American Culture

[Mole]

There is no other country with a level of charitable giving that compares anywhere close to ours. It's estimated that US charitable giving is twice that of the next closet country. There is no other culture that supports volunteering of time and service at the level we do. It began with Benjamin Franklin's public library and volunteer fire fighters.

This is a self serving myth. As I understand it you are well down the list of per capita international aid donors.

And we have here a thriving civil society based on volunteering.

Why only the other day the, "Economist", published an international survey of countries that were supported by their people.

Top of the list was Australia followed by Canada and Finland. Down around the bottom was the USA.

 

[Oom]

This is a self serving myth. As I understand it you are well down the list of per capita international aid donors.

And we have here a thriving civil society based on volunteering.

Why only the other day the, "Economist", published an international survey of countries that were supported by their people.

Top of the list was Australia followed by Canada and Finland. Down around the bottom was the USA.

What does international aid donating and supporting your own country have to do with each other.

International aid donations are supporting other countries.

And the lack of support of our own country is because we've gotten so far away from our roots that a lot of us don't like what we've become.

 

[slant]

Second attempt at this debate.

Wait....Americans actually have a culture?

 

[Haphazard]

Second attempt at this debate.

Wait....Americans actually have a culture?

Yes! We do! Isn't that awesome?

 

[Mole]

And the lack of support of our own country is because we've gotten so far away from our roots that a lot of us don't like what we've become.

Your roots lie in Puritanism and your bourgeois revolution against the Crown in 1776.

Just as my roots lie in the Aristocratic Ascendancy and the English and Scottish Enlightenment.

Neither of us can escape our origins.

We can though come to understand them and develop them further.

So for short we can say your first job is to be a puritan revolutionary and my first job is to be an enlightened aristocrat.

And our second job is to find way a puritan and an aristocrat can work fruitfully together.

And already we have a good working relationship based on three treaties, a military treaty, a land treaty and an economic treaty.

Why not read them?

 

[slant]

I converted into Judiasm because I wanted culture, and now I find out I already had one?

Fuck. :/

 

[Mole]

I converted into Judiasm because I wanted culture, and now I find out I already had one?

Don't despair. Your country leads the West. And the West is based on three pillars - Ancient Greek Philosophy, Christianity and Judaism.

And Judaism is our older brother. So we expect you to look out for us.

 

[Kanamori]

Actually mental illness runs in my family and one of my sisters is schizoaffective. Psychiatric hospitals have saved her life on more than one occasion. Your opinion of the psychiatric community seems immature and pedestrian. Either that, or perhaps you suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder and therefore pathologically avoid all treatment. I highly doubt that you have any real experience with the phenomenon, however, because of your faulty comment about "dude" sticking things in people's arms, which is a Hollywood stereotype and realistically doesn't happen much anymore in real psychiatric hospitals. Schizophrenics also don't take lithium - that's bipolar disorder.

Yes, perhaps I have borderline personality disorder. I probably won't get a shrink over it anyway... Personal jabs aside, I won't disagree that they help people. My point was that they're not perfect institutions that only rehabilitate people. I don't know if your sister has been in a county psych ward, but it sure as shit isn't pretty how they force people to take meds that screw them up even more (I know that lithium isn't used to treat schizophrenia). I have a problem with them treating people against their own wishes and their over-eagerness to commit people to these hell holes. And I'm speaking from experience when I say they go for the tranqs more quickly than they should.

 

[Frank]

I'm curious about what people would define as uniquely "American" culture, independently of any particular region.

When I look at it and average out anything unusual between different regions and eras, the picture that appears is rather bland. I mostly see 18th century European enlightenment ideals modified by Protestantism, along with a mildly localized form of British traditions from that period. And lots of modern technology and "new age" ideas that seem to be permeating the globe thrown on top of it all. The flavor seems very generic, mostly all that you can tell is that we're a Western culture with a hint of diluted British and Protestant flavor.

One thing a lot of people cite is the idea of valuing the individual, freedom, equality, and democracy, but many of those things are from as far back as Greece or the Enlightenment. You might say that "Well, they were biased because they didn't apply those ideals to women and blacks," but to be honest, America didn't either at first. So clearly, this sort of thing is not uniquely an example of American culture, but is part of our shared heritage with the Western world at large.

So far, the only uniquely American idea I've found is the idea that we're a "melting pot," and not any kind of single, homogeneous group.

So, what else would you say applies to American culture as a whole, that isn't related to a specific region, and isn't shared with Western/European/English civilization as a whole? I find myself having trouble thinking of such qualities, except perhaps for the strong Protestant influence.

It's possible that I'm too close to the problem. Maybe people from outside the U.S. could help us note a few?

If I could pick one thing that defined the majority of Americans it is an almost obsessive interest in sports. I'm not sure if it is as prevalent in other cultures but if you stay up on your current sports knowledge you will always find a group of comrades in any setting.

 

[FDG]

If I could pick one thing that defined the majority of Americans it is an almost obsessive interest in sports. I'm not sure if it is as prevalent in other cultures but if you stay up on your current sports knowledge you will always find a group of comrades in any setting.

It's really common here in Italy too, for what's worth.

 

[compulsiverambler]

So, what else would you say applies to American culture as a whole, that isn't related to a specific region, and isn't shared with Western/European/English civilization as a whole? I find myself having trouble thinking of such qualities, except perhaps for the strong Protestant influence.

I can't think of any country I know much about for which the same couldn't be said. How many customs and social norms are completely unique to one country these days? American inventions such as fast food restaurants, rap and basketball have spread all over the world, especially the Western world, as happened with English culture in the not-so-distant past. That doesn't stop them being aspects of American culture. Just ask Rammstein. (Sorry if anyone's already predictably linked to that, I haven't read most of the thread...)

People sometimes think their area doesn't have a culture for the same reason they think it doesn't have an accent: it's shown as normal in many other contexts, as certain American accents are used as the USA's default or standard on TV, or as members of the English upper class all speak the same way where ever they were born. An accent is a set of pronunciation patterns, so being used in lots of contexts can't make it any less an accent. In the same way, if a group of intelligent beings form a society it's impossible for it to not have a culture, even if it turns out similarly to or is adopted widely by others. I say impossible because even if a society had an extremely individualistic attitude with no traditions or behavioural norms or common identity beyond that of the land and government it shared - that individualism too would be a cultural characteristic.

While it doesn't have to be unique to meet the definition of 'cultural', if you want something that doesn't seem to have caught on anywhere else there may be this. I'm not aware of any other country that routinely uses knives and forks in which US table manners apply, e.g. swapping the knife and fork over, cutting with the fork, putting the knife down for most of the meal. I imagine it never caught on because, unlike most aspects of US life, which seem to place convenience at the front and centre, it appears rather clumsy and inefficient.

 

[Oom]

Your roots lie in Puritanism and your bourgeois revolution against the Crown in 1776.

Just as my roots lie in the Aristocratic Ascendancy and the English and Scottish Enlightenment.

Neither of us can escape our origins.

We can though come to understand them and develop them further.

So for short we can say your first job is to be a puritan revolutionary and my first job is to be an enlightened aristocrat.

And our second job is to find way a puritan and an aristocrat can work fruitfully together.

And already we have a good working relationship based on three treaties, a military treaty, a land treaty and an economic treaty.

Why not read them?

I suppose I shouldn't have replied to your post Victor. I thought you would just dance around the question. Looks like I might've been right.

Interesting words, but they don't have to do with the context of my question.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

The amount of liberty we enjoy in this country is a defining characteristic of our culture. I would also argue that we are more individualistic than most other countries.

 

[compulsiverambler]

The amount of liberty we enjoy in this country is a defining characteristic of our culture. I would also argue that we are more individualistic than most other countries.

I'm not sure of that. Relatively speaking perhaps, compared with much of Asia and Africa, but in absolute terms it's Scandinavian culture that's long been defined by actual liberty, as opposed to lip-service to liberty. The same is true of tolerance, which has been mentioned a few times. There has been some trend-bucking from both sides in recent years but in general I think that's the difference.

 

[01011010]

Yes, aside from that whole crotch hair thing.

Well in Europe you can't travel 100 miles without hitting another country. Here in America, some people commute 100 miles to work. So geography plays a part. Also, English is de facto esperanto of the 21st century, so the need to learn foreign languages for English speakers is not that pressing... except maybe for those living in the Southwest USA, but they are getting pretty handy with Spanish.

Certainly.

Yet, the average European joe still uses more of a certain part of their brain than the average American. This is normal due to proximity as you said. However, is it really good enough for Americans to complete the bare minimum?

To stay on top, you must be just as bright and hungry as everyone else with the same aspirations. I don't see that kind of motivation here aside from smart immigrants. The general population acts so entitled. Like everything should be handed to them without any work. With globalization, learning the major languages can only be an asset for individuals interested in retaining or gaining upward mobility.

 

[compulsiverambler]

More: You don't care much for soccer, that's pretty unusual. Speedos are mainly worn at Gay Pride parades and swimming shorts aren't just worn by the insecure boys at the pool with rolls of flab to hide. You're the only majority Christian/secular country in which male genital mutilation is still at all common and certainly the only one in which parents consider it a health measure.

The 'bigger is better' philosophy is fairly unique as far as I can tell. Huge buildings, huge bridges, huge dams, huge cars, huge meals, huge people, huge everything. Even the Smart car is made bigger for the American market, and its unique selling point was supposed to be that it's small.

I've heard that condoms are bigger in the US too, but I've never compared. Anyone know?

 

[Edgar]

More: You don't care much for soccer, that's pretty unusual. Speedos are mainly worn at Gay Pride parades and swimming shorts aren't just worn by the insecure boys at the pool with rolls of flab to hide. You're the only majority Christian/secular country in which male genital mutilation is still at all common and certainly the only one in which parents consider it a health measure.

What do you have against non-Christian/religious countries?

 

[compulsiverambler]

What do you have against non-Christian/religious countries?

Every other country in which it's common is majority Muslim, Jewish or other circumcision-encouraging religion. Christianity is not such a religion and the USA is AFAIK unique in having most parents asking for it for reasons other than religious custom.

 

[Haphazard]

While it doesn't have to be unique to meet the definition of 'cultural', if you want something that doesn't seem to have caught on anywhere else there may be this. I'm not aware of any other country that routinely uses knives and forks in which US table manners apply, e.g. swapping the knife and fork over, cutting with the fork, putting the knife down for most of the meal. I imagine it never caught on because, unlike most aspects of US life, which seem to place convenience at the front and centre, it appears rather clumsy and inefficient.

Okay, wow. I spent my whole morning researching this, and I came up with five different answers, and I have no idea which one is the right one.

1. It's meant to slow down the eaters, like a QWERTY keyboard, by the constant switching of utensils, so people would remember to chew their food and talk to each other during mealtimes (it's debatable how successful this is, if this is the case)

2. Colonizing was dirty business, so the colonists adopted the Middle Eastern/Indian practice of reserving the right hand for eating and the left hand for the toilet (no idea how they would have known this, but eh), so mostly the right hand was used for eating in this method.

3. American colonists were so poor that families often only had one knife between them. By setting the knife down for most of the meal, it allowed everyone to have a turn with the knife. (This would explain the 'cutting with the side of the fork' thing Americans do that apparently no one else does, because you wouldn't take the family knife if you didn't have to, if it were true)

4. This way of eating is actually older, and the "European" style, always holding both utensils, came into fashion because of the French revolution/occupation/whatever. In the new style, you could see where the other person's hands were at all times, so you knew they weren't doing any treachery. Because this never happened in America, they never adopted the new style.

5. Probably the most convoluted one: England was the last of Europe to catch onto the whole fork idea, so when England began to colonize America, they knew about forks but they weren't in style yet, so Americans didn't use them until later. However, as forks became more popular in England, shipments of knives into America became duller, so Americans began to use spoons to steady their food while cutting it and then switching it back to the right hand because before these dull knives they would always wield the utensil with their right hands. (This would explain why this method is uniquely American if it were true, because pretty much nowhere else had this circumstance)

 

[nomadic]

Interesting observation.

All the non-American Chinese people I've encountered, say they come here to purchase their degrees. America to them, is a place where one can buy education.

generally speaking, degrees from america are still relatively valuable all over the globe.

from what i seen from other koreans, japanese, etc... is that their opinions of american universities are pretty aligned with PhD program rankings. bc the elite still consider an American PhD tops, and they see those rankings associated with their top professors, gov't officials, elite of the respective countries.