UNDERGRADUATE PAGE
American Opinion
By ANDREW HACKER (Queen's College, Oxford)
AS an American at Oxford I am getting rather tired of being considered an expert. I feel that I know as much about my own country as the average British undergraduate does about his. (How many Oxford students can say how many tons of wheat were cultivated in this country last year ; what were the causes for Ramsay MacDonald's defection from the Labour Party in 1931; and who is the Director of the Tate Gallery?) But it is not that one minds being considered an expert on all aspects of a country with 48 States, 150 million people and three-inch steaks on every table. The problem is really qualitatively different. As an informal "ambassador," in nine instances out of ten I can give no facts—only opinions. It is .true that I can assert, without hesitation, that there are 96 senators, and the President is elected every four years ; that the Civil War started in 1861, and the last two States were admitted in 1912; that the University of California until recently required its instructors to take a non-Communist oath, and the New York Yankees won the World Series. But I am seldom asked the questions to which these would be responses.
The enquiries are rather of the nature of: "What does America think about the Labour Party ? " Or: "Is MacArthur taken seriously by Americans ? " Or even: "What does the average American have in his household ? Two cars ? A colour television set ? A three-inch steak every night ? " It is questions such as these that bolster our egos. Often, when they are asked, we are alone with a group of Britishers. Then we can wax eloquent. When other Americans are present we are not so ebullient. But we can usually find occasion to declaim on what " America " thinks ; whether something in America is " taken " seriously (never saying exactly who is doing the " taking ") ; and what the "average American" has, thinks, does and will do. But, after such excursions in Americanmanship, our consciences often tend to bother us. Do we really, we ask ourselves, know what the "average American" thinks ? Or, for that matter, do we have any notion of this elusive creature ? Is he just a turn of phrase after all ?
I wish, then, that my British auditors would realise that I offer only 5pinions, my own opinions. And when I give " fads " they are based on my very limited experience—vicarious though *t may sometimes be. I wish that they would realise this, because I do not always do so myself. A short time ago I was with a group of British students who were discussing trade unions. American unions were brought into the conversation (not by myself). I had once been employed by Union X in America. That union followed a certain policy, and was very proud of its way of doing things. It criticised another American Union Y which followed a different policy. Because I thought that it was relevant to the discussion, I described Union Y's policy, and said that it was a bad way of doing things. And, lo and behold, another American (unbeknown to me) was present. He happened to be a member of Union Y. He was very annoyed with me. And rightly so. For I had described Union Y's policy as a " fact " - at least I had made it appear as one. And, after all, it was only an opinion that I held because .My own experience happened to have been with Union X. I was offering as fact an assertion the truth of which my compatriot would deny altogether. There was, of course, no fact in the matter. It was only because he was there that the subject could be transferred to the level of opinion.
I would submit, then, that much can be learned about the United States from the Americans here. They are intelligent and well-informed individuals. But they are holders more of points of view than of dispassionate and unbiased facts. For instance, isolationism (or the "New Isolationism" that applies to Europe, but -not to Asia) flourishes in America. These isolationists are not the sort of people who elect to spend a year or more 3,000 miles from home. It is contrary to their way of thinking. Indeed, the presence of an American in Britain shows that he is some- what internationalist in his outlook. This being the case, the Taft-MacArthur view-point does not get much of an airing here, Rather, Americans, by stating what their "countrymen are thinking" (i.e., the people with whom they have come in contact, and especially those who agree with them), are not giving the entire story. "American thinking" is not represented by the Fair Dealers, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Nation or even those who are outraged by McCarthyism. (Please note: I have given some opinions in this paragraph. Do not construe them as facts.) To bring this discussion closer home, I can add that over the past few years the American Medical Association has been porting British doctors to tell audiences the " facts " about the National Health Service. The A.M.A. wishes to prevent such legislation in the United States ; so it is obvious what kind of physicians it brings across the Atlantic. That they have given a biased '(and, I think, unfair) picture of the service is apparent to many who know Britain. Yet their weight has been felt in no small terms. While American students are not "imported," and certainly are not as vitriolic as these medical men, they can cause much the same effect in Britain. Let us also remember that much of the harm in international relations is brought about by one country's gathering a general impression of another through incomplete sources. If information comes only from a particular social class, then one will remain ignorant of what other sections in a community are thinking—which is, of course, the key to the way they will act in the future. Needless to say, Americans in Europe, while being internationally-minded, are mostly university graduates and consequently upper-middle- class in their general outlook. And—more necessary to say— America is not all upper-middle-class. (Note again: Another opinion.) I would admonish my countrymen to preface their remar1c4 by saying: "Well, I think the situation is thus and so . . ." or "I do not hold the view that most Americans do, but my opinion is . . ." And I would warn our British hosts to be aware that we are not walking encyclopaedias ; and even if some of us are (although I have yet to find one), they are opinionated compendiums and not factual ones. This stricture applies all the way from the visiting professors, through the humorous and persuasive orators in the Union, down to the lowly Fresher from across the water who offers enlightenment over a cup of coffee.
Much can be learned from us ; but the knowledge must be acquired carefully, judiciously and from a variety of sources.
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