by Paul Macdonald

Created on: June 11, 2008

Britain has been fascinated by America and its World outlook for some time. It wants to see itself as a refined, less outrageous version of its portly older brother. Britain still believes it has a level of integrity, and stiff-upper-lip pretentiousness that sets it apart from the stereotypical, 300 pound Americans eating their fast food and driving their gas guzzling cadillacs.

The truth however, it that Britain longs to BE America in every shape and from.
From the TV we watch (Friends, Frasier, Everybody Loves Raymond) to the food we eat (McDonalds, KFC), everything represents an idealistic way of living. The fact of the matter is that if the rest of the world lived like Americans, we would need three planet Earths to sustain our existence. It is this scant regard for others that is slowing dripping it's way into every aspect of our day-to-day lives, and one that could ultimately lead to the destruction of us all.

The Iraq war is the prime example of this idea. Britain, regardless of whether they believed there to be WMD's or not, dared not distance itself from its greatest ally, no matter how misinformed their actions were to be. It is this wham-bam, act now, questions later attitude that has contributed to the most ineffective war effort since Vietnam. But to stand firm against America would be a blow against everything this country aspires to be. To the naked eye, the American dream blossoms from state to state.

In relative terms to our housing market, in the land of the free you can buy a house double the size. Jobs are better paid, and the obsession with celebrity is even more neurotic than our very own Heat magazine. On the flip side however, the side that is never discussed, is the horrendous health care program, their incessant wastage, and the fact they have perhaps the most incompetent leader in history.

The penultimate issue here is the one that sits most uneasy. Their obsession with oil has them even going such lengths to submit plans to start drilling through Alaskan snow to mine their black gold, to huge environmental devastation. Their diet, which is no small part has led to the most obese generation of British teenagers in recent memory, continues unabated, so much so that the parable of the 70 stones woman appears to be staple TV viewing.

This is not a slight against America, rather a slight against Britain for its desire to become the worlds second most wasteful nation

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