In 1835 Alexis de Tocqueville published the first of two volumes of what many consider to be a seminal work of political and sociological analysis, Democracy in America.
Sent by the French government in 1831 to analyze the American prison system, Tocqueville and his colleague Gustave de Beaumont used the mission as a pretext to study America as a whole. Tocqueville described American society with all its warts as well as its entrepreneurial and relatively egalitarian culture. While certainly not a book of high praise, it is undoubtedly a clear look at what America was in the early 19th Century that today is considered a classic.
Fast forward 195 years and it occurs to me that we are seeing a familiar and similar analysis play out on the very modern instruments of YouTube and TicToc. Coming to America to watch their countries' soccer teams play in the World Cup, tourists from 64 nations have invaded America's shores. And they have been stunned by what they have seen and experienced.
English soccer fans are being amazed by Texas barbecue. Watching them bite into a rib and seeing their eyes expand into saucer shapes and saying words such as “incredible” are fun. Norwegians who have been amazed by Waffle House's service, food, food portions, and reasonable prices. They are amazed that after anticipating needing $100 for the three of them to eat, receiving more food than they can eat, and walking out with $70 still in there pockets. The Frenchman amazed at free drink refills. Germans amazed at 60 fuel pumps, freshly-cooked brisket, walls of jerky, and souvenirs at Buc-ees. They exclaim that it isn't a gas station, it's a mall. Something many Southerners know and understand completely.
Seattle Times
German fans who were amazed by the Americans, who seeing that they were apparently stranded in Boston, offering the foreign strangers a free ride to their hotel. The South African stunned at watching women walk unafraid through a local park, and the total lack of walls, lights, and barbed wire around middle-class homes. The French being stunned by the overt patriotism at a game where the American team wasn't even playing. They watch red, white, blue smoke roll from the stadium roof and US Air Force jets fly overhead. And all their amazement at America's 250th Independence Day celebrations and all the flags hanging from homes everywhere. The amazement in the face of an Australian tasting Chic-fil-A for the first time. It's just fast food, isn't it?
Daily Mail
These are things all Americans take for granted.
Certainly, these videos lack the objectivity and underlying criticism of Tocqueville. But, at the same time it has become clear that these foreign soccer fans realize that the picture of America that has been fed to them by mass media has been mostly a lie. Many now understand why so many will risk their lives and their fortunes to come to America. Many have said that they would like to stay. They love the American heart, the kindness, the can-do attitude, and the freedom.
Certainly, America has its faults. All places and people do. But, the kindness, culture, wealth, and welcoming attitudes of Americans who embrace all that is right are here are on full display. It is who the majority of us are.
So, by all accounts, the World Cup will absolutely be a sports success and perhaps even a financial one. But, it is on the way to being, perhaps, a surprising cultural success anticipated by absolutely no one just a couple of months ago. The real success, though, is experiencing America through eyes of foreigners who were skeptical of their safety and the welcome they would receive when they left their homes. It reinforces the America half of its citizens love and believe in. And hopefully, it will help the other half to see what an incredible and amazing nation they actually live in.
