Improve your writing

Don’t Bother If You are Not American

Posted on March 31st, 2010 in Writing by zoeyclark
20

Some websites and online business opportunities’ being available for only people from a specific country is downright annoying.
You may have read a job ad, found that it is right for you and then realized it is only for Americans. Or Canadians.Or Brits. Well, most cases involce Americans.

Have you seen Edward Norton’s Pride and Glory? His father (played by Jon Voight) believes that the most important characteristic of being a cop is protecting each other. “We protect our own, Ray. That’s all I know.” He says this more than once. While watching your fellow cop’s back is a good idea on the street, it is quite annoying to keep doing it even when it doesn’t make sense- such as when an unethical activity is involved.

Well, while there is nothing unethical involved, some websites and online business opportunities’ being available for only people from a specific country is downright annoying.

You may have read a job ad, found that it is right for you and then realized it is only for Americans. Or Canadians.Or Brits. Well, most cases involce Americans “loving to work with Americans”,hence the title. I waited to see if this event was a seldom one. If there were only a couple of sites like these, I’d let it go.But it added up, even after I had already written a piece called How to Make Money Writing Online If you Are Not American. 

After all, we all write. And we need to “protect our own” universally. And if the issue is market research, then it even gets even more universal, isn’t it?Then whether English is your native language or not is supposed to carry less importance. Why? Because well, most of the world is leading a consumerist life. We all consume. New York Times Bestseller List of books are not just made for New Yorkers or Americans. And thank goodness for that. Because otherwise, international success would only be a myth and a lot of authors would have remained broke.

Read more in Writing
« Staying Motivated After The Initial Enthusiasm
Six Tips on How to Get Idea for Your Next Article »

I recently saw a job ad that requests book reviews. Sounds fun,. I love reading. What writer doesn’t? But then at the buttom there is a note that only writers from USA,Canada or UK can apply. Is about the location? What if I am a native speaker living in Italy? Or is it about the language? What if I live in the States but English is not my first my language? Or let’say it is a delivery cost problem. Right, because you can’t send the copyrighted material over the internet? Like I wouldn’t need to sign an agreement anyway….

This attitude is annoying. Sure, Americans might disagree but how would they feel when a great job requires only people from UK? What if you have a BA in English? What if you are an expert in the differences of American and British English? But it is not the qualifications that matter. It is the location. No. Wait. There is something wrong here, isn’t there?

Creativity, talent, discipline and hard-work are universal qualities and a good and relevant resume/writing samples should work for us everywhere. If we need to protect our own, let’s protect the craft and the concept of world wide web.

10
Liked it

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

| Subscribe to RSS Updates
20 Responses to “Don’t Bother If You are Not American”
Leave a Reply
Click the icon to the left to subscribe to Writinghood with your favorite RSS reader.
Search Writinghood
Loading
Popular Articles
Share Your Writing Tips
© 2009 Writinghood | About | Advertise | Contact | Submit an Article
Powered by