Self-righteous rantings

Published on September 9, 2007

The book under review is entitled "Why I Left America". To which the immediate riposte might be: Why should I care?

But the author is John Arnone of Yasothon, prolific writer to the two English-language Bangkok newspapers - 300 times by his own count - in which he offers his opinions on various and sundry topics, which provoke replies, which in turn provoke his replies to their replies. It seems a pastime ideal for someone with too much time on his hands, like those British colonial Colonel Blimps who passed their retirement years writing indignant dispatches to The Times. But regulars like Arnone keep the letters column lively.

His 175-page book was recently self-published after he failed to find a willing issuer in Thailand or the US. The text was written in 1999, six months after he settled in Thailand, with appropriate updates in bold type.

Arnone was born in 1941 and grew up in a tranquil time in America, to which he looks back with unabashed pride. His parents were the children of immigrants, father Italian, mother Polish. His father brought home the money as an auto mechanic and ruled the roost. One of five children, Arnone graduated from high school, served in the US Navy and, like many others, migrated from New York to California.

He first worked in magazine distribution until he was fired in a sex-discrimination case. Then he became the owner of a pornographic video store. He went through three bitter and costly divorces.

He moved to Thailand nine years ago and is happily married with two kids in Yasothon. Why he moved is the subject of his book: America is a thoroughly rotten place. Government, morals, economy, sexual mores, entertainment, family values, legal system and education - all are one big, festering swamp.

Arnone is no scholar and does not quote from books or cite statistics. What he does have are opinions and an awful lot of them. His book is a rant, a raging polemic, a towering jeremiad. His core beliefs are stated toward the end of his slender volume:

"White, European males built America. Not women and not minorities. White men did. And now you revile us and treat us with condescension, if not outright scorn. Women and minority comedians make fun of us openly and television shows portray us as boobs and buffoons.

"Sour grapes? Absolutely. It's like building a house and then having a horde of squatters descend on it, only to criticise the woodwork. Then after partying in it for months and not paying attention to maintenance, they want you to fix the leaks in the roof.

"So little by little, those of us who are still alive and free to do so are leaving the country to you. You have had it for some time now anyway. So far, all you've produced are drug addicts, dysfunctional children and a proliferation of psychiatrists, lawyers and lawsuits ..."

Political correctness is a concept foreign to John Arnone. And this is refreshing, though the aggrieved, whiny tone of the angry, white middle-aged male goes on for too long. He also doesn't like American healthcare, diet, consumer culture, anti-smoking laws, sports, television, movies, music and dancing, drugs, breathalysers, handicap parking, driving manners, corporations, special-interest groups, male-female relations, deadbeat dads and Christmas.

You wonder why he didn't just stay home and vote Republican, but Arnone is also against neo-con bozos and George W Bush's war in Iraq.

His thesis is that America's decline began with the civil-rights movement which led to forced bussing and job quotas and in turn to woman's liberation and gay rights - a culture of complaint in which everyone claims to be a victim, except for white guys like Arnone. "Additionally, all three movements that I have mentioned, having won battle after battle, have now mutated into nothing more than extortionist organisations looking for the edge," he writes.

He also doesn't like Middle Eastern immigrants because of their "exclusive religion".

But give him credit. He found salvation in Thailand. His Isaan wife runs a hairdressing salon and an orchid garden while he does the washing and ironing and takes care of the kids, who are being raised Thai.

" ... I never said Thailand was perfect. I said I like it. It's the best place I have ever seen for freedom, a sense of values, great weather and the general attitude of the people, not to mention the cost of living. But, most importantly, it is an everyday pleasure watching people treat each other in a civil manner. That alone is reason to defect."

He likes the care Thai people expend on children, the respect for their elders, the Buddhist ethos, the sense of fun and the close social relations in his village. And you can smoke in the bars.

James Eckardt's eighth book, "Singapore Girl", is on sale at Kinokuniya, Bookazine and Asia Books.