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Which, in turn, is ultimately European inspired. Except for those influences that came from Africa. Maybe it is African influences on American culture that you find tainted?
Seriously, what is the singular, exceptional characteristic of these horrible American influences that makes Europeans and other people of the world unable to resist their culturally putrefying effect?
Is their some sort of intrinsic and omnipotent power embedded in America's despicable exports?
Or does its appeal come from something else? So far I have not seen a single knife against anyone's throat while the Game of Thrones or a piece of breaded, fried chicken is shoved into some pure and culturally unsullied European's hands.
It's "Eurovictimization."
They've been cultivating that for decades.
(**Psst: They're really just angry because they are no longer the superpowers that they used to be....)
The term you want is "nationalist," not "nationalistic."
One is a noun, the other an adjective.
"American culture is degenerate garbage."
Gee, thanks.
You must be a really smart and cultivated person to know that.
Pray, can I rest at your feet while you enlighten me with your brilliant insights?
Tell me about the great symphonies that have been created by European composers in the last 20 years....the great operas....the great paintings....the great novels....the great poems....the great sculptures....the great masterpieces of architecture....the great and earth-shaking works of philosophy....
Right -- nothing.
European culture is dead.
Europe is a museum.
Yes, it has a glorious past, but that is the past.
And America, being young, doesn't have much of a past. But we do have -- in literature -- Poe, Eliot, Melville, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Dickinson, Pound and Twain at least.
Far more brilliant talents than anyone from Europe you could name in the last 50 years, that's for sure.
We also have our share of achievements in other fields.
Not that you would be in the least bit interested, being so "superior" and all....
And where do you think Britain got the money to pay for all of that?
That's nice.
Excuse me for not being impressed.
That's nice.
What other reason did we have to go to war with Germany?
I can't think of any.
Without the U.S. and the Soviet Union, you Brits were up the creek without a paddle.
That's just fact.
I'm not one who is inclined -- out of mean-spiritedness -- to remind you of that fact, but when I see all this ugly anti-American stuff in this thread ("America is a degenerate culture"), don't expect me to be nice.
That's what dumb people say to the intelligent when they don't "get it."
Those are all nice contributions to Britain's defense of ITSELF and ITS COLONIES. And -- apart from Hawaii and a few other Pacific islands -- America had no colonies that needed defending from Japan.
So I don't really know what these British contributions did for America, seeing as how Hitler never tried to take over America and Japan wasn't going to try to do so either.
If anything, the whole war was about defending Britain, France, and their colonies in the Far East and Middle East.
And before you get even more on your high horse, may I remind you that 3,000,000 Indians starved in Bengal because their bumper crop of rice was diverted by their British masters to North Africa and Britain in order to feed the British people and troops?
Hitler was not threatening America.
Put myself in the same position?
That's an easy one.
When Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland, he had NOTHING.
Both the French and the British could have crushed him.
And that's what any sensible leader would have done.
So because you have been proved wrong and shown as being ignorant of the historical facts you resort to having a dig at something I misspelt or mistyped, well done brave boy, it doesn't matter how bad my spelling is it won't change the reality, when you are ready you can thank my forefathers for standing up to tyranny while yours turned their back, I shall be here waiting.
And where do you think Britain got the money to pay for all of that?
Did you not read the part where I mentioned the Royal Navy was the largest in the world at the beginning of the war? Nothing to do with the US.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
That's nice.
Excuse me for not being impressed.
That all you've got in response? Seriously?
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
That's nice.
Your debating skills have no match on these forums.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
What other reason did we have to go to war with Germany?
I can't think of any.
Well, officially it was because Germany declared war on the US first, but again, you're deluded if you think it was down to the kindness of FDR's heart.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
Without the U.S. and the Soviet Union, you Brits were up the creek without a paddle.
That's just fact.
Without Britain still in the fight, the US would have nowhere from which to wage war. And the Soviets would have had a far worse time of it, with all the German units free to join the Eastern Front. At the end of the day, the Allies needed each other equally to beat Germany.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
I'm not one who is inclined -- out of mean-spiritedness -- to remind you of that fact, but when I see all this ugly anti-American stuff in this thread ("America is a degenerate culture"), don't expect me to be nice.
I accept that, it can be annoying when the contributions of your nation, whether culturally, or at war, are marginalised by others. However, you won't get that from me, I totally disagree with American culture being "degenerate", in fact I find it fascinating having visited several times in the last 20 years (I'm married to an American) and being a huge music fan and cinephile. And I certainly respect the US involvement in WW2.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
That's what dumb people say to the intelligent when they don't "get it."
Eh?
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
Those are all nice contributions to Britain's defense of ITSELF and ITS COLONIES. And -- apart from Hawaii and a few other Pacific islands -- America had no colonies that needed defending from Japan.
So I don't really know what these British contributions did for America, seeing as how Hitler never tried to take over America and Japan wasn't going to try to do so either.
Well it would be naive to think Britain or any of the other Allies weren't doing it to protect their own interests.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
Put myself in the same position?
That's an easy one.
When Hitler reoccupied the Rhineland, he had NOTHING.
Both the French and the British could have crushed him.
And that's what any sensible leader would have done.
There seems to be a growing attempt as evidenced on this very forum and elsewhere, to blame Britain (and to a lesser extent France) for the rise of Nazi Germany. The truth is, yes, perhaps something could have been done, and it's easy to say that in hindsight, but you're simplifying things way too much. You might also want to ask why the US didn't enter earlier than it did.
Which, in turn, is ultimately European inspired. Except for those influences that came from Africa. Maybe it is African influences on American culture that you find tainted?
Seriously, what is the singular, exceptional characteristic of these horrible American influences that makes Europeans and other people of the world unable to resist their culturally putrefying effect?
Is their some sort of intrinsic and omnipotent power embedded in America's despicable exports?
Or does its appeal come from something else? So far I have not seen a single knife against anyone's throat while the Game of Thrones or a piece of breaded, fried chicken is shoved into some pure and culturally unsullied European's hands.
Game of Thrones is an interesting example, because while it was obviously written and produced in the US, it's very loosely based on British and French history, as well as being inspired by Tolkein and Arthurian legend , features a cast and crew which is largely British and Irish (with appropriate accents!), is set in a kind geographical facsimile of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and doesn't at all feel American, unlike, say Breaking Bad or The Wire. Perhaps this is arguably a good example of a "global culture" which feeds on pre-existing ideas from elsewhere and mixes them up to make something new?
So because you have been proved wrong and shown as being ignorant of the historical facts you resort to having a dig at something I misspelt or mistyped, well done brave boy, it doesn't matter how bad my spelling is it won't change the reality, when you are ready you can thank my forefathers for standing up to tyranny while yours turned their back, I shall be here waiting.
Did you not read the part where I mentioned the Royal Navy was the largest in the world at the beginning of the war? Nothing to do with the US.
I was talking about who paid for stuff, not the size of anyone's navy.
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Your debating skills have no match on these forums.
True.
But modesty prevents me from broadcasting that indisputable fact.
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Well, officially it was because Germany declared war on the US first, but again, you're deluded if you think it was down to the kindness of FDR's heart.
And why did Germany declare war on us?
Because we were allied with Britain, which declared war on Germany.
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Without Britain still in the fight, the US would have nowhere from which to wage war.
My whole point is that America had no compelling reason to fight Hitler.
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And the Soviets would have had a far worse time of it, with all the German units free to join the Eastern Front. At the end of the day, the Allies needed each other equally to beat Germany.
I agree with that.
Thanks primarily to America and the Soviet Union, Hitler was defeated in the end.
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I accept that, it can be annoying when the contributions of your nation, whether culturally, or at war, are marginalised by others. However, you won't get that from me, I totally disagree with American culture being "degenerate", in fact I find it fascinating having visited several times in the last 20 years (I'm married to an American) and being a huge music fan and cinephile. And I certainly respect the US involvement in WW2.
Well, I thank you for that.
There is no reason for us to fight.
I am proud of my own English heritage.
But there are some here who apparently want to trash America.
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There seems to be a growing attempt as evidenced on this very forum and elsewhere, to blame Britain (and to a lesser extent France) for the rise of Nazi Germany. The truth is, yes, perhaps something could have been done, and it's easy to say that in hindsight, but you're simplifying things way too much. You might also want to ask why the US didn't enter earlier than it did.
There was no reason for the U.S. to enter at all.
Hitler was Europe and Britain's problem, not ours.
And Japan was the Far East's problem, not ours.
I believe we unnecessarily provoked Japan into attacking Pearl Harbor.
The Nazis and the Japanese were doing terrible things, it is true. And there is no shame in our having fought on the side of right and justice.
On the other hand, we can now see that the world is always going to have horrible people doing horrible things.
North Korea, Cambodia under Pol Pot, the Soviet Union under Stalin, China under Mao, Rwanda, Saddam Hussein, Iran, the list goes on.
America can't and shouldn't try to solve all these problems. People need to solve their own problems.
America has been the policeman of the world -- and is hated and scorned for it as a result.
Saving other people just enables them to be irresponsible.
Look at Mexico. It uses the U.S. as a pressure release valve -- dumping its poorest people into our country -- which saves the Mexicans from taking the trouble to overthrow their corrupt government and solve their own problems...
Game of Thrones is an interesting example, because while it was obviously written and produced in the US, it's very loosely based on British and French history, as well as being inspired by Tolkein and Arthurian legend , features a cast and crew which is largely British and Irish (with appropriate accents!), is set in a kind geographical facsimile of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and doesn't at all feel American, unlike, say Breaking Bad or The Wire. Perhaps this is arguably a good example of a "global culture" which feeds on pre-existing ideas from elsewhere and mixes them up to make something new?
It was a calculated example. Interestingly, the author of Game of Thrones lives right down the road from the events in Breaking Bad.
The problem with most critical analysis of American culture is that is is very easy to be selective as to what represents it.
I was talking about who paid for stuff, not the size of anyone's navy.
My response was in your response to this:
"...it's well documented that Britain and its Commonwealth supplied the vast majority of shipping and landing craft on D-Day, around 80% compared to 16% for the US. Think about it, it wouldn't make sense for the US to transport the required amount across the atlantic when it had access to the Royal Navy - the largest in the world at the beginning of the war."
Which was:
And where do you think Britain got the money to pay for all of that?
So, I think you're not following the debate very well. If you're referring to the whole war, again things aren't so simple. Up until Lend-Lease at the end of 1941 (and a year after Britain had already defended herself in the Battle of Britain), Britain pretty much exhausted its gold reserves to pay for material supplied by US industry which helped it to flourish. Lend-lease then came into effect which provided Britain with about a quarter of the materials needed to allow it to continue the fight. It's far too simplistic to assume that the US gave Britain all the cash it needed.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
True.
But modesty prevents me from broadcasting that indisputable fact.
You know, I actually believe you didn't pick up on my sarcasm.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
And why did Germany declare war on us?
Because we were allied with Britain, which declared war on Germany.
My whole point is that America had no compelling reason to fight Hitler.
Again, rather simplistic, but the US had it's own interests to protect, and the FDR administration reasoned that a conquered Europe (and China) would ultimately be harmful to those interests.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
Thanks primarily to Britain and its Commonwealth, America and the Soviet Union, Hitler was defeated in the end.
Fixed that for you.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
There was no reason for the U.S. to enter at all.
Except of course, to protect its own interests and take great strides in becoming a super-power.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
Hitler was Europe and Britain's problem, not ours.
And Japan was the Far East's problem, not ours.
I believe we unnecessarily provoked Japan into attacking Pearl Harbor.
It would have become a problem for the US eventually. And your last line kind of contradicts the one preceding it.
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Originally Posted by dechatelet
America has been the policeman of the world -- and is hated and scorned for it as a result.
Well, nobody asked it to be.
Anyway, I'm kind of done with this, I think we've drifted a little off topic Dechalet!
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