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Having someone outside of the box analyze your problems is a technique that successful businesses often apply. I thought that it might be fun to use that tool to get a little political feedback from someone who is outside of the "American" box.
I have been friends with Ontario, Canada resident Lincoln Miller for over a decade. I am always surprised at how involved he is in politics, not only those of his own country, but worldwide politics. He seemed like the perfect person to answer a few political questions.
The Interview
Trish: If you could describe your perception of American politics in 3 words what would they be?
Lincoln: Petty.
Trish: Ouch! That's only one word.. Was your perception of American Politics different when Bill Clinton was in office?
Lincoln: Not necessarily. I thought Bill Clinton was an excellent leader who was fair and didn't fly off the handle when it came to foreign policy. The Republicans were constantly trying to get him out of office.
Trish: That seems to be the trend in our country... Do you feel like George W. Bush handled foreign relationships well?
Lincoln: In my opinion George Bush handled foreign relationships well for the first couple months after 9/11. He waited until there was evidence that Bin Laden was in Afghanistan before he attacked. However, getting embroiled in Iraq is where Bush went wrong. As a Canadian I'm offended that our troops are dying in Afghanistan while America fights in Iraq.
Trish: Do you feel like President Obama will be good for America? Do you feel like he will improve foreign relations?
Lincoln: I think Obama has already improved relations with other countries. Even if Obama can't do much with the economy his election was a boost to the morale of the world at a time it was desperately needed.
Trish: Comparing the United States to other nations, what do you feel like our strengths and weaknesses are?
Lincoln: I find America sometimes picks it's battles. For instance they would go to war against a small country like Iraq and do nothing about human rights violations in China. For strengths I feel the American Dream is something for immigrants can cling to when life is rough. For the most part, an immigrant leaving another country is going to a better place. I also feel America defends it's neighbors well. This might be a bit self serving but the Canadian North and Alaska needs to be defended.
Trish: Interesting answer... How do most Canadians (at least the ones you know.. lol..) feel about Americans?
Lincoln: If you asked a Canadian what they think you might be surprised at the answer. Some Canadians don't like Americans very much. I find it's like a family relationship. We complain about Americans alot but they would be the first to come to our aid and Vice Versa.
Trish: What changes do you think the U.S. government should make overall?
Lincoln: Perhaps getting rid of the electoral college and just going with the popular vote.
Trish: What do you think Canadian government does better than U.S. government?
Lincoln: I think having just a popular vote
Trish: How do you feel about America's two major political parties (Democrats and Republicans)?
Lincoln: I generally like both parties but it gets sickening when one president is doing a good job and the other side tries to discredit him/her.
Trish: I completely agree with you... Okay, final question. Do you feel like America is a democracy?
Lincoln: Yes I still feel America is a democracy though there are occasional problems.
Analyzing the results...
I was actually very surprised at how positive some of Lincoln's answers were, and I wondered if he was purposefully "nicing" his answers up to keep from offending me (it wouldn't have offended me if he would have had more negative answers though). Most of what he said are points that I agree with.
The one thing that bothers me is the comment that he made about China. I guess I feel that way because I don't want people to view the United States as a hypocritical nation, and I know that a lot of what we have done in the last 8 years has really hurt the way other countries see us (heck! it's hurt the way I see us too).
Conclusion
I think that it's important for us to abandon some of the pride that we have as a nation; it's time for us to be humble and accept that we haven't been the best worldwide neighbor. Hopefully, the next 4 years will be better ones for our relationship with the rest of the world.
