economy remains the world’s largest and most dynamic, as it has been since the late 19 th century.