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This reminds me of how Mexico, Cloumbia and Peru correctly respond when they're blamed for the American drug trade: "Our criminals wouldn't produce drugs if Americans didn't buy drugs."
Well, guess what, folks? The reason why our crap is so popular worldwide is because THERE IS A MARKET FOR IT. So before you get on your high horse, please explain to me why David Hassellhoff has a singing career in Germany or "Dallas" was a massive worldwide hit.
The simple fact is that there is a certain level of bullsh*t in any culture. Saying that "everything" American is bad is just as dumb as saying everything in the EU is great. Really? So "The Wire", Bob Dylan, and Tennesse Williams suck while "Big Brother", "Unter Uns", and Abba are the height of culture? Give me a f*cking break.
Personally, I try to find cool things from as many cultures as I can learn about - like the great crime dramas that have been coming out of Sweden lately, or awesome bands like Gogol Bordello from Ukraine, Arcade Fire from Canada, or Woven Bones from right here in Austin - instead of indulging in juvenile discussions about who's culture is "best".
Sorry to go on a rant, folks, but I'm so tired of the constant bashing of American culture. If you want to complain about our government or businesses, fine, I'll probably agree with you on a lot of it, but I've been around long enough to know that you don't have to look very hard to find bad TV, music, or other so-called "culture" in *any* country.
I do thinik that more coutnries will become Capatialist because its the only long term system that really works. Socialism just leads to the difference between North nad south korea;so many non-prodcutive people becoming dependent on a few.In the long run that is a plan for nothing but problems. Especially has they can not actually defend themselves because they spend so much on dependency.
Do you even know wtf you are talking about??
Good gawd, the least you could do is at least read the OP (i.e. "original post") prior to ranting about politics (typically American, of course) in some language that somewhat resembles the English language.
Good gawd, the least you could do is at least read the OP (i.e. "original post") prior to ranting about politics (typically American, of course) in some language that somewhat resembles the English language.
Correct. After all, America has been pretty good at collecting it from all over the place and legitimizing it.
America also seems to hold their "cultural bad" in much higher regard than other cultures, where "the bad" is clearly identified and sanctioned as such.
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The world has adopted American values of consumerism and capitalism, as well as globalism to some degree, but there's been a realisation that nations need to actively preserve their own cultural identities.
Australia, a new nation without an established cultural identity, is pretty vulnerable to other aspects of American culture like even the accent (believe me, I've observed this among the young), slang, values etc.
Maybe you're responding to me? I didn't mean everything from the US was trash and everything from outside the US isn't. I just meant that companies tend to market the trashier stuff, not so much indie films, bands (unless they become a buzz band) to the outside world. The US produces more and the companies are better at marketing globally.
When I said I hoped other countries could start producing and spreading their art and entertainment globally, I meant whether it was trashy or not. What is more important is preventing the youth from becoming homogenized globally by large companies. If countries are able to help show a diversity in behavior, customs, style, ideals, and so on, this will help prevent homogenization. You point out you personally search for and watch foreign programs (I do as well, thank you Internet), but how many others in the US, Canada, UK are exposed to Swedish crime dramas or even Japanese television dramas? Yet in Sweden and Japan, American programs are easily found and many kids (more so in Sweden) are as familiar with the popular American shows as Americans, but not so much shows from other countries. Swedish bands are popular with music junkies/indie kids and Japanese anime is fairly mainstream, at least in the US, but these alone, with their limited reach demographically, poorly present to the general public what life is like for people in those countries.
Last edited by vaga bond; 08-22-2010 at 09:45 PM..
@poxonyou : no, bro, I wasn't responding to you in particular, just to the all-to-common lazy offensiveness that passes for discourse these days, like the German dude that was looking down his nose at us when his country has been going nuts over that clown David Hassellhoff for the last decade or so.
I should know better than to complain about it, though. It's like p*ssing in an ocean of p*ss.
Are you referring to eating cheeseburgers and getting really fat???....or to listening to hip-hop and dressing/acting thuggish?
Yeah, I do notice europeans in particular getting some fairly large rings around their stomach...and grazing at starbucks all day, if that is what you mean...
But, actually, I think that is just the consumer culture...as big business talks, and big business moves quickly around the world.
I think that on the inside though, people of each culture is still drastically different...and a fat chinese person with a hip-hop shirt is still going to act significantly different than a fat american with a hip-hop shirt.
Because all Americans are fat, listen to rap, and dress thuggish...
@poxonyou : no, bro, I wasn't responding to you in particular, just to the all-to-common lazy offensiveness that passes for discourse these days, like the German dude that was looking down his nose at us when his country has been going nuts over that clown David Hassellhoff for the last decade or so.
I should know better than to complain about it, though. It's like p*ssing in an ocean of p*ss.
Who else have they been going nuts over? You don't want to make a German and American list, right?
Culture also has a time dimension - which the German one has, with or without Hasselhoff.
Americans are "recent" type of people, as they are bred to annihilate any real sense of custom or tradition - which is what goes into the making of a real culture at the end of the day (or the century, or the millenium).
By "recent" I don't mean "young". After all, enough time has elapsed since this country was founded, during which solid traditions, values and identities could have been nurtured and solidified. They haven't.
American culture is something similar to a can: legitimate only if it hasn't gone past its expiration date. Latest is best.
How can this mindset amount to any sort of culture, in the true sense of the word? Only perhaps to an "un-culture".
The human types bred by "recent" cultures are types who remain rudimentary and unpolished no matter how much times passes over them.
Last edited by syracusa; 08-22-2010 at 11:52 PM..
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