Americans (USA)

I still find it weird that some cultures use mayonnaise as a dipping sauce. Not that I disapprove, but I find it not personally my favorite.

I am hoping to go on a euro tour for my honeymoon. Until then, im 1500 miles from any other country. But at least I already have a passport :)

p.s. as an American, I cannot fathom why we don't use the metric system.
Last edited by SL4Y3R on Oct 11, 2013, 9:40:55 PM
well atleast you drive on the ¨right¨ side of the road :)

btw here in peru most ppl cant afford to go abroad
"
While this is a stereotype and thus must not be applied to any given individual, there is definitely a ignorance of the global prevalent in the US. Most definitely.

For a start, a lot of US citizens don't even have passports. When they travel, they travel within the US, rather than overseas. I've met more Americans who've never been to another country than any other nationality. If you don't have a passport in Australia, you're fucking crippled.

This is an interesting starting point for what is seen by many other countries as that characteristic belief that Americans see the US as THE 'domestic' and all other countries 'the foreign'.
So far, so good.
"
If you've never been to other countries, not even one, then obviously your exposure to any culture but your own is going to be fairly low, and your idea of 'normal' and 'abnormal' is going to be skewed.
And this is where I start to disagree. America is one culturally diverse nation.

I grew up in a large suburb that was 30% Arabic, mostly Lebanese. A major street on the east (Arabic) side of town would have signs in both English and Arabic. Mosques were common enough, with big plans under construction. You couldn't complete high school without hearing Arabic spoken in the halls, and I learned the Arabic for "I swear to God" rather easily — a common expression because of, not in spite of, the Islamic prohibition against using His name in vain (regardless of culture, teenagers hate authority). My extremely white parents, who still live there, serve hummus and pita bread at most holidays, because locally it's made that damn well — you just can't pass it up. My parents aren't that into shawarma; as Tony Stark knows, this is a grave error on their part, and I would kill for a such a sandwich from my hometown right now. We even had Qur'an-thumpers; at some point some friendly passerby walked up to me, handed me an English copy for free, and it sits on my bookshelf, still unread.

When 9/11 happened, I was suddenly afraid. Not of my fellow townsfolk; I knew they were harmless enough. No, I was worried about some McVeigh-inspired zealot parking a Mack truck worth of fertilizer bomb in my neighborhood. As a member of a culturally diverse town, I was no stranger to racism in white people, but what I saw in our media and on the Internet was truly incredible.

I currently live along the US-Mexico border. In a way, the only thing that's changed is the language on the signs; now the main drag has both English and Spanish, and if you don't routinely purchase the local Mexican cuisine you are out of your damn mind.

Yes, I've traveled too. Army, Afghanistan, one year, not to mention pit stops in Ireland, Germany, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan. But I can say without a doubt that I've gained a lot more multicultural knowledge living in the US than I have learned traveling abroad.

I understand this isn't exactly a typical American experience. However, even if most of us don't live quite so near to these communities as I have and do, we are still very much aware of them. Sure, maybe we are inclined to just travel within our borders, but we have brought other cultures to live here with us. Hell, in New York City, it's not so much "travel" as going a few miles in any direction.

Instead, I propose that the common (but not universal) hubris of the US is of a nationalist, not a cultural, nature. To the typical US citizen, a nation like France is not the equivalent of the USA, it's the equivalent of Colorado. Furthermore, the US system does seem to work demonstrably with a wide variety of cultures, so why not the entire world?

What this means is that the US is far more likely to accept notions of empire bordering on one-world government... although usually not to such an obvious extreme. The United Nations is a distinctly American idea, a method of turning the world into a collection of mere states operating under the control of a larger federation. And if you want to sell the American people on a war to seize temporary control of another nation, just tell them that we need to free it from tyranny and replace it with a better, more democratic system — ours. Because obviously the American system is the ideal for all places, regardless of the situation in that country. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

Even the recent immigrants are often subject to this type of thinking; after all, they chose to move here for a reason. Also, citizenship tests.

What is foreign to most of us in the US is not the idea that other cultures exist and have value to contribute, but that other systems of government do. Even more foreign would be the idea that some systems of government are better for some nations, while differing systems are better than others. I am a proud US citizen, and I do genuinely believe that the US has the best system of government overall... but I'd be a damned fool if I honestly believed that other nations do not have better methods in particular areas in which the US governmental system is weak. The Constitution is still a work in progress. We might be the best, but we are not perfect, and we have a lot to learn from how other nations — not cultures, nations — do their business.

Which means that, among other things, us US folk need to drop the idea that the only currency in the world which matters is the US dollar. Even if it is quite good at buying both hummus and menudo.
When Stephen Colbert was killed by HYDRA's Project Insight in 2014, the comedy world lost a hero. Since his life model decoy isn't up to the task, please do not mistake my performance as political discussion. I'm just doing what Steve would have wanted.
Last edited by ScrotieMcB on Oct 12, 2013, 4:01:21 AM
I think people make a bigger deal about this than it really is. I have never once been to another country and got the stankeye because I was an American. To be honest, until we speak, they just know we speak english, once we do, they know we are either from North America, or one of the poor countries Britain left to rot.

Ive met many ignorant and arrogant dickfucks from other countries. I dont think America has the monopoly on fucktards.

The US dollar is the worlds reserve currency by and large. So the dollar matters a lot more than to just Americans
HAIL SATAN!
Last edited by tramshed on Oct 12, 2013, 4:44:02 AM
Also, the chick has a point, what the fuck do you put in your spaghetti? Parmesean and spahghetti are delicious together, I dont think the tears of not having delicious cheese will have the same great flavor. If you dont eat cheese in your pasta to keep up your image as a world traveler, BOOT TO THE HEAD.
HAIL SATAN!
Last edited by tramshed on Oct 12, 2013, 4:06:58 AM
i assume it was meant as a funny reply

but in all seriousness, if you need to drink to be funny, you gotta check yaself.
I have been monitoring this thread from work, but waited till I got home to reply.

First off, to the OP's point about us American's calling ourselves Americans. It's because it is the United States of America. The continent is North America, which includes the Canadians and Mexicans.

Sorry, but that irked me a lot.

To several of Charon's points. One, that you're future Mother-in-Law doesn't like the way you want to eat your food has nothing to do with where she is from. Now there are cultural ways to prepare food that people have a hard time understanding that others do not share. I like ketchup on my hot dogs. I don't like mustard. Anyone that tells me I got it wrong is wrong. It's my taste buds, not theirs.

I also like trying new foods and if you ever make it to New York City, you can get authentic cuisine from around the world, made by people from those countries that came here. My favorite was a Mongolian Restaurant. Fucking incredible food.

Also along those lines, My Brother-in-Law is from Porto Rico and when we have had holidays with his family, the food is out of this world good.


Next is to travel outside of the States. Yes many in here will never step foot outside our country. Some is fear, some is money, some is because there is so much to see here, you don't need to leave.

I have been overseas and to our friends to the North. I would love to travel more, but it is much easier and cheaper for me to go local as it were. But not experiencing other cultures? Have you been to America? We are almost entirely a country of foreigners that came together and we have a national identity. I have lived in the Pacific Northwest, The Florida Gulf Coast and now in New England. Thousands of miles of travel and separation, but still an American, still accepted everywhere I go. You can't do that in Europe. Too many factions, too many languages. But that is a fault of time. Europe's history is much longer than ours and it leads to the identity to a much smaller group or location. This is not a judgement. It is just an observation.

Next topic (Off Charon's case) is hating America. I understand it. We're the big bully at the end of the street. Only we're not really. Most of us just want to get on with our lives. You can hate our government. I hate Iran's government. I don't hate Iranians. I have only met one Iranian and he was one of the funniest people I ever met. I can hate China's policies of trying to muscle out it neighbors for natural resources. I don't hate the Chinese.

I have more, but my lovely spouse is demanding that I go to bed so I can get a few hours of sleep before we take off.

Peace out ya'll!
"
Moonyu wrote:
[...]

Next topic (Off Charon's case) is hating America. I understand it. We're the big bully at the end of the street. Only we're not really. Most of us just want to get on with our lives. You can hate our government. I hate Iran's government. I don't hate Iranians. I have only met one Iranian and he was one of the funniest people I ever met. I can hate China's policies of trying to muscle out it neighbors for natural resources. I don't hate the Chinese.

[...]

More like you are free to hate every government bordering at much natural resources. :D
Lol. St.louis eh? Missouri?
Charon, I totally agree with you about Television warping the mind of so many with its endless parade of Ya America! It sells. Sorry. Personally I tend only to watch sports now and a good science show if I can find it.

Your Mother-in-Law to be lives in that world by choice. Has nothing to do with being American. She's comfortable there and will fight tooth and nail to make sure she stays that way. I can find you plenty of other examples from around the world of a mentality just like that.

Accepted everywhere? Yes. Because I am an open person. Saint Louis? Yes. Got a good friend there too. Your ordeal in the 7/11? I got that because I had a southern accent when I moved to New England and the same question. Why did I leave. Its a natural response to someone that is different. It's not an insult. Our new CEO is from England. I am curious to which part, mostly because I have been there.

And other cultures feel they are better than everyone else? I'm trying hard not to make a sarcastic remark here. I know the Japanese have a culture that preaches they are morally superior to the rest of the world. Many want to believe it, so they do. Many understand the difference between cultures is just that. A difference. I try hard not to use generalities when talking about a large groups. But the Japanese are not alone. Ever meet a Greek? I lots of them and some feel they are greater than me because of it. How about Russians? We have a large Russian population here and believe me, they feel superior too. No one likes to think they aren't special somehow and culture or nationality is the easiest to latch onto.

To the food, you yourself made it sound like Americans don't understand what its like to experience food from other cultures. I was merely exposing that argument as false. While many may never eat anything, but corporate heavily processed food like stuff, to claim American knows nothing of other cuisines is wrong. Sorry, but again, we take in people from around the world and they tend to bring their food with them. I don't always care for it, but that is a personal choice.

Report Forum Post

Report Account:

Report Type

Additional Info