Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
we are fluent in think speak-a 1984 sci fi language that relabels everything to suit those in power.
what we are calling cultural diversity might be social fragmentation and polarization.
culture is societies method of efficiently dealing with its problems and abnormalities.
when this fails to happen enormous energy is diverted from its essential purposes, raising kids, education and food getting.
examples 50% divorce rate, bulging prison population, enormous litigation over every social and economic plain and endless wars and debt.
Still it is only on a whole other ballgame when it comes to scenery, but still everything is so familiar and not that different.... unless if you are in East L.A.
Not only the scenery. But demographically. Cali sticks out because of the large Asian/Hispanic populations not found in most of the US excluding the states that border Mexico. Add to that. Is the Progressive politics and a different fashion sense from Middle America. And Ive been to Middle America, lol. There are fashion trends here that wouldnt fly in the rest of the country.
I honestly don't understand the whole "Is blah blah blah state southern" "Is blah blah blah state midwestern" "Is the midwest more similar to the north east or the great plains"
I really don't see a big difference between our regions culturally speaking, just the scenery is different... moving from Minnesota to Texas people made it seem like i was moving half way across the world, honestly its not that different from back home, everyone eats the same food, watches the same tv and movies, listens to the same music, celebrate the same holidays, architecture is very similar, layout of the cities are similar. just religion is different, Minnesota has a huge Lutheran population that you won't find in Texas...
It wasn't ALWAYS this way. It was more when everything got franchise-chained up across the country that things started looking homogenous.
I agree though; I went to Dallas once (I live in DC), and basically all the same stuff was there; Rooms to Go, Cheddar's restaurant, Dave & Buster's, same music that was playing in NC, etc.
Not only the scenery. But demographically. Cali sticks out because of the large Asian/Hispanic populations not found in most of the US excluding the states that border Mexico. Add to that. Is the Progressive politics and a different fashion sense from Middle America. And Ive been to Middle America, lol. There are fashion trends here that wouldnt fly in the rest of the country.
Plenty of Asians and Hispanics, plenty of progressive beliefs can be found outside California.
I also live in Middle America, every single person in the world has different fashion senses which is the same all over the world.
California really isnt that unique in my opinion.
Looking at a map and pointing to any coastal area in the world, and go 2,500 miles inland and you go through so many different countries and cultures. Point to Portugal, go 2,500 miles east you end up in Russia. Point to Morocco, go 2,500 miles west you end up in Saudi Arabia.
In the USA there isnt much dramatic differences between that 2,500 miles between each coast.
I don't find much the same between different areas besides chain stores and holidays. Houston is much different than Minneapolis in my opinion. Even Chicago and Minneapolis seem very different to me and they are both in the midwest.
Welcome to Great Debates. From this point forward all posts need to follow the special guidelines of this forum, which can be found in the stickies at the top of the forum thread page. Please read them before posting.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Plenty of Asians and Hispanics, plenty of progressive beliefs can be found outside California.
I also live in Middle America, every single person in the world has different fashion senses which is the same all over the world.
California really isnt that unique in my opinion.
I forgot to add a surfing and outdoorsy beach subculture thats only found somewhere else in Australia, and a unique car subculture. Not too many Surfer dudes on the East Coast nor Lowriders in the Midwest. I can name more unique things. But these come off the top of my head.
It's true that people are generally the same no matter where you go, but there is a small level of diversity.
I've lived in the mid-Atlantic, the northwest, and currently live in the Rockies region of the country. I also frequently visit the southeast because I have family there, and am moving to the midwest next January. The biggest differences I've noticed is in education, the proliferation of certain subcultures, ethnic diversity, artistic interest, popular recreational activities, level of fitness, food, and level of homogeneity among the populaces.
Maybe you haven't noticed, OP, because you don't really care? I'm a people-person, so I like to observe these kinds of things. But perhaps these kinds of things just don't matter to you so they don't register.
Diversity is nice on the surface, but the sad reality is that diverse places tend to have more crime, poverty and social ills than more homogenous societies, in America anyway.
To the extent that diversity includes poverty that is not present in the homogenous society.
A homogenous trailer park will have far more crime than a diverse suburb. Unfortunately, often times we see "diversity" in the fact that poor people may not look like the person judging the "diversity". If you check out some of the low crime / low poverty diverse areas the culture can be very interesting.
Plenty of Asians and Hispanics, plenty of progressive beliefs can be found outside California.
I also live in Middle America, every single person in the world has different fashion senses which is the same all over the world.
California really isnt that unique in my opinion.
Looking at a map and pointing to any coastal area in the world, and go 2,500 miles inland and you go through so many different countries and cultures. Point to Portugal, go 2,500 miles east you end up in Russia. Point to Morocco, go 2,500 miles west you end up in Saudi Arabia.
In the USA there isnt much dramatic differences between that 2,500 miles between each coast.
At first I was going to disagree and point out that California is vastly different than Iowa. However, in the context of the comparison you have suggested, I must admit that the relative difference of California vs Iowa is dwarfed by Portugal vs Russia.
However, within a country, I believe that we still have a fairly substantial level of diversity. Our country just happens to be geographically larger than many other countries.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
