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The favorite word in the USA is "I". Sacrificing for societal good isnt an American thing which is why even though this is a rich country our public services are mediocre. "If it does benefit me I don't care". That is the American thought process. I don't think that Europeans are so bold as to voice this view so openly. It is easy for an American to self promote. Much harder for a European to do so.
America is all about individualism. You are so wrong. An example, in America it's not unusual for a person to not speak to their mother for years. That is simply unheard of in much of the world
It is not unusual for Americans to take their parents to court over monetary issues. I think this would horrify people elsewhere, even in other societies in the Americas. Definitely so in the Old World where communal attitudes are more common, even in Europe when compared to the USA.
It makes sense for American culture to continuously evolve at a faster rate than Old World nations. You can't really tell the story of America without immigrants. If you removed west African (morphing into black American), German and British culture from the U.S., it would look like a totally different country with greatly altered history. If you remove Pakistani/Indian and Nigerian culture from the overall history of the UK, very little would change relatively speaking.
Very true which is why immigrants in the USA have very different identities than those in Europe. Over there they are forced to play up to the hosts. There is a highly defined national culture and identity and immigrants must adhere to that...…...or else."Britishness" or "Frenchness" isnt about diversity even though some might pretend that it is.
There was a young Egyptian working in a deli. I used to think he was Puerto Rican and told him so. He was so happy that he thanked me. I then realized that to him being a Puerto Rican was his notion of what being "American" was.
along the education ladder in Europe, you run into very distinctive personalities, whose mind is an unpredictable mix and match of ideas,
I suspect that your image of the USA comes from the media. I don't understand this "conformity" and lack pf diverse personalities that you speak of. The behavior of children can never be a predictor of how a society operates. I can assure you that bullying of kids who are outliers by other kids is certainly a feature of Europe as you claim that it is in the USA. Kids from immigrant families have much to say on this.
I suspect that your image of the USA comes from the media. I don't understand this "conformity" and lack pf diverse personalities that you speak of. The behavior of children can never be a predictor of how a society operates. I can assure you that bullying of kids who are outliers by other kids is certainly a feature of Europe as you claim that it is in the USA. Kids from immigrant families have much to say on this.
No, my image of the US comes from living in the US more than half of my life. I was born in a south-eastern Europeam country, where I lived for my first 23 years. During that time, I also traveled a lot throughout Western Europe. I have been living in the US from the age of 23 to 58 (my present age) without maintaining contact with my country of origin, and actively avoiding people from my former country who live in the US (the country had a civil war, and I never know what kind of person I might be dealing with, what kind of possible hostility, so I find it safest to keep away from them. Only the 1960s-early 80s rock music from my former country triggers a bit of nostalgia; otherwise I never even think about it :-). My entire family had left the place (living now in various parts of the world), I have not been there since 1986, and do not intend to go back to visit.
My personal outlook is entirely global, I like the way business is done in the US, I like the personal freedom and privacy that the US offers. However, in terms of close relationships, (eg, in terms of boyfriends and close friends), I somehow always end up hanging out with some type of an immigrant or visitor to the US (not from my own country of origin, but from some continent other than America), simply because their personalities are more interesting.
Teenagers are not children, they are young adults. High school is a more truthful and more expressive version of adulthood. I have gone to school in Europe, and can fully assure you that the high school cliques and bullying of the kind that I read about, hear about, or see for myself in the US teenagers, absolutely did NOT exist where I went to school. Also, the meaning of the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" (or anything similar) was unknown to me before I moved to the US. Everything I am talking about is from my direct personal experience (which agrees with what other Europeans have noticed).
No, my image of the US comes from living in the US more than half of my life. I was born in a south-eastern Europeam country, where I lived for my first 23 years. During that time, I also traveled a lot throughout Western Europe. I have been living in the US from the age of 23 to 58 (my present age) without maintaining contact with my country of origin, and actively avoiding people from my former country who live in the US (the country had a civil war, and I never know what kind of person I might be dealing with, what kind of possible hostility, so I find it safest to keep away from them. Only the 1960s-early 80s rock music from my former country triggers a bit of nostalgia; otherwise I never even think about it :-). My entire family had left the place (living now in various parts of the world), I have not been there since 1986, and do not intend to go back to visit.
My personal outlook is entirely global, I like the way business is done in the US, I like the personal freedom and privacy that the US offers. However, in terms of close relationships, (eg, in terms of boyfriends and close friends), I somehow always end up hanging out with some type of an immigrant or visitor to the US (not from my own country of origin, but from some continent other than America), simply because their personalities are more interesting.
Teenagers are not children, they are young adults. High school is a more truthful and more expressive version of adulthood. I have gone to school in Europe, and can fully assure you that the high school cliques and bullying of the kind that I read about, hear about, or see for myself in the US teenagers, absolutely did NOT exist where I went to school. Also, the meaning of the phrase "keeping up with the Joneses" (or anything similar) was unknown to me before I moved to the US. Everything I am talking about is from my direct personal experience (which agrees with what other Europeans have noticed).
Where are you from in Europe? There are significant differences from country to country in Europe. I've not met people in Spain or from Western Europe who claim that Europeans are all the same or things are absolutely the same from country to country.
Where are you from in Europe? There are significant differences from country to country in Europe. I've not met people in Spain or from Western Europe who claim that Europeans are all the same or things are absolutely the same from country to country.
No, I don't claim Europeans are all the same, just the opposite: Europeans are fairly unpredictable. But it is my impression that Americans tend to have a common trait of needing to conform to a group, and that trait tends to be stronger in the US than elsewhere, and Americans tend to suffer more if they are not for some reason equal to a group ideal (equally thin, equally rich, equally hip, equally fertile, equally righteous or equally criminal as their peers- whatever the group ideal is of one's particular social group). That kind of prevents individuality. How much unique personality can somebody develop when he/she is so totally focused on measuring himself/herself against a group standard?
Actually, just look at yourself in the mirror :-). You are constantly trying to bully ME, some random person on the Internet!, with some silly group stereotypes (childless, whatever :-) about which I never think at all, and they obviously do not bother me (particularly because being child-free is totally my own choice, about which I am super happy and have never regretted it; it is possibly the best decision I ever made-. That is exactly what I am talking about: you (being an American) think that some stereotyped group values are the meaning of life - while I (being originally from Europe) couldn't care less about them. I tailored my life to my own taste and interests, not to anybody else's. You, on the other hand, do not seem to be even aware that any other way of thinking exists except groupthink :-).
No, I don't claim Europeans are all the same, just the opposite: Europeans are fairly unpredictable. But it is my impression that Americans tend to have a common trait of needing to conform to a group, and that trait tends to be stronger in the US than elsewhere, and Americans tend to suffer more if they are not for some reason equal to a group ideal (equally thin, equally rich, equally hip, equally fertile, equally righteous or equally criminal as their peers- whatever the group ideal is of one's particular social group). That kind of prevents individuality. How much unique personality can somebody develop when he/she is so totally focused on measuring himself/herself against a group standard?
Actually, just look at yourself in the mirror :-). You are constantly trying to bully ME, some random person on the Internet!, with some silly group stereotypes (childless, whatever :-) about which I never think at all, and they obviously do not bother me (particularly because being child-free is totally my own choice, about which I am super happy and have never regretted it; it is possibly the best decision I ever made-. That is exactly what I am talking about: you (being an American) think that some stereotyped group values are the meaning of life - while I (being originally from Europe) couldn't care less about them. I tailored my life to my own taste and interests, not to anybody else's. You, on the other hand, do not seem to be even aware that any other way of thinking exists except groupthink :-).
There are huge cultural differences between Europeans. Spain is nothing like Germany in terms of language, culture, etc.
Therefore you cannot make claims for each country in Europe.
Have you even lived ANYWHERE in Western Europe? Not that Western European national cultures are the same.
I somehow always end up hanging out with some type of an immigrant or visitor to the US (not from my own country of origin, but from some continent other than America), simply because their personalities are more interesting.
.
That is your choice. I for instance find Americans of all types way more interesting than Germans and most other continental Europeans. That is aside from those societies with Mediterranean influences.
I find many Europeans to be quite stuffy, narrow minded and lacking a sense of humor. And they seem to have all been made in a factory because I don't see this varying personality types. Europeans don't seem to convey that happiness that Americans do. I hardly see those visiting NYC cracking a smile.
You are fundamentally a European so probably find Americans too shallow. And you also seem to mix more with the shallow type of Americans at that. Yes people to compare themselves in terms of the socio economic status and evidence of success but that is find EVERYWHERE. French and Italians (both genders) are very concerned about their appearance. The French are very status conscious so I don't know what it is that you are trying to say.
That is your choice. I for instance find Americans of all types way more interesting than Germans and most other continental Europeans. That is aside from those societies with Mediterranean influences.
I find many Europeans to be quite stuffy, narrow minded and lacking a sense of humor. And they seem to have all been made in a factory because I don't see this varying personality types. Europeans don't seem to convey that happiness that Americans do. I hardly see those visiting NYC cracking a smile.
You are fundamentally a European so probably find Americans too shallow. And you also seem to mix more with the shallow type of Americans at that. Yes people to compare themselves in terms of the socio economic status and evidence of success but that is find EVERYWHERE. French and Italians (both genders) are very concerned about their appearance. The French are very status conscious so I don't know what it is that you are trying to say.
Do you live in the suburbs? It appears so.
Mediterranean Europeans are pretty happy, as you noted above. Spain, Portugal, and Italy in particular. Not sure about Greeks or people from the Eastern Mediterranean.
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. That is exactly what I am talking about: you (being an American) think that some stereotyped group values are the meaning of life - while I (being originally from Europe) couldn't care less about them. I tailored my life to my own taste and interests, not to anybody else's. You, on the other hand, do not seem to be even aware that any other way of thinking exists except groupthink :-).
