The Independent (UK)

30 June 2003

Fast food, alcohol and some welcome fighting talk

On east and west coasts, Americans are undergoing a rare, and endearing, moment of self-doubt

It's a shame that the British have become so anti-American, because the Americans themselves are going through a particularly likeable phase at the moment. Not all of them, of course: no doubt the rednecks are redder than ever, now that they've got themselves some Ay-rabs to push around. But on the east and west coasts, where the thinking folk live, Americans are going through a rare, and endearing, moment of self-doubt.

It's not just that the intellectual classes are deeply embarrassed by George Bush's imperialist adventures - although they undoubtedly are. On a recent trip to New York, I noticed that my American friends had developed a rueful, self-deprecating manner more usually associated with the British: their empire may be only a few months old, but already they are feeling the weight of colonial shame. The latest craze among Americans abroad is the "American apology T-shirt", on which is printed - in every official UN language - the motto: "I'm sorry my president's an idiot. I didn't vote for him."

But geopolitics is only part of the story. In all sorts of social and cultural matters, too, Americans seem to be tiring of their own excesses. Having pioneered some of the most regrettable social trends of the past century - fast food, political correctness, management jargon, health fascism - they are striving to undo the damage.

It was American management consultants, for instance, who visited the plague of corporate jargon upon the world, by convincing businessmen on both sides of the Atlantic that the way to appear thrusting and modern was to use phrases such as "envisioneer, "incentivise and "skill-set". The effect on the English language has been little short of tragic - but at least the guilty party is now trying to make it right. The US firm Deloitte Consulting recently announced that it was so sick of corporate gobbledegook that it had designed a special computer programme, the Bullfighter, to sift the "bull" out of company reports.

Meanwhile, in a ramshackle office in Denver, a 38-year-old journalist is attempting to undo America's joyless obsession with sobriety. Frank Rich is editor of the Modern Drunkard, a magazine that celebrates the creative benefits of alcoholic excess. This month's issue includes the features: "Let's Go Get Drunk in Eastern Europe" and "Drink Your Way to Fitness", as well as an account of an imaginary drinking match between Orson Welles and Dorothy Parker.

In a country where only tramps have wine with lunch, and a couple of beers in the evening can earn you an "intervention" from concerned friends, this is fighting talk. It's also a welcome respite for the many Americans who long to be a bit more normal - more European - about these things. The magazine now has a readership of 50,000 defiant tipplers, and is preparing to go global. "We're a successful reaction against uptight America," says Rich. "We're trying to convince Americans that there should be no guilt attached to being drunk. Look at Churchill. He was drinking all the way through the Second World War." He may have trouble convincing the AA evangelists, but we should at least applaud the effort.

For that's the great thing about Americans - at least they put up a fight. We Brits, by contrast, passively soak up the worst of American culture, and then hate the Americans for passing it on to us. Fast food is a case in point. Having invented it, invested it with national pride and eaten more of it than anyone would have thought possible, Americans are finally wising up to their mistake. Two swingeing polemics against the fast food industry - Fat Land by Greg Critser and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser - have topped the bestseller lists, and class action lawsuits are raining down on industry giants such as McDonald's and Oreos.

In Britain - where we are just a few inches short of a fat epidemic ourselves - apathy is the order of the day. We tut-tut at the heaving flesh-mountains on Jerry Springer or Ricki, while sinking ever-deeper into the sofa with our greasy ready-meals. A pop song extolling the virtues of fast food has just shot to the top of the British charts. Apparently based on a popular playground chant, the chorus runs: "A Pizza Hut, a Pizza Hut/Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut/McDonald's, McDonald's/You like it, you love it/You know you really want it."

I very much doubt that such a sorry piece of pap would make it anywhere near the US charts - partly because they have better pop to choose from over there, but mainly because Americans would be embarrassed by it. Unlike us, they are no longer resigned to everything bad about their culture. Americans may still come up with lots of bad ideas, but they are doing more than anyone (apart from the French) to resist them. And thank goodness they are - because where the Americans lead, sooner or later we lazy Brits will follow.

The author is editor of 'The Week'