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In his journey across America he thought bystanders and strangers wouldn't notice him because America is supposedly an isolated society.
Yet when his trial came up people from all over the woods came out to speak against him.
In my own experiences Americans are effusive and even content. In the campus I lived on for a while the guys and girls would hang out, play Frisbee outside, laugh, and all around have a jolly time.
In Walmart or Home Depot the people all help each other out, and they'd even pay for a veteran who doesn't have the money.
In the condominiums and parking lots I've been to old people are always just chatting away.
Shoppers at big malls are surrounded by friends, all from different age groups. They talk about going to the ice cream shop or looking at some cloths ( sic ) like they're in total bliss.
Among families, there is always great communication, the parents love when their kids succeed, and their goal in life is to sit by the patio and relax.
Co-workers joke around with each other. In poor communities in the inner city people are blasting rap music and playing hard. In Appalachia the people are sad but that is not the mainstream of society.
My biggest problem is the mainstream of society (not those on the outside like Native reservations).
My thoughts and values lead me to think that the American way of life is corrupting. People are always looking for instant gratification, cheap consumer goods are a necessity of life, and immediate comfort is more important than identity or culture.
You see we once fought wars for kings or religions, things that did not affect the peasant class. It was on one hand pointless but on the other it uplifted people into believing in things like Chivalry. Now we fight practical wars to save the economy and keep people safe from terrorism that can disrupt their daily lives.
The central conceit to all this is people should be unhappy, yet they're content.
I'm not talking about depression, I'm talking about frustration. People involved in society should have a lack of inner peace. But instead they are more than willing to fight and die for this system.
I was asking someone here a while ago what they wanted out of the world. Its a question I don't think people value, they say stuff like long life and wealth, but what does that mean? What do you believe in, how do you see people interacting and working? What is it you want?
And this person told me they wanted a blender. It stuck with me to this day. They wanted a blender because that fulfills them. They wanted it so they could sit on their patio and relax with an easily made mango smoothie in hand.
Never mind this cheap crap comes from wall street speculation and secondary markets in Africa.
But it makes Americans happy. I just want people to believe in something, to feel something like it matters.
I don't care what that is, I don't care if you're a rich person who hates poor people, or if you want revenge, or something, just anything.
And yet Americans just want a cheap affordable blender. And the soldiers love them for it, they're willing to die for it, and they call it 'democracy'?
What good is democracy if it just means everyone is self interested and no one is part of anything bigger than themselves?
Sure their groupies like catholic church or gay pride, but they're all ancillary to the main goals of Americans.
And it works, it truly works for them. This cohesiveness in American society is maddening, how can this be it for everyone?
I find this post full of cliches, and frankly odd. I've travelled in the US for many years, and yes consumerism can be an issue, but you are making it sound like Americans are walking around like zombies.
Are you a born and bred American? Using phrases like " jolly time " is something I've never heard an American say, let alone a Canadian. Ice Cream shop? Sounds like the 1950's.
I find this post full of cliches, and frankly odd. I've travelled in the US for many years, and yes consumerism can be an issue, but you are making it sound like Americans are walking around like zombies.
Are you a born and bred American? Using phrases like " jolly time " is something I've never heard an American say, let alone a Canadian. Ice Cream shop? Sounds like the 1950's.
Sounds like a recovering libertarian free market fundamentalist Ayn Randian acolyte to me.
Leftists are perpetually unhappy. It’s the Echo Chamber they live in.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retroit
We’re happy because the socialists haven’t completely destroyed this country yet. So blenders can still be purchased without being on a waiting list.
Totally true. It’s a mistake for the Leftists to think that because Normal Mainstream Americans love and Value our Freedoms and System of Government- that we are not paying attention to those that want to take it all away from us. It’s a mistake to think we won’t fight for our Freedoms and the Practical life they can’t comprehend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Winterfall8324
I see it in campus life here in NH, in the malls of the DC metro area, in Walmart, in grocery stores, in condominiums across Maryland, at airports in LA and Denver, as well as other places.
I'd love to enter deep bliss whenever, but I also want society to have a structure and order that is more ethereal than practical.
On the Up-Side .... you still have plenty of time to grow up. Hard to do while you view the world from inside a Bubble. Venture out of the .bubble and some .happy might sneak up on you.
Perhaps a drug haze or even a Monastery might be a better place for your “ ethereal “ World. The vast Majority of American People deal with the “practical”. The vast Majority of Americans LOVE both Structure and Order .... particularly Law and Order. There is no structure in “bliss” or a make believe ethereal world.
Perhaps a drug haze or even a Monastery might be a better place for your “ ethereal “ World. The vast Majority of American People deal with the “practical”. The vast Majority of Americans LOVE both Structure and Order .... particularly Law and Order. There is no structure in “bliss” or a make believe ethereal world.
Structure and order vs. creative destruction are not compatible.
I don't mind order, I just care what type of morals are being enforced on society.
I'll just put this out there: America, unlike most of the rest of the world, hasn't been subject to significant military invasions. We haven't learned the cynicism that comes from wars on your territory and the constant threat of invasion. As a result, we're more optimistic about the future, and content with the present. At least in white America, at any rate.
Immorality is just what's against the current moral system.
I don't think the morals of practicality, utilitarianism, self-interest, and sympathy are evil.
I just society should have a different focus.
As for Happiness I only observed that most Americans are happy and I have no idea why.
(Happiness here means content).
I would consider myself content in my material life while not content in my intellectual life. What is it about my supposed focus as a representative American that you find lacking?
I would consider myself content in my material life while not content in my intellectual life. What is it about my supposed focus as a representative American that you find lacking?
You could be an anomaly.
I think most Americans are intellectually satisfied or have the potential to be satisfied which confounds me.
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