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Has the United States lost it sense of humor

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Has the United States lost it sense of humor

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What do Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Bill Burr and Dave Chappelle in common?

They all agree that the American audience has completely lost their sense of humour. Bill Maher did a piece lasting several minutes in which he explains a number of jokes to social justice warriors online. Jerry Seinfeld refuses to do any shows at colleges anymore because they take offence in pretty much anything he says. Bill Burr’s show is pretty much just saying stuff that is politically incorrect to say so you can imagine the backlash he got. And Dave Chappelle literally does an impression of the audience in which he calls them a bunch of bloodthirsty jackals.

It is easy to forget that this has not always been the case. The United States has always been the land of the free. Speaking your mind has been an American trademark from the 60 till a few years ago. Yet in today’s society, a man literally was forced to call a woman “Beautiful, witty and smart”. Why? Because he said Beautiful before he said witty and smart.

People seem to forget that you should not take a joke literally. A comedian always tries to dance on the line of what is acceptable to say. And in doing so, he or she often opens the way for a civilised debate about those topics. Comedians have a roll to play in out current society. So can we please stop harassing them for being funny??

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It has taken quite a long time, but it seems that finally formula 1 has taken its place in the hearts and minds of the American people. For years now the American petrol heads watched and supported Nascar. That sport where 50 or so cars drive in circles for hours. Sounds boring to you? Well I can’t blame you. It has been a mystery for years now for the European petrolheads. How can car enthusiasts watch Nascar in favour of Formula 1.

Of course, this has not been without reason. There have been formula 1 races in the United States in the past. Exciting ones as well, and for decades fans all over the world enjoyed the GP of the USA. That all came to an end with the races hosted at Indianapolis.

The annual Grand Prix moved to Indianapolis in 2000. And in theory it sounds like a great idea. Home of the Indy 500 and a Nascar race, it seemed the ideal staging ground for an exciting race. The reality was entirely different though. The Grand Prix was hosted at Indianapolis for 8 times, and not a single one of those races was exciting. One of them was memorable though, but for all the wrong reasons.

I am talking about the Grand Prix of 2005. After a horrible crash in the qualification 14 of the 20 cars decided not to start because of safety reasons. What followed was an disgrace. The remaining 6 cars started, but the differences between those 6 cars was so severe that it was nothing like a race at all. This was the beginning of the end. Sales dropped in the following years and after 2 years the Formula 1 left the United States.

Until  2012. At the brand new circuit in Austin Texas. And ever since, despite the fact that Hamilton won them all but 2, the races hosted there have been brilliant. Sales went up and viewers started to tune in more and more. Finally it seems, the American petrolhead are coming around to the ultimate form of motor racing.

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The Impeachment of Trump and why it scares me

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The Impeachment of Trump and why it scares me

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It might actually finally be happening these days. The impeachment of president Donald J. Trump. One can only imagine why it has taken so long to start the inquiry in the first place, considering the fact that the current president is a pathological liar and has no grasp on reality, but I suppose late is better than never.

The president of the United States actively using his power to get dirt on a political rival, and admitting such on National Television and realizing the transcript. That would be enough to end any career in politics. And yet, as we speak only 51% of the American people currently support the impeachment of Donald Trump.

Truth be told, that specific number, the notion that almost half of the American people still supports the president is scaring me more than the idea of Donald Trump in the white house. The reason why is quite simple. Trump is just a symptom of the real problem. The real problem is, and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, half of the American people.

The fact that the republican party has sold her soul to populism, the fact that ideals have become subservient to winning elections, that is what truly frightens me. I must admit, I’ve never really liked the republican party. I’ve always disagreed with their ideals and conservatism is something that has no value to me whatsoever.

But even so, even I had to admit they had certain ideals and believes they held on to. Sadly thought, those ideals seem to be a thing of the past. You can literally make a video of statements by high ranking politicians that have changed their idea’s 180 degrees during the presidency of Donald J. Trump. And somehow, despite all that, they have barely lost a vote. And that truly scares me.

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World War 2, and the shift in American foreign affairs

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World War 2, and the shift in American foreign affairs

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America as the policeman of the free world. You only need to look at the semi recent history with desert storm, the 2nd invasion of Iraq and the invasion of Afghanistan to understand what that means. The United States have the most powerful military in the world and they are not afraid to use that power to push their agenda globally. The United States have 6000 (!) military bases and at all time about 1.4 million troops abroad. It is almost impossible to imagine a time where the foreign policy of the United States resembled something like: “if it’s not here it’s not our problem”.

Yet this was the reality in the 1930’s. Fresh after World War 1, the United States was extremely hesitant to commit resources abroad. Even under the leadership of legendary president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president famous for his believe that the States should play a more prominent in global politics, the American people where extremely hesitant to commit any resources to it.

That all changed one faithful day, the 7th of December 1941 to be precise. That day president Roosevelt had the excuse he needed to show the world the might of the United States. Not only did the war provide the perfect boost to a struggling economy. It helped the United States to “produce” such an incredibly powerful military force that they managed to beat Japan and half of Germany simultaneous. It allowed the United States to influence the reincarnation of western Europe and established the United States as an absolute superpower in the modern age.