Bill Sykes' Newsletter from America.
(February 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
Second question: What is America really like.
I would be fool and charlatan to say that I could
describe America and its inhabitants in a few words, sentences,
or even paragraphs, as it would be a vast undertaking,
which I do not have the expertise or experience to do
the subject justice.
I will try however to give you thumb nail sketches of
the country and its people, as seen and experienced during
our 35 years of co-existence with the natives. Please
forgive me for any omissions, exaggerations, or misinterpretations.
America is a large and beautiful country, and to give
you an idea of its size, we are as close, (from our home
in southern California), to our daughter and her family
who reside in Maryland, as we would be if we were located
in London.
From the arctic beauty of the Alaskan wilderness to the
sunshine and beaches of California, the deserts of Nevada
and New Mexico, the rugged mountains of Utah, Colorado,
the breathless natural beauty of Montana, the Dakotas,
the Grand Canyon. The technological majesty of Boulder
Dam, the Carolinas, the great lakes, the glorious Autumn
colors of the North East and the Everglades of Florida,
to mention but a few of the geographical features that
set this country aside as a most desired place to live
in, or visit.
The many people who came from foreign lands and settled
this enormous country had to work hard in order to share
in its natural beauty and potential wealth. They became
an integral part of America and are to be congratulated
upon their contribution during the last two hundred years
to this diverse society, which has made leaps and bounds
in the fields of agriculture, technology, medicine and
the many other fields of endeavor which have benefited
the society we live in.
They built the great cities of America: Seattle, San
Diego, Miami, New York, Washington, Boston, and not forgetting
that somewhat garish but highly entertaining city of Las
Vegas. Please forgive me for only outlining a few of the
great cities of America. Obviously I will be hauled over
the coals for not giving a mention to some of the other
well known and historic cities that are an integral part
of America, but my only excuse is lack of time and space.
You must remember that I’m not writing a book on
the subject, just a fleeting glance into what I perceive
America to be.
The American people are generous to a fault but also
can be politically naive in their perception of the world
at large, which if they have not travelled very far beyond
these shores imagine and expect miniature replicas of
their own affluent world.
Now, before I go any further I must also show you the
other side of the coin, there is no Shangri La, and all
that glitters is not gold, so we have a degree of poverty
in the inner cities and upon the reservations upon which
the true Americans, the Native Indians, reside.
But the Native Indian population are beginning to see
a little prosperity which is being derived from the gambling
casinos being set up on their lands, but that is another
story which I will go into in a later news letter.
The American Indians may be minor partners in the financing
and set up of these establishments and may only receive
a small percentage of the profits, but it’s a beginning
in shall I say a form of reparation for their past treatment.
Then we come to the situation of the elderly of America.
You would think that a country as affluent as America
would take care of and revere its elderly before squandering
large sums of money abroad in its attempts to convert
the countries of this world into miniature versions of
their own image.
The elderly, who worked hard most of their life, are the
people who were instrumental in building the cornerstone
of this land, but unfortunately in many ways its the elderly
and infirm, (without substantial funds, adequate retirement
and medical benefits), who suffer the indignity of old
age poverty and are rapidly becoming the unwanted citizens
of this otherwise affluent society.
Don’t get me wrong, there are many American seniors
who prospered and saved for their retirement and are living
comfortable, active and enjoyable lives in retirement
communities scattered about the sunshine States.
Poverty of course in today’s world is relative,
and American poverty, (not withstanding the 1929 Depression
and the many years of semi-depravation afterwards), cannot
be related to the poverty that has been and is still being
experienced in Third World Countries.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents of these
newsletters. Please send all correspondence to bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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