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So class hatred, gas ovens and "ethnioc cleansing", all of which surfaced in Europe over the past century, are somehow not as big a fault as unabashed capitalism?
The usual double-standards, applied by the over sheltered and over-sanitized, are showing up all over this thread.
Part of that 'being full of yourself' attitude of some Americans is quickly disappearing. That attitude grew out of our ability to compete favorably with the rest of the world, first by slavery, and then after so much of the world was decimated after WWII.
Now our businesses in the US are deserting us for greener pastures, going overseas for brains that cost less and importing illegal help here at home for the job that can't be exported.
I think the era of the haughty American is exiting. Maybe we will have the haughty Chinese or Indian next?
The funny thing is, had I started a thread on some positive attribute of Americans, those same people now saying there is no national character etc. would have agreed with me (yes, I know, they will pop up here now and say they wouldn't have) I guess most people only consider positive attributes valid, maybe it is typical of the human mind... Give me just the compliments and keep the criticism
I think people from the same country or culture do have a "veneer" that has been acquired through conditioning, and that conditioning includes both positive and negative traits. But I think it's a lot more complex than often gets portrayed in these kinds of discussions. I hope that makes sense. I think there are very real upsides and downsides to every culture, just like there are to every individual, but because people are so quick to judge and condemn, I do honestly refrain from emphasizing the negative attributes I notice.
But our whole system is based on competition. I think we feel that our very survival as individuals depends on it. We don't have the social safety net of some other countries, do we? Doesn't competition, in some way, make the other guy an enemy? The whole Ayn Rand Libertarian idea of rugged individualism, the creative individual, the ground breaker, is tied up in this.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to excel, but in some it goes too far and they feel they must also put down the other guy. I think everyone would like to stand out in something. Otherwise, we are merely another sort of cattle, eating, breeding, sleeping, etc.
True. Me, I don't think I'm competitive at all. It would explain why I felt like I fit in more in another country, though I was born and raised here! Obviously, not all Americans hate gentleness (and I probably wouldn't word it that way, for those who do seem to). But I do feel there is something, if not your theory, about American culture that makes kindness the exception rather than the norm.
Visitors from outside a country who come and stay for a while in a city, believe that the city is the culture of the whole nation. If you travel say 30 miles in any direction from the city..the culture shifts and you go back in time to the previous more established culture. Cities tend to be a strange blend of all culture because immigrants tend to settle first in cities..If you want to know traditional red neck culture..yes it is a culture..You have to go to the country..The rural country side is best representative of a nation culturally speaking.
So class hatred, gas ovens and "ethnioc cleansing", all of which surfaced in Europe over the past century, are somehow not as big a fault as unabashed capitalism?
The usual double-standards, applied by the over sheltered and over-sanitized, are showing up all over this thread.
Ethnic cleansing and genocide are awful crimes.
How wrongs make a right?
Part of that 'being full of yourself' attitude of some Americans is quickly disappearing. That attitude grew out of our ability to compete favorably with the rest of the world, first by slavery, and then after so much of the world was decimated after WWII.
Now our businesses in the US are deserting us for greener pastures, going overseas for brains that cost less and importing illegal help here at home for the job that can't be exported.
I think the era of the haughty American is exiting. Maybe we will have the haughty Chinese or Indian next?
So? .... Most of us who live daily lives "closer to the street" will learn how to compete by adapting here and there.The nation still has the best-organized (unless you're into radical Veganism), most diverse and potentially self-sufficient agriculture on the globe, the finest heavy-duty freight transport infrastructure (anchored by a privately-held rail network, which rebuilt itself primarily with its own capital, BTW), and there are any number of industries in which American technology remains pre-eminent.
And the majority of us, particulary since the participation rate in the labor force among women began taking off, don't yearn for a return to the gritty days of "smokestack industry"; we want to be the world's doctor, banker, insurance agfent and philanthropist.
We will survive, we will grow, we will prosper; but as lot of us don't think the "enlightened" European model is a good example to follow.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-01-2012 at 07:22 PM..
Again the bias of the observer will determine their conclusions.
Observation is one way to develop opinions. I noticed you haven't provided any contra to my observations, but prefer to dismiss it all as biased. Social critics have been expressing opinions (based on observation) for centuries.
Ethnic cleansing and genocide are awful crimes.
How wrongs make a right?
Most of the self-appointed intelligentsia here seem preoccupied with only one of those wrongs, and it's the one that has filled far fewer graves, and far less deliberately.
I repeat -- double-standards are in effect.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-01-2012 at 07:17 PM..
Observation is one way to develop opinions. I noticed you haven't provided any contra to my observations, but prefer to dismiss it all as biased. Social critics have been expressing opinions (based on observation) for centuries.
Well of course all opinions are informed by bias. As you correctly pointed out there is no way to quantify gentleness, so it is a subjective determination informed by biases. I do not feel compelled to provide opposing opinions to yours. Suffice it to say they exist and are equally valid to your opinion.
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I guess most people only consider positive attributes valid, maybe it is typical of the human mind... Give me just the compliments and keep the criticism 