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.
The real America is watching TV, listening to Top 40, going to Target and McDonald's and subway and barely ever leaving the backyard. And believing that the earth was created in 7 days and that this same creator had a son who wants us to love our enemy so much that we send troops all around the world with guns and tanks
You need to get out of the South, that's your problem. No one among my friends, acquaintances, work colleagues or relatives has ever set foot in a McDonalds. Ew. I've been in a Target maybe twice in my whole life. and never a Subway. Nobody I've ever known in my whole life believes the Earth was created in 7 days. (It's hard to believe you're serious about that one.) Several of my friends, like myself, don't even own TV's. You really need to bust out of your corner of reality and find a niche that fits you. Create a life for yourself that suits your values.
My point is that there is some ingredient that is missing from US.
And again, you are not very clear. WHICH ingredient is missing from the US? Please stop beating around the bush and just name the ingredient that you think is missing in the US.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EricS39
Facts to support it can be found in where you find the best chocolate, the best food, the quality of life index
What do chocolate and food have to do with arts and culture? Because you find Belgian chocolate more to your liking than chocolate in the US, Europe is more into arts?
Really? Small villages and towns sound great, until you live there. If Americans love it so much, why don't they build them? It seems to me that based on what you and the OP wrote here, there must be a huge market for it. But they are not being built, Americans prefer the big houses, the big cities. So I conclude that the nice
Actually, if you follow trends (as I do for my work), a huge trend is building "Walkable Communities" and transit communties where cars are parked on the edge or behind houses and citizens can walk or bike (and in some cases, ride an electric golf cart) to all the amenities.
Seems many of us DO want out of our cars. Especially those who live in large cities and have long commutes. When we come home at the end of the day, we don't want to get back in our cars and fight for parking spaces to go out to grocery shop, eat out, go to entertainment venues...
So you see, many do want walkable areas and "walkable communties" are big news in modern urban design. Rails to Trails projects are other big news in towns and cities where people can cycle for recreation and in some cases to work.
With the cost of gasoline ever rising and roads clogged, it makes sense to get us out of our cars and into less pricey and polluting commuting and transportation modes.
Meanwhile we have Paris and New York-- two walkable cities with great public transporation. It's a liability to own a car in those two cities.
Another huge trend is smaller homes and downsizing. Google "tiny houses" to see what's wildly popular. Why do you think Americans want huge houses? That's yesterday's news. We're all going broke (except for the top 2% tier)--we cannot afford to maintain, heat, cool and furnish those McMansions any more.
These trends mentioned are not really trends- they are something we're seeing with a small segment of society. The mainstream of our society is not wanting out of their cars, and is not wanting tiny houses. There are people for sure who want both of those, but the vast majority of people still want the nice house in the suburbs with enough room for the kids and with a yard big enough for the kids to play outside, with at least a two car garage. Because people in this country still like driving- sure they don't like traffic, but they like the convenience of cars.
And to the original post, I do think as others mentioned that the OP just hasn't been around the US enough. There are so many nice places around this country- and I would argue our cities are nicer, the architecture is cool to look at in Europe, but if you had to live there you'd quickly realize how run down a lot of places are, how it's not so comfortable living in a really old building/home. The newness of so much of what we have here is really something not to be taken lightly.
I find the difference with US landmarks and Europe's comes down to everyday lifestyle
Europe equivalent is you live art and culture and architecture you base your conversations and wrap your soul around these things
Where as US you can point to sites in the US most definitely, but for MOST Americans daily life is not interacting with these places and things. Instead it's like something you visit on a vacation and then say oooohhhh ahhhhh and then back to your plain suburban bubble.
For Europeans the architecture awareness goes deeper than a tourist exhibit. I will say that the surroundings of some of the more artsy cities in the US are the exception to what I'm saying. But out in the middle of a North Carolina town midway between Raleigh and Charlotte North Carolina
A town in Alabama
A suburb in Ohio
You just don't see much in art and architecture you just don't
The typical person in a western European country is doing similar things to what many Americans do- going to work, going to a department store chain or a mall in the evenings or weekends, going home and watching TV shows that aren't too different than ours (After all, American Idol was branched off from a UK show, America's Got Talent came from Britain's Got Talent, the X factor came from a show by the same name over there, and they have something huge called Eurovision which is sort of the European olympics of singing competitions).
So no, the average European is not living, eating, and sleeping art- they are doing a mundane routine just like the rest of us are. This is a misconception we as Americans have of them, and many of them think it's funny that we think that way about them.
So no, the average European is not living, eating, and sleeping art- they are doing a mundane routine just like the rest of us are. This is a misconception we as Americans have of them, and many of them think it's funny that we think that way about them.
Very well put. I think the OP probably has not traveled a lot but even Atlanta is a very cool city for its location and it has a lot to offer for its size. I think he would be very disappointed to find out that Europeans watch some of the same crappy American reality TV shows and sitcoms as we do here.
I have been going to Germany at least once a year for the last 5 years and every year, it seems like everything becomes more and more Americanized. Many German kids dress exactly like American kids, same brands, same style and they love New Era baseball hats like we do here.
These are the parks that few Americans actually visit. It's international tourists that really visit these places and so it goes there's places within the US that are magnets for international tourism and nobody actually calls these places home. Also the architectural cities of NYC and Chicago are also surviving on foreign tourism and foreign investments and have little to do with any American influence these days. Some but not consider almost 50% of NYC residents were foreign-born.
The real America is watching TV, listening to Top 40, going to Target and McDonald's and subway and barely ever leaving the backyard. And believing that the earth was created in 7 days and that this same creator had a son who wants us to love our enemy so much that we send troops all around the world with guns and tanks
That is your opinion! Fine!
Now go and do some homework. Learn a bit about the US. Learn a lot about people. Gain some compassion and tolerance of others, their way of live and their views. Short - life does not stop at your plate rim.
The real America is watching TV, listening to Top 40, going to Target and McDonald's and subway and barely ever leaving the backyard. And believing that the earth was created in 7 days and that this same creator had a son who wants us to love our enemy so much that we send troops all around the world with guns and tanks
Mhm this is all i do, i also think the earth is 2,014 years old.
Now excuse me i have to go make a Big Mac run.
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.
I've been in a Target maybe twice in my whole life. and never a Subway. Nobody I've ever known in my whole life believes the Earth was created in 7 days. (It's hard to believe you're serious about that one.) Several of my friends, like myself, don't even own TV's. You really need to bust out of your corner of reality and find a niche that fits you. Create a life for yourself that suits your values.
