The grey area

A friend of mine posed a question a few weeks ago and its been rattling around in my head since then. He simply wanted to know what exactly was "The American Dream"? My impression of what "The American Dream" is, goes a little something like this.

It's probably more of a romantic idea related to the early pioneers and settlers who shaped America when it was in its infancy. My idea of  "The American Dream", is about conquering the land, acquiring wealth, providing for your family and being able to do what you please to this end.

After a conversation with someone who I'd class as an average American family man, I discovered my idea of "The American Dream" isn't too far from his own, but with one key difference. He talked about being able to do what you wanted within reason. 

The "within reason" part is very important. It's knowing that, yes we can, but should we? With all its power, the "within reason" variable can have huge implications for a country of Americas stature. Maybe the grey area of ,"within reason" is why Americans can sometimes seem arrogant to the outside world. 

It reminds me of the words of that great 20th century philosopher know to many as, Spiderman.

"With great power comes great responsibility".

This picture was taken on the I 90, heading toward Rapid City. I think it's a great example of, yes we can, but should we?

It's not relevant to this post, I snapped it on a footpath. Enjoy!

Real motorsport?

NASCAR

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

Now as you can probably tell from the above picture I went to see NASCAR. I went along to the Kansas City Speedway, a 1.5 mile tri-oval race track. As a Formula 1 fan myself I was slightly sceptical that NASCAR was anything other than red-neck racing. A lot of average ability racing drivers turning left for around 3 hours. A place for people to go and get drunk when they feel the need to leave their trailer for the afternoon. Somewhere to push hot-dogs and other fast foods into their faces....

You get the idea?

How wrong was I!

I have been to watch Formula 1 before and to be honest it's better on television. You find a place around the race track which is usually rubbish because you've bought the cheapest ticket you could and that still cost you at least 150 pound. From your distinctly average corner you cant see much as you're still about half a mile from the race track. But you keep your chin up, as after all that's the English way.

Once the race is under way, you have no real clue as to whats going on. Not to worry you'll keep an eye on the progress of the race from one of three 32 inch LED televisions, these are positioned around the circuit at a height of 50 foot so they are no use to man nor beast. 

By this time its almost certainly raining, so as well as not knowing whats going on, you're freezing cold, soaked to the bone and your stiff upper lip has suddenly turned floppy. Time to head home. And they've saved the best for last.

As you and around half a dozen others attempt to leave the site, you suddenly realise what Chris Rea meant when he sang about "The Road to Hell". Investment in infrastructure is something we're not keen on in the UK, so the surrounding roads of Silverstone in Northamptonshire have not changed since Stirling Moss was himself participating in Formula 1 Grand Prixs.

It's at this point you realise you should have just watched it from the comfort of your own home!

In true British fashion I bought the cheapest seat in the house, now this put me right at the edge of the race track, around 10 metres away from 30 angry race cars travelling at nearly 200mph. From this distance you can actually feel the shock wave as they blast past, you can smell the primitive race engines and you can also taste the rubber as the cars slide and squirm their way around the oval. 

Over 100,000 people attended the race and this is where the oval track lay out starts to make a great deal of sense. From every view point round the track it's very easy to keep up with what's going on in the race but at the same time you don't feel detached from it.

With plenty of re-starts because of frequent collisions the racing is kept tight as the cars get continually bunched up. There are no tactics or team orders and as the cars are built like tanks, the drivers aren't scared to get up close and personal with each other. Mind you, if there was a major pile up I'm not sure that chicken wire fence would be much use and it would never pass a British Health and Safety inspection.

When 300 or so laps had passed and it was time to leave with the other 100,000 spectators,  there wasn't a single traffic queue. The Americans had obviously seen the potential for a motoring calamity and simply built big some bigger roads, what a novel idea.

So I am a NASCAR convert? Not exactly but I think I can now appreciate how the Americans have taken a race car format and literally made it fun for the whole family.

Communism, what has it ever done for me?

Ladies and gentlemen let me introduce you to 

Fontenelle Forest, more than 2000 acres of riparian

forest, prairies, swamp and other lands in preservation.

The Fontonelle Forest Association was founded in 1913 with a mission to preserve the woodlands of south Omaha, Nebraska along the Missouri river. This truly is an area of outstanding natural beauty, it's only open between 8am and 5pm and it costs 7 dollars per visit, now this got me thinking...

In the UK we have the National Trust which looks after Places of Historic Interest and Places of Natural Beauty. Entrance to our National Parks is free and hours of access are not limited to office hours. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act gives the general public the conditional right to walk in certain areas of English and Welsh countryside. 

The right to roam in England and Wales can be traced back to the Ramblers Association and  then on to the Communist inspired British Workers Sports Federation. This was the Federation that held a mass trespass of Kinder Scout, the highest point in the Peak District. 

The Federations communist inspiration drove them to fight for a classless and stateless social order structured upon common ownership, this was in direct conflict with the gentry system that owned most of the open spaces at the time.

In todays capitalist world where the gap between the haves, and have nots can seem like a gulf, maybe we could use a little communism again?

Hey fat kid!

Firstly, let me start with an apology. This blog is designed to be about my year in America and I took this picture at the Great Wall of China, but just stay with me for a minute theres going to be a tenuous link.

In case the above picture isn't clear, it says;

"This wall was built without American aid or loan from the world bank".

A few days ago, I heard a conversation loosely related to Americas foreign policy. To cut a long story short, someone had said with regards to the fighting in Afghanistan, "if they wanted to, they could have what we have" and I believe "they" referred to Taliban, etc...

An American commented on this by likening it to a fat spoilt kid, who said "hey everyone come see how good I am". 

That comment made me think of the above picture I took in China. Theres your tenuous link, hope you liked it.

The entire wall and its branches measures 13,171 miles, its main purpose was to protect the Chinese empire from incursions from Nomadic groups or Military forces.

Some cool images of what seemed to be graffiti daubed on the interior walls of a restaurant.

From what I've seen China and America share one key feature, they are both fiercely patriotic, maybe this is what makes them great nations?