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American culture.; And its global influence.
Topic Started: Mar 5 2007, 06:35 PM (795 Views)
European Son
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Master of His Domain
**Mainly aimed at Australians, but Americans please read and post**

Since the beginning of what we know as globalization, the doorways to world-wide communication, and the sharing of culture has been one of the few positive by-products of a largely catastrophic cycle of political, economic and social change.

As someone who has grown up constantly being exposed to media and technology (much like everyone else here), it is difficult to deny that American entertainment and culture has not hugely shaped our own perspective on society. Especially in a relatively young nation, who has already adapted western European culture as it's own, (with a particular twist) the influx of US TV, radio, film and music and its effect on the way we communicate, and identify ourselves.

The question of debate is whether this is a positive or negative thing, and therefore the positive or negative ramifications in your eyes.

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Mars
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Igor Bonanimals
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I could literally write an 10,000 word essay for this thread entitled "Why I Love Liberal America" but alas, time is of the essence. Hell, I haven't even been there and I think it's tops. (This is soon to change, stay tuned)

You're right when you mention the gigantic influence. Technological advancements aside, as an alternative to a detailed post, I can simply list off the top of my head, things that have improved my life today that exist within or as a result of the "Evil empire."

- iTunes
- Firefly
- The Shield
- Penn Jillette
- youtube
- Bob Motherfucking Dylan

That's literally 20 seconds of thought. I could go on and break the topic.

Point driven home.
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runeix
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Better than sliced bread
it doesnt matter what we think about the culture because if they dont like us or someone else is getting to powerful and rich

ill qoute the asshole song here

" cause we got the bombs.
Two words Nucular Fukcing Weapons"
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European Son
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runeix
Mar 5 2007, 09:33 PM
it doesnt matter what we think about the culture because if they dont like us or someone else is getting to powerful and rich

ill qoute the asshole song here

" cause we got the bombs.
Two words Nucular Fukcing Weapons"

Yeah, coherence is a bourgeois concept anyway.
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Mr. Awesome
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Well, we've got the bombs, but a lot of people hate us.

I think America is alright. I don't like most of our people though. They're fat, comfortable, and think that they deserve America. It's a fucking privelage.

But yeah, America's cool.
Guess what! I'm writing a book called Nuclear Winter!
giggleguy
 
That's a pretty stupid thing to say.
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lumpy
Citizen B
For the longest time America has been known as a "melting pot" of cultures, particularly in the times of mass immigration. I think this is one of the main things that developed America's culture especially when you're talking about all of it's people as a whole.

But America isn't the same all around culture-wise. It is a large country, and different customs are spread throughout different regions (such as redneck culture in the south, farm life in the Midwest, etc.). This causes a lot of cultural diffusion, which is why many general regions have many mixes of differently cultured people. This is similar to, in a smaller country such as the UK, people from separate regions like Scotland and England having different accents, but on a much more massive scale due to the varying regions/environments/class levels in America.

Stormbreaker and I live in a strictly suburban area, and since both of us have lived here all (or most, for me) of our lives, we could consider ourselves "normal". But many people who live and have grown up in urban or rural areas would probably say the same thing about themselves. The American culture type that you are really depends on your general way of life, or the way of life you are used to.

Personally I love America, or at least the region I live in (and of course most of America's expensive vacation spots). A lot of America's music from the 1950s, '60s and '70s have also been a highlight, and of course cuisine (I cannot say no to a good burger, note that in some instances such as McDonald's I make an exception). But for a lot of Americans, the fatty foods they enjoy has taken its toll on their well-being. But that is their own fault for not eating healthily in the first place.

I have more to say, including an opinion on the America being "fat" issue, but time is against me at this moment.
FUN
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stormbreaker
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Personally, I don't know much about other countries. Hell, I don't know much about America. (Just to let you know, I had to use Firefox's Spellcheck to spell 'America'... Apparently, I'm stupider than I thought.)

I really have no place in a discussion like this, but to add onto what El and runeix said:
We recently picked out the new design for out Next-Gen nukes. What crap is this? Let's help world peace by manufacturing the first nuke since the Cold War.

I agree with lumpunzik. And I recently read an article about someone inventing a vaccine against obesity... Get off your ass and work out, America.

Like lumpunzik, I love America. Of course, I don't know how life is like elsewhere, and I often time find myself wondering what life would be like if I live in, say, Australia. If I ever get the chance (and I've been asking too...) I'd like to travel to Australia or somewhere different. I might love America, but I'd like to see other places, too.

To Euro: I really don't know about this positive or negative effect. I don't learn about how America affects other countries and people... I should hope that America is a good 'influence', if you will (although that sounds a tad undermining), to the rest of the world. But I would encourage Americans to learn more about other cultures, too. Myself included. We have to realize the world does not revolve around America. Hell, she could be gone soon with some upcoming nuclear war. I don't know.

Euro, I'd like to thank you. I never really thought about America's influence on the world. This is a very interesting debate, and I'd like to see how it turns out.
BOOM DE YADA
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lumpy
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Quote:
 
I really have no place in a discussion like this


Why not?
FUN
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TheSecondComing
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Chimponaut
Stormbreaker
 
Just to let you know, I had to use Firefox's Spellcheck to spell 'America'... Apparently, I'm stupider than I thought.


This is going in the old signature.

As for American culture, well, I quite enjoy it. Hamburgers, capitalism, rock and roll, opportunity, freedom, I love it all. I guess it beats fundamentalist Islamic culture.

Yep, not a lot of meat in this bone.
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Stormbreaker
 
Just to let you know, I had to use Firefox's Spellcheck to spell 'America'... Apparently, I'm stupider than I thought.
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Mars
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Igor Bonanimals
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Lumpy beat me to quoting Euro in my signature.

Worthy comments, L and stormbreaker. Excellent...
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European Son
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lumpunzik
Mar 6 2007, 08:16 AM
For the longest time America has been known as a "melting pot" of cultures, particularly in the times of mass immigration. I think this is one of the main things that developed America's culture especially when you're talking about all of it's people as a whole.

But America isn't the same all around culture-wise. It is a large country, and different customs are spread throughout different regions (such as redneck culture in the south, farm life in the Midwest, etc.). This causes a lot of cultural diffusion, which is why many general regions have many mixes of differently cultured people. This is similar to, in a smaller country such as the UK, people from separate regions like Scotland and England having different accents, but on a much more massive scale due to the varying regions/environments/class levels in America.

Stormbreaker and I live in a strictly suburban area, and since both of us have lived here all (or most, for me) of our lives, we could consider ourselves "normal". But many people who live and have grown up in urban or rural areas would probably say the same thing about themselves. The American culture type that you are really depends on your general way of life, or the way of life you are used to.

Personally I love America, or at least the region I live in (and of course most of America's expensive vacation spots). A lot of America's music from the 1950s, '60s and '70s have also been a highlight, and of course cuisine (I cannot say no to a good burger, note that in some instances such as McDonald's I make an exception). But for a lot of Americans, the fatty foods they enjoy has taken its toll on their well-being. But that is their own fault for not eating healthily in the first place.

I have more to say, including an opinion on the America being "fat" issue, but time is against me at this moment.

Excellent input. May I ask whether you both go to public schools? and what kind of 'international' education you receive? Because it seems that the main problem with international conflict, and inherent ignorance is certain flaws in the US education system. After spending a week attending US classes of a senior student, the 'cultural enrichment' was non-existent. I like that you used the word 'comfortable' to describe people's attitudes toward their environment, as this seems to be the running theme in politics in both our nations, people don't mind "As long as we're safe and well, and the mortgage isn't too high."

Back to the point, I guess you could say that all 'nations' are more or less culturally redundant because of the global impact and influence on we see as individual traits. Importantly, I think consumerism has betrayed what was seen as rich cultural gain during the 50s and 60s in the US, with constant layers of branding and convenience causing the items that we see as ours, stripped down to an image and a soulless idea.

Thanks for the sig aswell Lumpy.
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lumpy
Citizen B
Storm and I both go to a public school. I'm not too sure what you mean by "international", but our school (and all of the schools in our district) have a massive variety in terms of class options, including honors and advanced placement classes. I do not think the system is flawed if you use what it has to offer. The main flaw is that a high school diploma doesn't get you very far anymore.

What is also really flawed is the ACT, the nation-wide extra-curricular exam required to get into most (if not all) colleges. It has the most bizarre setup: limited time to answer a number of high-level questions in different categories. Everyone I know hates it because it is brutally boring. The scoring is really only a measure of your backhand intelligence rather than your true potential and determination.

As for the sig, you deserved it.
FUN
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Arkan
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Better than sliced bread
i think by international education euro means do you recieve news, history and such about other countries or are do they only confine you to teaching stuff about america etc.
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European Son
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lumpunzik
Mar 7 2007, 07:54 AM
Storm and I both go to a public school. I'm not too sure what you mean by "international", but our school (and all of the schools in our district) have a massive variety in terms of class options, including honors and advanced placement classes. I do not think the system is flawed if you use what it has to offer. The main flaw is that a high school diploma doesn't get you very far anymore.

What is also really flawed is the ACT, the nation-wide extra-curricular exam required to get into most (if not all) colleges. It has the most bizarre setup: limited time to answer a number of high-level questions in different categories. Everyone I know hates it because it is brutally boring. The scoring is really only a measure of your backhand intelligence rather than your true potential and determination.

As for the sig, you deserved it.

When I speak internationally, I mean (like Arkan said) on in a History or Geography class. Not just literally "This place is here", but an understanding and education of different global cultures...
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Mars
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Igor Bonanimals
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Quote:
 
"This place is here"

The funny thing is, we never learnt any places in school either. I still can't find Greenland on a map. Does it even exist?
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