Next Article on Org >>SQ wrote:Did you ever notice how people from countries other than the US are more laid back, accepting, and more educated?
They are more laid back, IMO a reaction to the centuries of the rich guy sticking it to the poor guy. Accepting? I'd say it's more or less equal, Germany has their skinheads, France has their Sarkozy, not really sure what britain is discriminating against in particular. More educated? against who? The American public school system standard is pretty low on average, but there is a reason people come to our colleges.
Do you think this has to do with their cultures, beliefs and traditions? America has no real central belief or tradition, and its holidays have been overrun with commercial propaganda. While other countries may have similar problems with their holidays, they aren't near as "bad" as the USA's.
It's definitely culture, since it's the only general trend we can look at that contains everything your analyzing. People ARE individuals though. As far as Americans beliefs? Progress, bigger, better, faster, stronger and, despite the rampant calls of lazy fat idiots, I think our very status is a a example of otherwise. Our laziness? Please, if we no longer lead the way as the hardest working nation on earth per capita, this is because of technical innovation. Same thing with weight, sorry, we don't NEED to work the fields any more. If you truly want numbers I'll go ahead and look for them, but on general the average american ate MORE than they do now in the '50's. But they also had to work harder to accomplish the same things they do now. We now eat less and more sporadically. What goes into the food makes a big difference as well. How often do you go to the store? Once a week? How often do cultures who eat a lot of fresh food go? Once a day? A few times a week? As far as uneducated, well, I WILL look into actual numbers more, but let us not forget a entire population boom is about to retire, of course the replacement of educated people is going to be smaller than the number of engineering jobs, etc.
America has a much more business-like society where as, for example, in Italy it is customary to kiss and hug freely(as with many other cultures) upon meeting. Do you think America's lack of centralized focus in beliefs, as well as its emphasis on the individual rather than the group or family somehow ruins them or corrupts them?
I have often seen on other sites, people critisizing Americans. They say its citizens are so in need of a culture, they "steal" someone else's and use it as their own - hence why America has quite possibly the largest number of "weaboos"/"wapanese"/"otaku", as well as such a split-society in beliefs as a whole.
I'm sure I'm gonna piss off a few, and perhaps I'm talking out of my ass, but where else do you see 'counter-culture' as big as here? Of course, that alone fades, the rebel goes to work and raises a family. But with the corporatization of counter-culture and the growth of women in the work place, the traditional family values aren't there to be instilled. With so focus on capitalism, we have tons to spend around. And where do you go to spend it? Well, in a traditional culture, generally you buy what you need, and a few luxuries. You don't need the biggest bestest thing money can buy. But in corporate counter-culture, to be part of it you need that newest gizmo, so off you go to spend it on that iPod v2 only to realize 3 days later the iPod v3 has arisen on the shelves. It's self-feeding loop that has created the rampant consumerism we see today.
With The USA's emphasis on the individual rather than the group, they have seen decreases in any and possibly every sort of country-wide activity(voting, caring about the government, donations to NPOs and charities, community service). Do americans not care about what happens to their neighbors directly because of this?
I would not say directly, and I would certainly not use charitable measures to a broad somebody as a gauge, but I would say that there is a indirect relationship.
This board is full of the most intelligent people I know, and I would like your opinions on this "issue".
I'm sorry.
Ari: I wonder how much this is true in other countries as well though. To pick a country we bombed then helped put back together, there's a japense film, I want to say it was Akira, made shortly after the war, and this one man talks big about making a change, and fights through all the red tape to really make a difference and inspire everybody. But as soon as he's dead? They all go back to self interest. Now is that because their consumerism/capitalism is similar to ours? Or is that just the fact that, what country holds a grudge against those who don't act how they want, and holds it? Europeans come to mind, and with all the past kept very much alive in memory, look at how many wars they've fought over honor. Over being unable to forget the past and accept their fellows. I'd say the forgetful thing is as much good as bad.
Beo: We have a culture obviously, look how rampant it is IN THE WORLD. We very much so have a culture, however it's so different from all the others that some don't recognize it. Everyone here has brought their little piece to form a new whole of cultural identity. As far as hot dogs, just about anything you eat is legally sanctioned to be inpure in small amounts. And, gee, how many hotdogs do americans eat? How many are sick? To limit it more hurts producers and doesn't help the population. So who gives a flying fuck. I'd rather eat a hotdog than even fresh food in a third world country prepared right there. Gods knows what goes into THAT, but at least I know when I'm eating a hotdog it's safe. Right up till the minute it's imported from china or I try to eat it in one bite.
I'd also point that part of what we're living in is a epochal experiment, whether it's the shift from agrarian society to a technical one, or from the warfare state of empires to the welfare state that is a nation. Not to say there still isn't war in the world, but much of is isolated to the poorer nations who need the assistence of the first world nations in the form of stability and economic security. Don't send a MRE ration to the starving boy, give him a factory job producing efficiently what resources are available, or do what America should be doing and give him a fair chance at education.
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