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Maybe I am just dense..But aren't Countries such as USA/Canada/Australia and other smaller countries made up of "Multi-Cultures" in the same boat? The term "Melting Pot" has been used for over a century..and Yes..that's exactly what we are....
Immigration has produced far more cultures beyond the original immigrants from Ireland/England/Germany/Japan/China to include middle Eastern Countries...Thus the old Catholic/Protestant religions have become out numbered by other...and Atheism has grown since then as well...
My point is really the makeup of all countries has changed/altered since back in the "Industrial Era" and ability to communicate amongst ALL regions enhanced (social media) If anyone expects to find similarities when you travel best shake themselves..Things/The World isn't like it was back in the early 20th Century..Multi-cultural society..with a plethora of views is where it's at!!
I guess it comes down to either assimilate to the changes or crawl into some cave IF you want to only live like you always did....Evolve//or dissolve is an old saying I recall from decades ago and feel it's fitting when trying to figure out why things are so different now
There are definitely cultural differences between regions. Biggest I can think of is guns and prevalence of religion. Those definitely make a noticable impact on certain regions over others, and I personally feel a bit uncomfortable in places where people noticeably tote their guns around or are very, very open about gun use and are more religious than where I am used to.
Our overall American culture is pretty homogenous but there are definitely regional differences. Definitely.
What region would that be? i have never seen a large prevalence of people tote guns around anywhere in this country to be honest.
Honestly, having grown up in New England, and having spent time living in the U.K.,I think there are some ways New England's culture is actually more similar to British culture than the generalized American culture. These include a desire to not be open about religion, and the idea that good neighbors keep to themselves and don't speak unless spoken to.
I don't see how this is different to where i live and i am from the midwest.
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Originally Posted by MassVt
The French influence in New York will be way up by the Canadian border, while the Dutch influence ( think Roosevelt) is quite strong in the area between NYC and Albany, including the entire Capital District..
The German influence is quite strong in states like Wisconsin and Minnesota, and also in the Chicago area. In truth, virtually the entire Midwest..
I live in this region and the German influence is not strong what so ever... MN WI and Chicagoland are all pretty 100 percent Americana.
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Originally Posted by lucknow
What ever your political stance on things is, that only represents a small % of the overall culture. The culture is way more of what you do with your life, what are the common activities a lot of people identify with. For example, In Saskatchewan curling is a really big thing. Even the schools take the kids curling. Do they curl in Minnesota? They sure as heck don't in New Mexico. Some places have big time hunting sub culture. It seemed to me that in South Dakota, most guys hunt. Not so much in New Jersey. West Virginia has the most unique cultural feeling I have come across in the USA. It's just really different than other places.
I think it depends on what you're choosing to see. I'm 27 and I've only owned a car for two years of my life (the last two years of high school.) I've lived in a few different cities and traveled to countless others and I feel major cultural differences walking around, experiencing daily life on transit with the locals or shopping in the corner stores.
Then when I rent a car to travel to the suburbs, it all starts looking the same. I think this has a lot to do with the same chain stores being in most suburban areas, and the natural inclination to stop into those places because they're familiar. The infrastructure starts to look the same too. I always find it funny how many McDonald's I see when I rent a car, because where I live there's no McDonald's to be found anywhere.
I always find myself getting into trouble too. I'll never forget the night I almost got into a bar fight over the word "what." Being from Wisconsin, I grew up saying "What?" when I missed something someone was saying. I went to visit my aunt in Newport, RI and she had a fun, young cleaning lady (another thing that's not a thing in the Midwest. Why are people on the coast so afraid to clean their own houses?) The cleaning lady and I decided to go out to a bar in downtown Newport where we ran into her boyfriend. After a few minutes of chatter, the boyfriend said something that I couldn't hear, so I said "What?" He instantly snapped at me and yelled, "Don't you dare say What to me, you say pardon me or excuse me!" I was taken aback and didn't quite understand, so I thoughtlessly said "What?" again. He jumped out of his seat at me, and was ready to throw a punch had his girlfriend not jumped in. It was so weird to me. Obviously, that's not a normal everyday occurrence, just an extreme example I've encountered.
When I moved to Cincinnati I sturggled with the same phrase. In Cincinnati, instead of "what" or "excuse me" or "pardon me" they say "please." It got really confusing when I started working at a coffee shop and I would ask customers if they wanted room for cream. Sometimes people would say, "please" so I'd give them room and then they'd yell at me for giving them room. It took a few times to realize that when they said "please" that it was actually a question asking me to repeat myself.
Anyway, these are small linguistic differences but there are countless other ways in which the people and environments vary from city to city.
I actually think America is on the whole extremely similar culturally regardless of what state you're in, with only a few exceptions. Even places as different as New England and the Deep South are 90-95 percent the same, especially when one factors in the differences of urban and rural culture.
Rural Washington state has more in common with rural Alabama than either do with Seattle or Birmingham, respectively.
I also think the similarities present throughout America, with the possible exception of Hawaii and southern Louisiana are stronger than cross-border similarities between the northern US and adjacent Canadian regions. Fundamentally Bellingham, Washington has more in common with Jacksonville or South Bend than it does with Vancouver or Victoria because it's an American city full of Americans.
Even though Southerners for example are more conservative and religious than people on my native West Coast, I think this has more to do with the South having a higher proportion of rural residents. Somewhere like Asheville or Austin is very similar to Northwestern cities like Eugene and Olympia, and a rural part of Montana or Idaho is generally very similar to rural Ohio or Tennessee. You can find plenty of Christian fundies in the Western states and they aren't much different from their Southern counterparts, same with urban southern hipsters being cut-copies of the ones in Brooklyn and Portland.
I think the differences between regions of America are over-stated and the difference between America and other western countries is understated. I find Canada quite foreign in many ways so I imagine Australia, Ireland, etc are far moreso even.
Re: politics and religion- I'm not sure; but re: attitudes, ways of life, etc., - no way.
As an example- compare some of the largest cities: Los Angeles, NYC, El Paso TX, Chicago. It's like entirely different worlds.
What region would that be? i have never seen a large prevalence of people tote guns around anywhere in this country to be honest.
Gun use/prevalence/culture in my state and in areas of the South could not be more opposite. You can barely even legally carry a gun in NJ compared to how easy it is in some other states, not even just in the South. People love to say the US has a "gun culture"... I don't see it on the whole. I see it regional, maybe even rural vs urban, but this whole country is NOT obsessed with guns or using them. Not where I live.
Gun use/prevalence/culture in my state and in areas of the South could not be more opposite. You can barely even legally carry a gun in NJ compared to how easy it is in some other states, not even just in the South. People love to say the US has a "gun culture"... I don't see it on the whole. I see it regional, maybe even rural vs urban, but this whole country is NOT obsessed with guns or using them. Not where I live.
I mostly hear the term "Gun culture" from people who aren't even American and who probably watch too much CNN.... or BBC or whatever...
I mostly hear the term "Gun culture" from people who aren't even American and who probably watch too much CNN.... or BBC or whatever...
So do I. But the idea of a "gun culture" isn't so inaccurate - it's just not totally widespread like many (mostly foreigners) think.
When I was in the Dallas area, gift shops I went into were selling gun memorabilia/themed items, also cowboy themed things and a lot of crosses and star shaped souvenirs as well. You won't find that kind of stuff here where I live, for various reasons. I was shocked at seeing gun earrings for sale, and gun necklaces and other gun themed stuff. Gaudy cowboy/cowgirl, Southern and country themed stuff also. You will NEVER find that here in a typical touristy area. There's a whole different set of NJ-like or NJ-themed objects you'll find but guns, cowboys, and crosses aren't among them. I got the feeling that's how Texas/Dallas area was branding itself, but it's also cultural. Gun laws in TX are much more lax than here in NJ. It's cultural.
Honestly, having grown up in New England, and having spent time living in the U.K.,I think there are some ways New England's culture is actually more similar to British culture than the generalized American culture. These include a desire to not be open about religion, and the idea that good neighbors keep to themselves and don't speak unless spoken to.
Honestly when it comes to differences between New England and the rest of the country I view that is more to due with the isolationism of the region. I mean the whole region only borders one state that isn't part of the region and that state is New York. As far as not being open about religion I always wondered if that is because of the history of religious fanaticism in the early history of New England with things like the Salem Witch trials. It's not because the area is more enlightened and thus not religious it's because the area has a really bad history of bigotry and the inhabitants aren't religious because of there embarrassment of their ancestor's religious extremism. In PA the Quakers weren't extremist like the Puritans were so that's probably why Pennsylvanian's are less worried about others being more open or not about religion.
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Originally Posted by bolehboleh
I live in Malaysia and grew up in Massachusetts so I can see that many countries have different cultures when you travel around them. I also see that in the United States. It's one of the things I miss most about being home. When I lived in Cambridge Mass, I often felt like I was entering another country whenever I had to head out to rural Pennsylvania for work. I don't say that to be condescending or offensive to people who live in rural areas; I just recognize the distinct differences between our "cultures."
It's the same if your from PA entering Massachusetts. Massachusetts is just in a different region of the country then PA is in (I don't buy the whole Northeastern Culture bs for a moment). PA regionally has about as much in common with Massachusetts as it does with Alabama which is to say not a whole hell of a lot.
I hiked the Appalachian Trail last year, and I can tell you America is pretty much the same. The biggest differences would probably be the accents. The people along the trail are amazing. Southern hospitality exists in the north as well I can assure you.
Maine might as well be a southern state. I may retire there. I have already applied for several jobs there. 75 and sunny in August. Sign me up.
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