Chapter 15

The English base of USA

The United States of America is actually, what may be described in technical terms as, Greater Great Britain. In other words, it is a natural geographical expansion of Britain.

The first effort to establish an English settlement in the New World may be traced to that of Sir. Humphrey Gilbert* in 1583. Since then, it has been a long journey of establishing an English nation. Though, the nation later asserted its independence from the Mother country, it essentially is an English nation. Also, it remains as a bastion of English systems and modes of communication. It is a place, where the rest of the world population can acquire English training, without having to barge into Britain.

The new generation in India, who like to exhibit their profound knowledge in world affairs, take the easy route by giving a dissertation on how different the US is from Britain.  The way they explain things, one would come up with an understanding that US is more like India, than like Britain. For, they compare both on the basis of formal institutions, which actually do not have any real-life similarity. Like, one can say, both India and US are democratic countries, while Britain is ruled by a Monarch.

Like all things, which can be delineated by shallow experts and very strange conclusions drawn, this also does not have anything to do with reality.

US escaped from being another Banana republic that exists to its south, by retaining its English character. The shallow experts harp on the difference between the British and American English. I may be permitted to say that there is not much difference between both. For, as a beginning to understand this issue, one may bear in mind that between Great Britain and US, there exists a big Ocean, and thousands of kilometres. Also, the US is a big country, much bigger than a big country like India.  And the most surprising thing is that there is only so little difference between the English in the different parts of America and also between this English and British English.

For, as an allegory, I can give you a better theme for contemplation. Kerala is only 600 Kilometres long, approximately. And its width would on the average be not much more than 150 Km. Yet, some 30 years back, the Malayalam spoken in various parts of Kerala, each one of them separated by a few hundred kilometres was so incomprehensible to the people of another region in Kerala, that I have been told at times that it is not Malayalam.

The English is same, with a small number of minor differences that can even be in the different dialects of the same language. And as such, the society it created is also similar. Yet, Britain being close to the European continent had come through the stage of Monarchy. This monarchy is not like the other Monarchies in the feudal language nations. For, the liberating force that is English, has equipped the common man to keep the Monarchy in tight leash. And in a world, where political stability of more than 100 years is a rare event, the British Monarchy has served with beautiful perseverance. It needs change; it can be better; yet, it would be wrong to measure it with the same measuring rod used to judge other Monarchies, like that of the Orient, Africa, or even of Europe.

America is a great nation, because it is Britain with ample space, and resources. Moreover, it was established with the immense British experience of Administration, Jurisprudence, and Technology. Moreover, the early history of the U.S.A is the history of the triumph of the British over all other colonialists, including the French and the Dutch. And for the early Americans who fought to establish their independence from Britain, their accomplishment is really a loss. For, now America is not a land owned by their descendents. For, it is more a land of the others who reach here, and get trained in British systems. Whether if they had a not fought for independence, would they have remained under the aegis of the Union Jack for long is a moot question. For, nations like Canada, Australia, New Zealand etc. still retain and revere their British connection. Though what would happen when these nations also become nations of immigrants cannot be said.

The reasons for which the Yankees fought for independence from Great Britain are, to say the least, very flimsy and possibly ludicrous. For, there was much, much worse exploitation of the citizenry going on in France and other nations, than anything that was imposed on the American states.

Yet, there were other items apart from the well-known causes that would have created animosity, at least at a later date. Like, for example, the British policy of protecting the Red Indians, and providing them with impenetrable reserves. This could really have sparked a lot of animosity among the locals. A similar situation is seen in the colonisation of India. Almost all the great British leaders who laid the foundation of British rule in India were persecuted in Britain, on the grounds that they had cheated and hurt the Indians. The list includes the great Robert Clive also, who is the indisputably real architect of the British rule in India. Robert Clive did bitterly complain that he couldn't make the Indian social situation comprehensible to the person at home in England.

Another thing, which would have, more or less, created a bitter struggle, was actually in the offing. And that was the passing of the Act for the Abolition of Slave Trade, by Queen Victoria. If nothing could have started the war with Britain, this act would have.

Because of the fact, that since both Britain, as well as the USA, does have English as their medium of thought and communication, there is a feeling of oneness among them. In fact, this is a common feature, among all English speaking nations, and even people. Yet, if the languages in these countries had not been English, then there would be a feeling of superiority complex, and the need to inflict inferiority on the other. In fact, I have seen many journalists in India, working overtime to create such a rift. This is not a surprise, for this is the way, the Indian languages work: to create problems in places, where there are none.

The general Indian newspaper and magazine writings try to give an impression that Britain is a non-entity, while America is a towering personality. Actually, this is a component of the Indian language program. For, here nothing can be seen as of equal dignity. One is big and the other is small. Actually, if Britain were not so economically strong, then the tendency to use the lower indicant words to Britain and the higher indicant word to USA would have been irresistible to the Indian Bosses. I have seen in Indian Newspapers, Magazines, and also in the TV channels, that when listing countries for some purpose, the USA is given at the top, then some countries like Japan, Germany, France, Russia, China, South Korea, with the name of India kept somewhere in between, and then last the name of Britain. In a way, this is a deliberate silent indoctrination of the people about the insignificance of Britain.

A few years ago, I saw in a newspaper the news that some University in India has stopped the teaching of British History as a subsidiary for MA English. Instead, only American History is to be taught. The sly psychology behind all these manipulations may be explained in a later stage. Yet, it may be stated here that all these sinister actions do have a very negative bearing. For, what is the purpose of becoming a Masters in English if one does not have any idea about the historical mood and experiences that created the great English literature?

When I went to the UAE, in 2002, and met one American lecturer there, who had migrated to the US, from the East Europe, and I had a brief talk with him on the subject matter that I am writing, he in reference to the British, lifted his leg as if in a pose of kicking and said We booted them. It was a bit of a disturbing statement made by a man who could in no manner claim any connection with the persons who defeated the British. For, the British were defeated by the people who came from Britain, and not from East Europe.

Now, what is America? It is fast becoming a country of immigrants, who get trained in British systems and manners of communication, in an on-the-job manner. All persons who live there, black, white, yellow or brown, get very good training at the cheapest possible manner. If I want to get this training for my somebody, I would have to spend a lot of money. Yet, the person who gets to America, accomplishes this free of cost. And these people need to be aware of how fortunate they are.

And again, I have been told that USA is the great melting pot of different cultures. The reading of this statement makes a different understanding to what is reality. USA is not a melting pot of different cultures; it is only the place where one can liberate one's native talents in an English language environment, away from the stinging repression of one's own native language. Think of Break dance, of famous Black singers, of Kung Fu, of Yoga, of Oriental systems of Meditation, of anything that has come out into the limelight after centuries of blind quest for liberation. Actually all English nations exist as the light at the end of the tunnel for all philosophies of human liberation, of sciences that still seek their first step, of talents that need the spring board of an un-intimidating social environment, and for all the genius that still lie unopened in the deep recesses of human intellect.

How does America or let us say the English living style affect the immigrants? There have been a lot of immigrants from the European continent. I can make a statement based on my understanding of the affect of language structure. If the languages of many a nation in Europe does contain any element of feudal structuring or even of any program that subdues the open hearted communication capacity of any person, then they, when they enter America, would exhibit a most boisterous delightfulness of the liberty in the air. There might even be a daily air of festivity for sometime, till the newness wears off. Yet, in some cases, the presence of parents, and other elder relatives would bring in a subduing of the peaks of the enjoyment. Yet, there would be a rare air of being a complete man, as compared to what they had lived like in their native land.

But, along with the air of liberty, that comes their way, many of them would have transferred the whole feudal social system into America. I personally think that Italian language is feudal to a great extend, and that the working of the Italian Mafia, of the 40's and beyond was really a running of the Italian feudal program in America.

The problem with all groups who come from feudal language nations is that they might tend to establish a sub-society, the existence of which would not be very discernable or tangible, to a person who does not know their language. It might feel funny, but the fact is that a group of persons speaking a different language from the majority community can actually exist in an entirely different mental frame, and social understanding, from the rest of the society. They usually turn out to be a community that operates in a closed, and vicious manner, trading and sharing many social, business, and financial secrets, all in the open in another language. In this sense, they can create a sense of insecurity and foreboding in the majority sections of the population. In many cases, a feeling that they have been taken for a ride or swindled, or even deceived, or perhaps, just taken for granted would come in the minds of persons who are the earlier natives of the land, and who had extended the newcomers all help to establish. But then, the newcomers who mingle only in English, and that too with all sections, without any prejudice would not give such issues.

Another thing about these newcomers is that though they live in the US, a major part of their personality would still be interacting with their fellowmen in their native lands. And any small gain in the new land, which may even have come as a result of the cooperation from the native population of America, would be displayed out in their native land as some sort of victory over the Americans, or Whites, or English etc., depending on what way their native population would be most impressed. In this regard, the man who interacts out in America would also have an ambivalent mental structure, wherein he would be seeking glory in front of his family and friends and foe, in his native land. This man's certain behavioural aspects, which are controlled by this emotion, may be disconcerting to the native population of America or of any other English nation.

It is like the Indian Curry* in England. It came from India, yet it would taste very different from the curry one finds in India. For, it has been changed to accommodate English tastes. Yet, the whole thing is very exotic to the English.

At least the first generation of immigrants would try to keep their children from the so-called vile influences of the English countries. A holier-than-thou attitude would be induced in the children. They would be made to systematically study, and gain marks and distinctions; yet at the end of the game, there would be feeling of loss; for the effects are different. In India, the parents would desperately want their children to be Engineers, Doctors, and Senior Bureaucrats etc. just for the prestige it gives in society and the consequent higher indicant words that come with it and the access of communication with the higher society it gives. But, in the English societies, unless one has a specific aptitude and affinity for a specific career, and along with the chance to make a good livelihood, there is no point in pursuing a line, which holds no interest. So, it is possible that the first generation immigrants would try to pressurise their children to become 'intellectual giants' in formal academic subjects. Yet, at the end, it may seem that they did miss out on much fun, and in the factor of social intelligence, they may require a different calibration.

The persons who I mean here can be anybody, Germans, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, South Koreans, Indians, and Pakistanis etc. And I do not mean that all of them would be of this quality. Many of them would have a genuine affection for English and its social affects. But the negative programs run mainly if these people come with families which do not speak English at home, or one of the spouse do not know English or if the elderly parents do not know English, or some of them insists on speaking in their native vernacular.

When these people form lobbies, and pressure groups, it is time for the resident citizens of the English nations to take notice and great care. They can greatly influence the government policies, without the people having any inkling of it. In this regard, it may be noted that America is still reeling under, from the after-affects of a great error in judgement it made in the post-Second World War period, caused by the shrewd manipulation of foreign policy by a section of people who historically belong to the Asian continent. This grave policy error has made many a pro-English person around the world desperately search for a pretext and justification to support the American foreign policy. I cannot be more elaborate about this theme.

In this regard, there is need to understand another thing about world governments. Many of them, who are having a feudal structure in their native language, are not running the show to give liberation and fulfilment to the majority of their people. Many of them are brutes, and their legal systems are just a mockery of what was envisaged in the British system of jurisprudence. And it is very much probable that no person from an English nation would bear to live under the social, bureaucratic and legal systems that prevail in these countries. It is only natural that at least some persons may dare to challenge the system, in their feeble manner. The terror that is leashed on them would never reach the newspaper headlines. Yet, their campaign would be defined as extremist propaganda, and their deeds of retort would be widely seen as act of terrorism. It is possible that in many of these nations, the government agencies would use Agent Provocateurs* who actually carry out act of wanton violence to malign the reputation of the anti-government campaigners. For, this factor has been visible even in small time political activities, in India.

Now, why do I bring this topic into a discussion on English? Well, just to say that it is better that the governments of the English nations, take a very neutral stand, or one which does not identify itself with the government in any dispute with its own population. For, it is also possible that both the factions are not in the right.