>Can't have tons of culture when the country is only 400 years old at
>most.
I would second that, as well as your observation that our 'cultural'
influence in the world revolves mainly around our movie industry.
It has been my feeling for a long time that what passes for American
culture is just 'Pop Culture' and the entertainment industry.
Culture stems from shared history and experience, and that which binds
people into a common system of values and behaviors - and it seems that in
America, television, movies and the inescapable crass advertising that
always accompanies it *is* that binding force.
Regional dialects are disappearing as people - especially the young - seek
to emulate the speech, appearance, and behavior of their favorite TV/movie
stars.
I'm afraid Hollywood and McDonald's *is* our culture.
>So that's pretty much uniform. And this uniformity prevents people
>from facing 'tons of culture'.
>
>As for the second point I mentioned, people having in general more
>interests in things, this is very flagrant with the percentage of
>Americans not caring what Bush has lead them to so far. Political
>chitchat in America often boils down to echoing something heard on
>TV. In Europe you at least get the feel that the individual has given
>some thought to the matter.
So true, and I would attribute this to our 'Hollywood' culture as well - it
teaches people to be passive consumers of information and material goods
and to conform to media-promoted images.
Thinking is actively discouraged - I learned this the hard way in college
and graduate school - especially by the rising would-be theocrats
All my friends from foreign countries were so much more open-minded and
willing to question things and consider alternative viewpoints.
They demonstrated an individualism which while supposedly the hallmark of
American society has all but disappeared.
- Maluvia
Received on Sun Mar 5 20:15:09 2006
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