The Matter of America.

All day today my mind has been stuck in the same groove: the recent events involving white police officers and black men in Louisiana, Minnesota and Texas. Angle after angle, thought after thought, and warning after warning kept flowing in until the subject was becoming a veritable Mississippi Delta. It seemed I had accumulated enough thoughts to write a dozen blog posts, but then I decided:

1. What do I know, since I wasn’t there?

2. What right do I have to an opinion since I don’t live in America?

3. Who the hell gives a toss for my opinion anyway?

Then again, as a citizen of the free world which America claims to lead, I suppose I do have the right to offer an outsider’s perception as long as I keep it short.

I think my reaction to these events is typical of any thinking European; we are simply agog with astonishment that this kind of thing can happen in a so-called civilised western democracy. It seems, and has done for some time now, that the American psyche is on a knife edge and America needs to reinvent itself. I know there are plenty of Americans who are trying to do just that and I wish them well. And I hope I haven’t offended any of them with a very brief view from an outsider.