Re: American Culture -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

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Date Posted: 02:06:21 04/24/04 Sat
Author: mt. healthy mountaineer
Subject: Re: American Culture
In reply to: mvd 's message, "American Culture" on 09:27:25 04/20/04 Tue

MVD: Over-emphasis on sex and money. Fight for freedom. Worship entertainers. Eat out. Rock and roll all night, party every day. American Pride. Advertise, advertise, advertise. Emphasis on individuality. Emphasis on privacy. Trust in god. Pride in our power and military. Emphasis on individual rights. Patriotism. Work hard. Progress.

your description is so vague that it accurately describes nearly every English-speaking country on the planet and it describes most of Europe.(of course take out the word "American" and substitute appropriate names). A description that is that general really moves out of the realm of culture and starts to describe the larger areas of "Civilizations". You have a fairly accurate description of some of the cultural traits of Western Civilization, which is why most of us would be more comfortable living in Belgium rather than Japan.

When I was thinking of culture I am thinking of the whole set of behaviors (gestures, reactions to emotional trauma, etc) that comes with it. For example, I was on the Indiana University campus on Monday and while I was there a student tried to commit suicide by jumping out of the top floor of Ballantine Hall (he failed to kill himself, but that was not made clear until much later in the day). The reactions to this event were varied but I would put them in three broad cultural groups:

1. rich white kids and those that are wannabees (how could I tell? Clothes, accessories, the high quality of their cellphones, hairstyles, etc) - the females cried profusely and the males comforted them.

2. middle class white kids and the wannabees They stood around and looked concerned and tried to discretely find out what happened. Very calm but concerned.

3. the black students and wannabees They openly and loudly ridiculed the idea of killing yourself and when it became clear that he had not succeeded they ridiculed the fact that he had "failed at two things today." Lots of laughing.

Three groups of people with three different reactions to the exact same event. 3 different cultures.

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Replies:

Re: American Culture -- mvd, 19:23:04 04/24/04 Sat
- Re: American Culture -- mt. healthy mountaineer, 23:09:29 04/27/04 Tue