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I think the OP is trying to stereotype, based on those who live in certain parts of the country. I have neighbors who are Catholics, agnostics, atheists, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Jewish. What part of the country to I live in, based on this? Oh, there are also Socialists, Republicans, Democrats, and those who can't make up their minds. Also, Milwaukee is in the Midwest, but I bet most wouldn't guess that it is the only major city to have had three Socialist mayors. Now, how would you categorize Wisconsin in your tight little categories??
Can you give us some more insight as to why you've divided up the country so arbitrarily?
I don't think it's arbitrary at all. It makes sense. But it lacks nuance that would be difficult for someone not very familiar with U.S. to grok. I would have no idea as to how to divide the U.K. I have a very basic sense but that's about it.
If i were dividing the U.S. in a very general way England Dan i would do it this way > the North East (the New England states and New York State, New Jersey and Pennsylvania), the South East the Mid-West, the Intermountain West, the Southwest, the west coast which includes the North West (both Oregon and Washington) and yet California is truly a place unto itself and is so varied re; it's population and the natural environment that there is not just one California (although in another way there is ... hard to explain.)
And Vermont (a very New "Englandy" state is so different from New Jersey).
And Virginia, which is considered a southern state, is not at all the same as, for example, Mississippi. Or Kentucky. Or Florida. And the upper mid-west states are varied and also differ from the more southern mid-western states.
The large states (like Texas) vary greatly depending on where you are in the state. Houston is on the Gulf Coast and i imagine (definitely not my areas of expertise) is more like Louisiana (right folks?) whereas western Texas is an entirely different world.
Even the smaller states are quite different depending on where you are in the state. Northern New Hampshire is quite different from southern New Hampshire which borders Massachusetts. And yet it's all New Hampshire and definitely not MA re; identity.
Some states are more homogenous and don't vary as much as others.
That's my take for what it's worth.
There seems to be a growing mentality and cultural, even racial divide between these four areas of the United States, have Americans experienced any identity observations?
No
Quote:
Originally Posted by i'm not a cookie
In college, I've had friends from Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orange County, Phoenix, New Jeresy, New York City and Washington DC. Culturally I would say they are all the same with minor differences. Yes the people from PHX/LA/OC had more in common with each other than people from NY/NJ but I would say as a whole we are all, culturally, pretty similar. I think that you start to see differences in culture when you observe people from small towns across the country. Someone from an upper middle class family who grew up in Denver, culturally, is similar to someone who grew up in an upper middle class family from Seattle(maybe with slight differences such as political believes or certain attire). This is my experience and I think that as a whole we are more similar as a nation than we give ourselves credit for. At least compared to other countries like Germany, Italy, Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, Russia, ect. where depending on where you live in the country it's almost as if you are in an entirely different nation.
Agree for the most part. In your example, Denver-Seattle, there are as many differences among people in Denver or in Seattle as there are between people from the two cities, especially when it comes to politics. Attire, perhaps there are certain types of attire more common or popular in various cities, but to tell you the truth, I've been a lot of places and it's not obvious. People in Denver tend to dress more casually than people from the large eastern and midwestern cities, but again, people dress up in Denver and dress down in New York and Chicago. Dress depends, too, on what one does for a living.
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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The only people who really believe we as citizens of the modern United States belong to separate nations are the sort who desire it.
They believe what they think is the unshakable truth and what they do is the highest form of justice.
They believe that the way they live is the one true path and anything that deviates from it may as well be another country entirely.
They convince themselves that their culture is the absolute. That all others are inferior and/or incorrect.
They convince themselves that there can be no parallels between their chosen region of the world and any other for we are all just so immensely different and far flung from one another.
"No there can be no similarities between Tennessee, Vermont, and Wyoming! No I say! No, I cannot accept that because it challenges my narrow perception and comfortable position of ignorance and bias!" They will bellow; raised fist shaking.
Labeling another region or state in this context as another nation is only a tool to openly dismiss reality and rob legitimacy from your neighbors. It's a tool to use when you've been cornered and have only two options; agree or dismiss.
It is often used to express personal biases against certain peoples and their respective states/regions without blatantly making bigoted and typically uninformed statements.
This is the United States. It is one country and it has been for a long time. Our commonalities far outweigh our differences. Our reliance on one another outweigh our independence in the modern global arena. Our infrastructure is that of a unified landscape and not that of several isolated regions and has contributed to the bonding of our people.
Especially in the information age we have become closer to our neighbors in many ways. Whether it be as huge as politics or as simple as accents.
Our culture is one of many flavors and that is a good thing. That is one of the staples of our nation; variety. However, that variety still fits under the over-arching umbrella of our language, lifestyles and principles. None of which are quite as divided as some want to argue they are.
A person from New York City may have different colloquialisms than somebody from Little Rock, Arkansas but we still speak a common language. Slang doesn't count as an entirely new tongue.
So to answer your question, No. We are one nation. A nation obsessed with itself.
There seems to be a growing mentality and cultural, even racial divide between these four areas of the United States, have Americans experienced any identity observations?
No, they are simply different regions of our nation. You will find many of the same variations within a region that you will find between regions. And there is a massive amount of movement constantly between them.
The so-called "divisions" in America are all talk and very little action. That's how you know it is fake.
Still haven't seen the unity you guys are asserting and then demeaning those who don't agree.
I think the idea is that regional cultural differences in the U.S. are very minor compared to other countries.
I understand the stance, but I think it's wrong. Having spent time living abroad, I definitely think that (as an example) the culture in New England is more akin to Britain or Canada than the U.S. South.
That map and the link to the Tufts article was brought up in another forum as well just a few days ago. Supposedly the author won some sort of prize, which is surprising. The accompanying text is very political. That "El Norte" stuff is racist. I like the label the far west . . . for the Dakotas, Kansas and Nebraska, LOL! That's not how they identify themselves. And we in the far west and our "corporate masters", LOL! He needs to get out of Boston more.
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