Which country in the world is most similar to United Kingdom? (beaches, atheist)
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Culturally I'd say the UK shares more affinity with European countries like the Netherlands and Germany, despite our bizarre refusal to acknowledge this almost constantly. We share a lot of common traits with Aussies and Kiwis, particularly in terms of sport and lingo, but not Americans and Canadians. Brits will tend to - or have historically favoured - places like New Zealand and Australia as places to move to due to the shared language and the perceived idea that they are culturally identical to us in almost every way (like the UK but with sunshine).
Politically and economically I'd say it's kind of like a halfway house between Europe and the US, but closer to the former in terms of the values it upholds - much bigger welfare state and socialised medicine, more 'progressive' on matters such as homosexuality & same-sex marriage, more generous paid maternity leave that is guaranteed by law, and other things. Politically I'd say our Conservative Party is more left-leaning than the Democrats or at least they are both 'centrist' in a broad sense despite representing different ends of the political spectrum in their respective countries.
The UK is less car-centric than the US overall, fewer people drive and own cars on a per person basis. More noticeable in major cities like London but generally true nationwide compared to the US, as well as Aus/NZ/Canada. These new world countries have more sprawling suburbia that tend to look very similar to me.
I'd say the countries that are the most similar to the UK are, in no particular order - Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand.
The UK is not more progressive on homosexuality than the US, they're about the same - though Britain maintained much more stringent sodomy laws than the US did, and maintained separate consent ages for gay and straight people. The US was far more civically strident in it's social politics, as the modern gay rights movement, and much of modern gay "culture", originated in the US.
The closest without Ireland are New Zealand and Australia cultural wise and Netherlands structural wise.
I'm loling at US having more votes than Netherlands.
Very little of the US feels like The UK outside of the northeast. Sporting culture is completely different, much bigger house sizes in the US, a lot more sprawl, different cars, drives on opposite side of the road, drinking culture is not as strong, different electronical outlets, humor is more dry, the brits are more pessimistic, politics is more conservative in the US etc. The typical Brit and Dutch lifestyle is a lot more similar to each other than to an American. And 90% of Dutch speak English
I can't identify with anyone who says politics in the UK feels anything but "conservative". If we're talking from a strictly fiscal perspective, I suppose, but if we're talking from a sociopolitical perspective, the UK feels about the same - from a broader cultural perspective, though, as in, cultural output, and attitudes on libertarianism, individualism vs. collectivism, surveillance, censorship, and obscenity, general national character, etc, the US feels a lot more bawdy and "liberal" than the UK does. I've always thought the US was more like France, Spain, or even Italy on the European continent than the UK, in terms of cultural output and political makeup, at least historically. Much of British culture is un-gregarious, very buttoned up, and incredibly reserved - there's a more palpable/historical sense of prudishness to British culture than there is to American culture. I've seen people try to invert that by cherry picking, but I just don't see it. Sure, the US has some vocal, highly conservative minorities and fringes, but I think it's obvious that the US has cultivated a much more liberal/"free-spirited" culture/popular culture than most countries today have, and is a lot more "libertarian" in spirit, in aggregate, or at median than really anywhere, especially the UK.
This doesn't mean that the US doesn't have regional, local, demographic-specific, and jurisdictional exceptions, but overall, I find it to be a lot more liberal in culture and character than the UK. A lot.
Last edited by olgabolga; 07-26-2020 at 08:32 PM..
Music, TV and films are shared between all Anglo nations, its the language that ties, (some) Americans try and claim all Anglo culture but of course the reality is ALL Anglo nations put into the 'pot' and all share, whether its James Bond, Columbo, Crocodile Dundee, Amy Winehouse, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp, Mel Gibson, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, REM or Adele - all from different Anglo nations and all shared between Anglo nations. Without doubt when it comes to modern 'culture' the UK shares a lot more with Australia, Ireland or Canada than it does with Euro countries.
Um, naming British and Australian singers, artists, and film franchises doesn't really dispute the idea that most popular culture is heavily American, especially by sheer volume - American culture brought us Hollywood and modern film culture, as well as an entire modern musical vernacular, from the invention of the electric guitar to the pop standard and every foundational genre that exists to popular music. Much of that IS American culture, and it's cringey to watch Europeans play the "hate America" game while trying to appropriate the culture we gave you.
Sometimes when I watch a tv series or a movie I can't tell immediately whether it takes place in Britain or the US. Industrial cities like Manchester, Leeds, or Liverpool resemble the rustbelt cities in the US like Baltimore a lot. It's amazing how much British influence there is in the US even today. Usually the cars and the accent of the actors give away the location but the scenery is remarkably similar often.
Baltimore isn't a rust belt city. It's in the mid-atlantic,
Um, naming British and Australian singers, artists, and film franchises doesn't really dispute the idea that most popular culture is heavily American, especially by sheer volume - American culture brought us Hollywood and modern film culture, as well as an entire modern musical vernacular, from the invention of the electric guitar to the pop standard and every foundational genre that exists to popular music. Much of that IS American culture, and it's cringey to watch Europeans play the "hate America" game while trying to appropriate the culture we gave you.
I know you like to think the US gave the world pop culture (many Americans do) bit the French gave the world cinema, the British TV, and trying to claim the US invented music is laughable! Your post is full of American exceptionalism born in you from a lifetime of propaganda. Next you will be telling me the US gave the world English! (yes I've even heard Americans try to claim that!!!!). The US did NOT give the world democracy, or cars, or computers, or telephones, the world is NOT modelled on the US, the US like everywhere else on this planet is globalised and is influenced by innovations and inventions from across the globe! In answer to the original question, the UK is obviously still similar to other Anglo countries that share so much popular culture, language (always a VERY strong tie) , similar government and legal institutions and similar values.These bonds are still very strong but not exclusive.
Culturally I'd say the UK shares more affinity with European countries like the Netherlands and Germany, despite our bizarre refusal to acknowledge this almost constantly. We share a lot of common traits with Aussies and Kiwis, particularly in terms of sport and lingo, but not Americans and Canadians. Brits will tend to - or have historically favoured - places like New Zealand and Australia as places to move to due to the shared language and the perceived idea that they are culturally identical to us in almost every way (like the UK but with sunshine).
Politically and economically I'd say it's kind of like a halfway house between Europe and the US, but closer to the former in terms of the values it upholds - much bigger welfare state and socialised medicine, more 'progressive' on matters such as homosexuality & same-sex marriage, more generous paid maternity leave that is guaranteed by law, and other things. Politically I'd say our Conservative Party is more left-leaning than the Democrats or at least they are both 'centrist' in a broad sense despite representing different ends of the political spectrum in their respective countries.
The UK is less car-centric than the US overall, fewer people drive and own cars on a per person basis. More noticeable in major cities like London but generally true nationwide compared to the US, as well as Aus/NZ/Canada. These new world countries have more sprawling suburbia that tend to look very similar to me.
I'd say the countries that are the most similar to the UK are, in no particular order - Australia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, New Zealand.
The UK is not more progressive on homosexuality and sam-sex marriage than the US. It had federal sodomy laws, the US never did, it’s major LGBT rights movement started well after the US’s (the US’s began with the Mattachine Society in the 1920s), and it federally legalized gay marriage around the same time. And despite what British people would have you believe, American culture and pop culture was always the more sexually open one, and it’s influence is responsible for loosening more conservative global and European cultural mores.
Sick and tired of British people pretending like they’re more “progressive” on homosexuality than the US. What blatant nonsense.
Other than that, how are you gauging “car-centric”? This is a nonsensical and inaccurate deliberation that impugns, without data, that the US is more car-centric than Britain. Where is the data that says the US is more car centric at median and how are you gauging car-centricity?
Also, you just erroneously lump “suburbia” in the US, Australia, and Canada together as if they were all the same, even when the US developed and urbanized before Canada, and well before Australia and New Zealand.
The accusation of sameness also rings hypocritical to me, considering the UK has a much more generalizable national building style that consists of small, boxy semi-detached houses and council estates. So, yeah, no. I find it’s residential architecture much more same-y than the US’s, for quite obvious reasons.
Also, you just erroneously lump “suburbia” in the US, Australia, and Canada together as if they were all the same, even when the US developed and urbanized before Canada, and well before Australia and New Zealand.
The accusation of sameness also rings hypocritical to me, considering the UK has a much more generalizable national building style that consists of small, boxy semi-detached houses and council estates. So, yeah, no. I find it’s residential architecture much more same-y than the US’s, for quite obvious reasons.
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