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    America's Old Social Network: the Bumper Sticker Dialogue
    America's Old Social Network: the Bumper Sticker Dialogue
    America's Old Social Network: the Bumper Sticker Dialogue
    Ebook151 pages43 minutes

    America's Old Social Network: the Bumper Sticker Dialogue

    By Alan Rose

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    About this ebook

    The U.S.A. is a society that reveals its soul with messages delivered by automobiles.
    The cultural aspects of the United States that Americans transmit through their bumper stickers are clearer and more direct than the representation of this culture disseminated through the filter of the media. We see the raw instincts of the American psyche, a fresh and honest openness untrammeled by political correctness. They offer an insight into the diverse areas of a society that clings to the belief in a “freedom of expression” that many would consider far too absolute and even irresponsible. The stickers demonstrate one of the distinctive features of American culture: the almost total lack of discretion. Americans are not known for their subtlety or sensitivity, but rather for their directness, openness and often their naïveté. This can be attractive and seductive to foreigners, but is, at times, difficult to suffer. The bumper sticker conversation presents all of these aspects and the observer reacts alternatively by laughing and crying.
    Car owners want everyone to know what they think. On occasion, this is interesting and concerns major political and social questions. Sometimes, it is of little interest and resembles some of the twitter and Facebook messages currently in vogue. One bumper sticker comment may provoke a response, which in turn encourages another statement, all of which creates a dialogue that is not always evident to those unfamiliar with American society. The dialogue stretches across 3000 miles from coast to coast, and concerns local, regional and national interests. The strength of this book is to focus on a rather unique American tradition that is little known abroad and which opens the reader to a new discussion of American values.
    Much of the dialogue is political, and since political debate in the Unites States often revolves around the questions of religion, abortion, guns and patriotism, many of the more interesting bumper stickers mirror those concerns. There is also a comic undercurrent to the sticker dialogue, giving readers an insight into the lighter side of automobile conversation.
    The book illustrates a very American phenomenon, but the author brings to that a varied international perspective. Alan Rose grew up in England, married a Frenchwoman and has spent the last 40 years in the United States. This positions him well to give the reader an interesting view of American society. He does this with comments that briefly situate the context and the social and political background behind the sticker picture, and he does this with a generous dose of British/cockney humor.
    The book is divided into 12 chapters, each with a theme to which the photos of the bumper stickers speak.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlan Rose
    Release dateMar 12, 2018
    ISBN9781370951314
    America's Old Social Network: the Bumper Sticker Dialogue
    Author

    Alan Rose

    Born 1939 in London, England. Worked in the garment industry manufacturing sector from 1956 to 1963. Emigrated to the USA in 1963 spent one year at a shirt manufacturing plant in Tennessee. Attended Middle Tennessee State University for freshman year on a tennis scholarship 1964-5, and then the University of the South at Sewanee,Tennessee where in 1968 graduated Magna Cum Laude in French. Awarded a fellowship at Lancaster University,UK and received a PhD in French studies from Lancaster 1975. Published "Surrealism and Communism:The Early Years" in 1991. MBA University of Idaho 1988. Associate Professor French at University of Idaho 1969-99. Associate Faculty Universite de Savoie, France 1989-90. Professeur Associe, Ecole Superieure de Commerce,Chambery,France 1988-99 . National representative,American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO, 1975-6. Player-coach University of Idaho soccer club 1970-2. Avid soccer fan and supporter of Leyton Orient FC,London,England. Married to a French woman, two sons.

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      Book preview

      America's Old Social Network - Alan Rose

      INTRODUCTION

      Do we really care about preserving our privacy in the USA? Talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh scream about the government stealing our secrets and following us in our most intimate lives. Every breakdown in computer security has us all in a tizzy. Does someone know my insurance policy number? The feds have information on my shoes size! The media feeds our paranoia by emphasizing how twitter and face book are further reducing our intimate secrets. The latest scandals involving Wiki Leaks, and then Edward Snowden further ignite the debate.

      It is as though we are a people who really do value our inner thoughts and shun sharing with others. All this is absolutely untrue. Whilst the English are reserved, and the French discrete, American culture is open, extrovert, and brazenly so. Indeed, it would be hard to fit the word discretion into American culture. Nuance is not in evidence. We don’t want to suggest things; we want to make darn sure you have understood what we are saying. We don’t care much for French cuisine with its fancy subtleties and suggestions, we just want big chunks of meat and we don’t want to have to guess what is. Give it to us straight, and the bigger the better.

      We are however, a very friendly people and smile for no reason, a habit that tends to really confuse foreigners. Remember how difficult the French found it to staff Disneyland Europe and find people willing to smile blankly into the wild blue yonder? Well, we are really good at that. It is very pleasant to live in a country where people smile a lot, unlike in France where on rale tout le temps (they complain all the time) also, very often, for no good reason. Those of you who have visited the USA probably remember how pleasantly surprised you were when the shop assistant made you feel how happy he was to wait on you, and how important it was for you to buy something in his store. This may not be quite so true in New York, but then you need to see the real America! After living in provincial America, French and British shop assistants seem very sad, and lacking in the I am happy category. They don’t seem to care if I have a nice day. Bosses in those two countries would do well to include superficial greeting and smiling training for their employees.

      It is agreeable to be with people who think they are the best at everything, no matter how much evidence there is to the contrary. The best example of this is surely the health care system. The majority of Americans really believe they have the best health system in the world. They really do!

      This openness, and this desire to share, and let you know where we stand, are evident in our own brand of social media, our precursor to Twitter and Face Book: our automobile bumper stickers. To participate, one needs neither computer literacy, nor the technical knowledge we envy in our grandchildren. You won’t be surprised that we have discovered yet one more way to place the car at the heart of our being. We do just about everything else with our cars; why not use them as the vehicle for a cultural debate that explores the important political and social questions of our society. This car conversation shares with the new social media a good deal of elementary and childish communication. Of more interest, however, it reveals a more complex and interesting face of American culture: one that is honest, unfettered, and sometimes brutally and uncomfortably frank. It is a phenomenon that has received very little attention, hence this book.

      The first example, though flamboyant, is actually more of a caricature, because the sheer quantity of messages clutters any major idea that the owner would want to share. Typically, the message is singular, and specific, and pointed at a precise target.

      WHAT OR WHOM DO YOU LOVE?

      The simplest, and least interesting stickers provide a parallel to a tweeter informing us what he had for breakfast! It‘s very nice if you love your dad, your dog, or Ecuador, but am I really that interested?

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