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Am I alone in finding American culture rather vulgar and distasteful?

Just the way American people behave as if they are the centre of the world and the rest of the world is here to serve them. They seem unable to achieve anything with a sense of modesty, grace or class.

Americans' by and large seem to think their country and system is superior. That free market capitalism is the way forward and any country which opposes or questions their ideology is either marginalised or blown up. So obnoxious and ignorant.

Despite America having some of the highest GDP in the world, they have some of the most unequal societies, lowest levels of happiness and just generally a disgustingly vulgar culture where people live in gated communities, ignorant to the world around them and how a successful modern society can function.

Mother Theresa on the US

"This is the poorest place I have ever been"

She was not referring to material wealth here.

Compare the US to say Switzerland, Germany or the Scandinavian countries which also have vast wealth but choose to invest on society and base their culture on good social relations, unity and objectivity.

The problem is that for some reason the American system seems to be rapidly infecting the UK and needs to be stopped.

Instead of Cameron vetoeing the EU, he should break free of America.

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Reply 1
I have never agreed with a post more than this one.
I think the United States is a vastly moral-less country with no faith in it's people and it's disgustingly stuck back in time and out dated.
I despise their gun laws, the involvement of corporations within government, their views towards homosexuality and their despicable healthcare system.
Of course, I'm just talking about the government and the system, not all Americans and some nations are no better (the UK in some senses) but the USA is definitely a threat to the world with its exportation of its New Right capitalism and a threat to humankind.
I have some serious problems with American politics and religion, but I think you've generalised a little bit.

I'm sure there are some very good aspects of American culture.

I just don't know what they are.
Reply 3
I'll side with the Americans this time.

You're inappropriately swapping 'American Government' with 'American people'.
Their government believes that their country and system is superiour. Their government marginalises and blows up other countries. The people can only gamble on what the government does every 4 years, which usually fails and ends up not being what they expected.

Most Americans don't care about international affairs and just get on with their own little circle of life, even if they are dumb (like the rednecks you get there).

They also don't believe that they are superior even though they like to act like it via the internet. If a foreigner lives there they are often put on a pedestal of interest for being foreign and most of them hold high regard for countries where they believe their ancestors came from such as Ireland and Germany.

There are also those that recognise that their country isn't a utopia and are pretty down to Earth (in the same way as Rich Hall)

There is also a decent amount of distinct American culture such as the Cajun culture, jazz culture, Indian Culture, Amish culture, etc.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 4
I agree with you in many ways. However, it is richer in culture in some of the more metropolitan areas.
Reply 5
Don't tar the whole of America with one brush. It is just such a huge and varied place, which has a lot to offer the world. Also, you just used the phrase 'rather vulgar and distasteful', snob :P
Reply 6
Honestly, there's so much anti-Americanism on this website. American 'culture' is a synthesis of loads of different cultures, because America is one of the most diverse places on the face of the earth. The average US citizen is probably no stupider than the average Briton. All those smug little "only in America" epithets that give people a false sense of pride in their own national shortcomings are just that: smug and arrogant. As I said, America is one of the most diverse countries on earth, and to claim that there is such a thing as a monolithic block of culture is ridiculous.

And 'culture' is one of those buzzwords that everyone thinks they know what it means, but actually it's impossible to truly define. Culture is an idea, yet people treat it as though it is an objectively definable 'thing'. That attitude is no different to the BNP supporters of this world, who believe that English culture should be wrapped up and giftwrapped, when in truth it can't and shouldn't be.



You just got postmodern'd.
(edited 12 years ago)
Yes YES YES!!!!!


DEATH TO AMERICA!!!!




No but seriously, op makes some one good point(s), cameron shouldn't have vetoed the eu!
(edited 12 years ago)
American culture has its good and bad points. I find the relative lack of class awareness quite refreshing, it is so ingrained in British culture that you often forget how oppressive it actually is. To be honest I think the looking down on US culture is a lot to do with our love of snobbery in this country.
Reply 9
american culture certainly is the most vulgar and degenerate in the world.

just look at the gangsta rap culture. or the hardcore pornography culture. or the hollywood celebrity culture............
A) America is the most influential country in the world, it's the superpower. Deal with it. Most people are ignorant of the outside world, shock horror. You're average Brit is just as uneducated as your average American.

B) Most Americans don't support a free market capitalism, at best the mean of Americans economic views is center-right.

C) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_with_Life_Index - US seems to be doing much better than many other European countries (including UK, France and Germany)

D) Most Americans don't live in a gated community. The rich have always desired their own communities. Go down to east London and see Bow Quarter. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/if/3513980.stm

E) Switzerland is pretty corrupt place, it doesn't have the top 8-10 highest paying boarding schools in the world for no reason. One big playground for the rich. Scandinavian countries and Germany aren't comparable, Germany is more in line with UK/France which is in line with the US more than the Scandinavian countries.

The EU if they become a serious united entity aren't looking to merely relax and do business with each other, they're going to want to become the superpower. Just how it is. The problem with American culture is that it's just far too big to actually generalize.
(edited 12 years ago)
Every word is totally right.
Original post by Annoying-Mouse



C) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satisfaction_with_Life_Index - US seems to be doing much better than many other European countries (including UK, France and Germany)

.


Not disagreeing with you totally but, satisfaction with life index is somewhat different from actual quality of life. And I'm certain both france and germany are higher than the US and we are roughly on par.

We're probably not as satisfied because the french and british are notorious for complaining about everything no matter how good we have it. :rolleyes:
Although I don't know what accounts for the germans being unsatisfied :confused:, perhaps it's because of their lack of humour. :ahee:

:tongue:
I agree with you on the healthcare point, instead of investing billions on weapons they should look at providing their citizens with free healthcare
Reply 14
The US has a great mix of cultures and the US can certainly match or beat any european culture. We've got over 300 years of our own identity as well as the european culture before that.

Also, the gini for the US is similar to that of european nations (wealth inequality), it's not that bad, and the overall GDP per cap is higher, so even the poorest are richer than the poorest in europe.
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Foghorn Leghorn
Not disagreeing with you totally but, satisfaction with life index is somewhat different from actual quality of life. And I'm certain both france and germany are higher than the US and we are roughly on par.

We're probably not as satisfied because the french and british are notorious for complaining about everything no matter how good we have it. :rolleyes:
Although I don't know what accounts for the germans being unsatisfied :confused:, perhaps it's because of their lack of humour. :ahee:

:tongue:


Agreed but considering that index is based on some semi-reliable data and the bolded isn't based on any sort of data... But, yeah their pretty pointless and you can't really measure the happiness of a person, especially when cognitive biases like illusory superiority exist which make it hard to believe people's responses.
Reply 16
I don't understand how you honestly believe that we think we're the "center of the world". We don't. Nobody I know thinks that - we find foreigners supremely interesting, actually, and on a side note most everybody here is fond of the UK.

Also, I've heard many people complain that Americans never travel outside their own country. Disregarding for a second the fact that travelling overseas is extremely expensive, there's so, so much to see and do right here in our own country that sometimes we don't feel the need to travel outside of it. Just going from one state to another can show you a whole different culture.

I'm aware that America has tremendous faults, but you have to realize this is a huge, diverse country with vastly different cultures. Less than ten percent truly believe they're the "center of the world".
Lol

He just used America and culture in the same sentence.

Hahahhahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha


Derpderpy
Original post by ChemistBoy
American culture has its good and bad points. I find the relative lack of class awareness quite refreshing, it is so ingrained in British culture that you often forget how oppressive it actually is. To be honest I think the looking down on US culture is a lot to do with our love of snobbery in this country.


I was actually about to say the complete opposite, I feel like Americans are way more into class than Brits. Obviously, I'm generalising here, but it seems that lately so many Americans (American liberals in particular) are so eager to harp on everyone with "privilege" and see everyone with just a slight bit more wealth than the average as deplorable. It seems like around a lot of these people, unless you give them a sob-story of your life on benefits with twenty siblings, they'll call you a classist. Just look at the backlash against people objecting to "Obamacare", or the way the American public these days tends to view things like obesity as a predominantly class issue, to the point of hysteria. More broadly, I think America is becoming a country of entitlement, where everyone just wants to pass the responsibility/blame for their problems onto something or someone else.

I think in England by comparison (as I've never lived in other parts of the UK), people are a lot more casual about class and just accept that different people are on different levels, so to speak. Obviously, we have a lot of material disparity, but I haven't heard people making a big deal out of it and yammering on about "privilege" at every opportunity.
Reply 19
Original post by WillowLeaves
I was actually about to say the complete opposite, I feel like Americans are way more into class than Brits. Obviously, I'm generalising here, but it seems that lately so many Americans (American liberals in particular) are so eager to harp on everyone with "privilege" and see everyone with just a slight bit more wealth than the average as deplorable. It seems like around a lot of these people, unless you give them a sob-story of your life on benefits with twenty siblings, they'll call you a classist. Just look at the backlash against people objecting to "Obamacare", or the way the American public these days tends to view things like obesity as a predominantly class issue, to the point of hysteria. More broadly, I think America is becoming a country of entitlement, where everyone just wants to pass the responsibility/blame for their problems onto something or someone else.

I think in England by comparison (as I've never lived in other parts of the UK), people are a lot more casual about class and just accept that different people are on different levels, so to speak. Obviously, we have a lot of material disparity, but I haven't heard people making a big deal out of it and yammering on about "privilege" at every opportunity.


Listen, have you ever even been to the USA? Our "classes" are not nearly as distinct as you guys make them out to be over there. We don't say stuff like "rah" and "posh" or any of that. You can barely tell how wealthy someone is over here unless they make it blaringly obvious. Even then, nobody really cares. My best friend is far wealthier than I am (not that she knows) and besides that there's really no difference between the two of us.

Actually, really - what are you talking about? What are you basing this "hysteria" on? And really, we consider anyone with just a slight bit more wealth than the average as "deplorable"? Has anyone actually told you this? Honestly curious.

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