The Long View

The U.S. government puts on a good face overseas. Americans themselves are another matter.

Any overseas trip offers the added benefit of a different perspective on the United States. That's true even when you visit a country that's not radically different from ours-such as Ireland, where I had the pleasure of traveling recently.

The U.S. government tends to take a beating overseas, especially in Europe, but from what I saw, it puts on a very good public face. The customs and immigration officials we encountered were particularly efficient and helpful. The Transportation Security Administration's workers make the best of a very difficult situation brought on by the policies they're required to enforce.

Think about this the next time you travel: Who do you have more difficulty with: the federal officials staffing the various checkpoints, or the private sector employees of the airlines? And do the actions of either of those groups begin to compare with the boorish behavior of some of your fellow passengers?

The low point of my trip was the last leg of the return voyage, in the cramped cabin of a small jet-liner flying from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National. After briskly making our way through customs and our second security check of the day, we boarded the aircraft. Immediately, we were treated to the incessant badgering of a fanatical flight attendant, who issued four separate lectures on the need to remain seated during the last 30 minutes of the 40-minute flight into Washington.

Once the plane was finally aloft, its inhabitants-many of them members of a delegation of South Africans headed to America's capital-were treated to a passenger's harangue on the evils of the Bush administration and congressional leaders. The GOP is "drunk with power," the traveler matter-of-factly proclaimed, with little in the way of factual argument to back up his contention that the very future of the country was at risk.

To me, it was a stark example of a phenomenon that becomes apparent on any trip to Europe: The history of the United States is so relatively short that we tend to blow current events-especially in the political realm-out of proportion. This has become particularly acute in the post-Sept. 11 world, when everybody is trying to figure out just who's to blame for that lingering sense of insecurity in the land. To put it more bluntly: We've become a nation of whiners, bent on finger-pointing and eager to put the worst possible face on our current situation. That's the face we present to the world-along with our cultural face, which is a nightmare of a different sort. (There's nothing like seeing an episode of Judge Judy on one of Ireland's small number of TV networks to make one want to bury one's face in one's hands.)

In Ireland, by contrast, they take the long view-the very long view. I had the pleasure of visiting the town of Trim, which is less than an hour outside ever-more-modern Dublin, but rooted in a far earlier age. A castle in the town, erected in 1173, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland, remains remarkably intact. (If you've seen the movie Braveheart, you're already familiar with the structure, as it played a prominent role in the film.) The Trim castle serves as a living reminder of the Irish experience of domination by outsiders. So does another of the town's historical landmarks, pointed out by our tour guide as we stood atop the castle's 400-foot wall-a statue honoring Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington.

Wellington was born in Ireland and attended school in Trim. But he gained fame as the British military leader who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, which makes it something of a surprise that a monument in his honor still stands. Many other statues of British leaders have been destroyed in the course of the seemingly never-ending disputes between Irish republicans and the British. As recently as 1966, a group of ex-Irish Republican Army members blew up a monument in Dublin to famed British admiral Horatio Nelson. Yet the Wellington memorial survives-"so far," our guide archly noted.

In one brief castle tour, we were treated to a theme of Irish history played out over more than eight centuries. Now that'll give you a sense of perspective.