10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America
Comments
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I think it should say "10 Things SOME Americans Don’t Know About America"
that list is...
well...
tell us something we don't know about some Americans :wtf:
dumb list
1. Few People Are Impressed By Us
2. Few People Hate Us
3. We Know Nothing About The Rest Of The World
4. We Are Poor At Expressing Gratitude And Affection
5. The Quality of Life For The Average American Is Not That Great
6. The Rest Of The World Is Not A Slum-Ridden Shithole Compared To Us
7. We’re Paranoid
8. We’re Status-Obsessed And Seek Attention
9. We Are Very Unhealthy
10. We Mistake Comfort For Happiness
and of course extremely negative when there are many positive people working
to make a positive life for themselves and other Americans, to improve
America.
Generalizations don't give credit to those due and sometimes come from narrow minds
often based in just a grain of truth to simplify a message.
I prefer big pictures based in whole truths with positive messages that unite
for change and boost morale at a time when that could be crucial.
Those who don't like America can either work to change it
in any way they possibly can even the smallest ways, or they can leave it.
There is a huge sign like that near our post office on someone's lawn.
Makes me smile when I see it cause its not quite as polite as I put it
but a sentiment I share.0 -
Good read and so accurate!
"......It’s just easier to spot it in others (i.e., the French) ...."
:shock:
Another reality... some Americans really like to have a dig at the French! 
"... It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome things about you (BRO, THAT’S AWESOME!!!). And it doesn’t mean I’m some saint either, because god knows I’m pretty screwed up (I’m American, after all). There are just a few things you need to hear. And as a friend, I’m going to tell them to you."
Love that bit, because it's true. I guess one has to be 'outside' a bit and maybe have had different experiences to be able to see/understand what was too close to start with. Has one never had a friend whisper a few candid truths in one's ear when one didn't quite see the obvious, being too involved/close? 0 -
Excellent article- thanks for posting it!. The U.S. has given the world some wonderful thing- jazz, blues, rock 'n roll, (at times) an excellent film industry, and a great body of literature. Those are things I think we can be pleased with.
But we do think too much of ourselves. I've only been outside the US a few times (Europe and Mexico once, Canada a few times) but most of my life has been U.S. centered so I know I'm America-centric. I see the world through U.S. eyes. Some part of my brain seems to think America is the center of the universe. I find it hard to believe China is on the same planet. I find it hard to believe not everyone wants to be American. But I also recognize this is just perspective and perspective can be warped. So I'm warped. At least I admit it. Thankfully, I have a sister who has traveled all over the world and her stories have kept my perspective in check."It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
Great article. Especially this part:
The point is we don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend time away from it. Just like you didn’t realize the weird quirks and nuances of your family until you left and spent time with others, the same is true for country and culture. You often don’t see what’s messed up about your country and culture until you step outside of it.
Underlying point? Americans need to get out of their country more and learn about the rest of the world. If we did this more often, it would improve the overall issues mentioned in this article, especially the paranoia / ignorance part.
Actually, even simply reading and exploring the rest of the world in books or the internet would increase awareness outside our bubble of a country. We just need to change our detailed view of "our" small-minded viewpoint and broaden it to a big-picture, we're all connected, viewpoint. Because we are. But it's up to us to change these generalizations about American culture, even if it's on a small scale.0 -
Jeanwah wrote:
Underlying point? Americans need to get out of their country more and learn about the rest of the world. If we did this more often, it would improve the overall issues mentioned in this article, especially the paranoia / ignorance part.
Other than the (mostly) vicarious opportunities I've had from others stories, I've had little opportunity to experience the rest of the world. Traveling widely would be great in that it would give me a better sense of the world as a whole rather than my limited experience of it. This is why I like having my perspective kept in check by hearing others stories and meeting foreign visitors- because I know my opportunities to actually experience other places is fairly limited."It's a sad and beautiful world"-Roberto Benigni0 -
brianlux wrote:Jeanwah wrote:
Underlying point? Americans need to get out of their country more and learn about the rest of the world. If we did this more often, it would improve the overall issues mentioned in this article, especially the paranoia / ignorance part.
Other than the (mostly) vicarious opportunities I've had from others stories, I've had little opportunity to experience the rest of the world. Traveling widely would be great in that it would give me a better sense of the world as a whole rather than my limited experience of it. This is why I like having my perspective kept in check by hearing others stories and meeting foreign visitors- because I know my opportunities to actually experience other places is fairly limited.
Me, too Brian. I simply don't have the money, otherwise I'd be traveling the world. But that's why books (you know ) and the internet are great learning tools, as well as talking to foreigners. I see a lot of ways this country could improve. But if we refuse to learn about the rest of the world, how can America improve? The confidence level of this country is overblown, and unwarranted, if you ask me. We're not as great as we tend to think, and if we educated ourselves and learned to have more empathy and compassion, and got rid of the paranoia, we'd see that. That goes for all countries; always room for improvement every where. 0 -
After reading this article yesterday, I headed off to the music festival and met up with a couple of friends of my husbands from high school. One of them has been living in various countries throughout Europe with her family for the past 10 years. We spoke about these very concepts and she said the best thing she's ever done is live abroad because it does change your perspective drastically. Obviously, most of us can't just pick up and travel extensively or move overseas but I think we can learn to look at our country without the rose-tinted glasses. It's ok to think that there is room for improvement - we're not perfect
And that's ok. Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned...
I AM MINE0 -
Our airlines are greedy bastards. :twisted:Byrnzie wrote:brianlux wrote:I know my opportunities to actually experience other places is fairly limited.
What stops Americans from traveling abroad?All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a thousand enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you, digger, listener, runner, prince with the swift warning. Be cunning and full of tricks and your people shall never be destroyed.0 -
Byrnzie wrote:
Everything you get in this World is paid for. Unless the doctors, nurses, hospitals, medical companies, etc. all work for free in those two countries. Their money comes from somewhere. 0 -
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peacefrompaul wrote:
and thats a damn shame. a lot of workers in america seem to be a step up from slaves considering what the minimum wage is over there. thats no way to live.. but its certainly a way to keep you all in line.hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say0 -
I'm reading an interesting book called "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by T.R. Reid. He was stationed in Japan as NPR bureau chief back in the 1990s and writes of his observations about the cultural, political, and social differences. Not too far into it, but he makes an interesting point about the collective mentality of the East and the individualistic mentality of the West. He uses this point to discuss the differences in ideas such as divorce and why it is so high in the US and lower in many parts of East Asia. He also makes an interesting point about the economic downturn in Japan during the 1990s and how he questioned the police chief about why there wasn't a huge uptick in crime and the guy was astounded that Reid would assume that crime would increase just because they were having hard times at the moment. I'm only about halfway through but it is certainly an interesting point of view.Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned...
I AM MINE0 -
riotgrl wrote:I'm reading an interesting book called "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by T.R. Reid. He was stationed in Japan as NPR bureau chief back in the 1990s and writes of his observations about the cultural, political, and social differences. Not too far into it, but he makes an interesting point about the collective mentality of the East and the individualistic mentality of the West. He uses this point to discuss the differences in ideas such as divorce and why it is so high in the US and lower in many parts of East Asia. He also makes an interesting point about the economic downturn in Japan during the 1990s and how he questioned the police chief about why there wasn't a huge uptick in crime and the guy was astounded that Reid would assume that crime would increase just because they were having hard times at the moment. I'm only about halfway through but it is certainly an interesting point of view.
This is a subject I could talk about all day.
I'll just mention one thing though; the crime rate in China is very low compared to the West, and I've never felt threatened here, at any hour of the day or night. And I think that has to count for something.0 -
riotgrl wrote:I'm reading an interesting book called "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by T.R. Reid. He was stationed in Japan as NPR bureau chief back in the 1990s and writes of his observations about the cultural, political, and social differences. Not too far into it, but he makes an interesting point about the collective mentality of the East and the individualistic mentality of the West. He uses this point to discuss the differences in ideas such as divorce and why it is so high in the US and lower in many parts of East Asia. He also makes an interesting point about the economic downturn in Japan during the 1990s and how he questioned the police chief about why there wasn't a huge uptick in crime and the guy was astounded that Reid would assume that crime would increase just because they were having hard times at the moment. I'm only about halfway through but it is certainly an interesting point of view.
Ahnimus - poster who used to post here - posted this on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. I'm stealing it and reposting it here:
The cultural shaping of the self begins with a society's core philosophical and religious heritage and traditions, which are typically expressed in valued texts and historical documents (e.g., the Bible or the Torah), legal or cultural documents (the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence), and religious and national traditions (Protestantism and a tradition of mobility in the United States). These traditions and documents spell out the society's beliefs about the nature of hte person, the person's relation to human and nonhuman others, normative and moral beliefs, and the other orientations described by Hallowell (1955). In Western European and North American contexts, these documents, texts and traditions emphasize the primacy of individual rights over society's needs and the value of freedom and independence from society's demands. These values are represented in cultural products such as literature and the arts, as in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-/I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference."
In Eastern cultural contexts, philosophical and religious traditions emphasize Buddhist ideals of empathy and self-renunciation, the Confucian ethic of proper conduct in the Five Cardinal Relationships, or Taoist beliefs that the self is one with others and with the Cosmos (Ho, 1995). These texts and the resulting religious and philosophical traditions emphasize the connectedness between persons, families, and societies and the importance of maintaining relationships. For example, the Confucian Golden Rule states, "The humane man, wishing to establish himself, seeks to establish others; wishing to be prominent himself, he helps others to be prominent" (Analects, as cited in Ho, 1995, pp. 133-134).
The philosophical and religious texts for the West and the East differ fundamentally in their representations of the world and the person's place in it. In Western texts and belief systems, persons are separate from the world and society and can be understood apart from the situation, context, or environment in which they are found. According to Nisbett and his colleagues (Nisbett, Peng, Choie, & Norenzayan, 2001), this view of the person is part of an analytical worldview, which originated in ancient Greek philosophy. The Greeks viewed the world as a collection of separable discrete objects that could be categorized in terms of their stable, universal properties. They sought abstract rules for the behavior of objects in a field and tended to ignore the environment in which the behavior occurred (Norenzayan, Choi, & Nisbett, 1999). This analytical worldview lay the foundation for modern science and Western psychology, especially a psychology of the individual.
In contrast to the analytical worldviews that characterize Western ideologies, early Confucian and Buddhist texts viewed the person and objects as continuous with and embedded in the environment. This resulted in a holistic worldview, in which persons and objects are understood and perceived as part of a greater whole, inseparable from the context in which they are found.
- The Handbook of Self and Identity 27. Cultural Models of the Self, p. 540
Then again, this is a huge generalization, and I really don't think it's possible to sum up, or define Asia, or any other continent for that matter. Even just one country in the East - China - is beyond any easy definitions, or simple generalizations. As for the notions of 'empathy and connectedness' which are apparently prominent in the East, all I can say to that is that in my experience of China these things appear to be restricted mainly to immediate friends and family. There's been a recent spate of 'bystander effect' situations in this country whereby a bunch of people have just stood and watched as someone is robbed, or beaten, or just walked past someone in need of medical assistance - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... old-hearts
As for marriage e.t.c, people here - especially girls - are pressured into getting married before the age of 30. Parents really lean hard on their children to get married at about the age of 25. And because divorce is really looked down on, it's still quite uncommon - though divorce rates are increasing yearly.
Sometimes I wonder which system is better in this respect - the West or the East. They generally have pretty stable family lives here, though of course this involves sacrificing a degree of freedom.
The girls here - I don't really have anything to do with Chinese males - often ask me why I don't settle down and get married, and I usually just tell them that for Westerners marriage really isn't so important. Besides that, I still want to spend a year traveling the World and don't feel ready yet to be stuck in one place for the rest of my life. Some Chinese say they feel envious of my lifestyle, and others suggest I might be mental.
Also, as far as the above paragraphs I stole from Anhimus - because I'm feeling too tired and lazy right now to find that kind of info myself - I'm not sure how much Eastern religious and philosophical ideas really influence people here anymore - if at all. Maybe as China becomes more engrossed in the pursuit of money and material crap, the less effect these old ideas will have on their outlook on life.
Anyway...0 -
I think there are many reasons for some US folks not to travel abroad,tybird wrote:
kids, money, time needed, hassle, and even desire are some factors.
There are those who really love travel and all the headaches that can and do go with it.
Then there are those who think US travel is much less of a problem.
It requires less money, less time, less hassle and is every bit as fun.
We have destinations great for the kids and shows them our more than awesome country,
it's history and this also keeps our US dollar here where we need them.
As far as desire, personally I'd rather fly a couple few hours instead of three times that
and see our mountains majesty right here at home.
A new friend tells me Paris is her favorite city in the world...
she's an avid traveler, they are going to Japan in November.
I have no desire for this.
The few I know who are world travelers seem to be missing something in
their everyday life, in their relationships, their level of everyday fulfillment,
satisfaction, peace.
This of course can not be said about everyone, nor even many,
perhaps not even some, just with a few I know.
One trip is not even done yet or memories cherished (?)
another is being planned.
My heart says what you running from or trying to fill up?0 -
Byrnzie wrote:riotgrl wrote:I'm reading an interesting book called "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by T.R. Reid. He was stationed in Japan as NPR bureau chief back in the 1990s and writes of his observations about the cultural, political, and social differences. Not too far into it, but he makes an interesting point about the collective mentality of the East and the individualistic mentality of the West. He uses this point to discuss the differences in ideas such as divorce and why it is so high in the US and lower in many parts of East Asia. He also makes an interesting point about the economic downturn in Japan during the 1990s and how he questioned the police chief about why there wasn't a huge uptick in crime and the guy was astounded that Reid would assume that crime would increase just because they were having hard times at the moment. I'm only about halfway through but it is certainly an interesting point of view.
Ahnimus - poster who used to post here - posted this on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. I'm stealing it and reposting it here:
The cultural shaping of the self begins with a society's core philosophical and religious heritage and traditions, which are typically expressed in valued texts and historical documents (e.g., the Bible or the Torah), legal or cultural documents (the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence), and religious and national traditions (Protestantism and a tradition of mobility in the United States). These traditions and documents spell out the society's beliefs about the nature of hte person, the person's relation to human and nonhuman others, normative and moral beliefs, and the other orientations described by Hallowell (1955). In Western European and North American contexts, these documents, texts and traditions emphasize the primacy of individual rights over society's needs and the value of freedom and independence from society's demands. These values are represented in cultural products such as literature and the arts, as in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken": "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-/I took the one less traveled by,/And that has made all the difference."
In Eastern cultural contexts, philosophical and religious traditions emphasize Buddhist ideals of empathy and self-renunciation, the Confucian ethic of proper conduct in the Five Cardinal Relationships, or Taoist beliefs that the self is one with others and with the Cosmos (Ho, 1995). These texts and the resulting religious and philosophical traditions emphasize the connectedness between persons, families, and societies and the importance of maintaining relationships. For example, the Confucian Golden Rule states, "The humane man, wishing to establish himself, seeks to establish others; wishing to be prominent himself, he helps others to be prominent" (Analects, as cited in Ho, 1995, pp. 133-134).
The philosophical and religious texts for the West and the East differ fundamentally in their representations of the world and the person's place in it. In Western texts and belief systems, persons are separate from the world and society and can be understood apart from the situation, context, or environment in which they are found. According to Nisbett and his colleagues (Nisbett, Peng, Choie, & Norenzayan, 2001), this view of the person is part of an analytical worldview, which originated in ancient Greek philosophy. The Greeks viewed the world as a collection of separable discrete objects that could be categorized in terms of their stable, universal properties. They sought abstract rules for the behavior of objects in a field and tended to ignore the environment in which the behavior occurred (Norenzayan, Choi, & Nisbett, 1999). This analytical worldview lay the foundation for modern science and Western psychology, especially a psychology of the individual.
In contrast to the analytical worldviews that characterize Western ideologies, early Confucian and Buddhist texts viewed the person and objects as continuous with and embedded in the environment. This resulted in a holistic worldview, in which persons and objects are understood and perceived as part of a greater whole, inseparable from the context in which they are found.
- The Handbook of Self and Identity 27. Cultural Models of the Self, p. 540
Then again, this is a huge generalization, and I really don't think it's possible to sum up, or define Asia, or any other continent for that matter. Even just one country in the East - China - is beyond any easy definitions, or simple generalizations. As for the notions of 'empathy and connectedness' which are apparently prominent in the East, all I can say to that is that in my experience of China these things appear to be restricted mainly to immediate friends and family. There's been a recent spate of 'bystander effect' situations in this country whereby a bunch of people have just stood and watched as someone is robbed, or beaten, or just walked past someone in need of medical assistance - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... old-hearts
As for marriage e.t.c, people here - especially girls - are pressured into getting married before the age of 30. Parents really lean hard on their children to get married at about the age of 25. And because divorce is really looked down on, it's still quite uncommon - though divorce rates are increasing yearly.
Sometimes I wonder which system is better in this respect - the West or the East. They generally have pretty stable family lives here, though of course this involves sacrificing a degree of freedom.
The girls here - I don't really have anything to do with Chinese males - often ask me why I don't settle down and get married, and I usually just tell them that for Westerners marriage really isn't so important. Besides that, I still want to spend a year traveling the World and don't feel ready yet to be stuck in one place for the rest of my life. Some Chinese say they feel envious of my lifestyle, and others suggest I might be mental.
Also, as far as the above paragraphs I stole from Anhimus - because I'm feeling too tired and lazy right now to find that kind of info myself - I'm not sure how much Eastern religious and philosophical ideas really influence people here anymore - if at all. Maybe as China becomes more engrossed in the pursuit of money and material crap, the less effect these old ideas will have on their outlook on life.
Anyway...
This is basically the premise of the book. Reid discusses Confucianism in particular as the main ideal behind the collectiveness of many parts of Asian societies. He contrasts that with the individualistic ideals promoted by the Judeo-Christian religious texts and the influence of Socrates. This was written in 1999 so I'm curious how much things have changed - especially in someplace like China where the influence of the West, and especially capitalism, creeps in to a greater degree.
I can't say that I have decided which philosophy is better - East or West - but I certainly think we can learn something from the idea of collectiveness. I've often thought that we are a bit too insulated and isolated from each other here in the US which makes us very independent and capable of sustaining ourselves in some ways but it also means that we don't always feel as connected to each other and certainly not to the earth. I think some of the problems we have, especially in the US, with social issues such as high divorce rates, the failing of the family, health issues, environmental problems, etc. may come from our lack of connectedness. Positives and negatives to both sides of this issue. I'm with you - I could talk about this all day
Are we getting something out of this all-encompassing trip?
Seems my preconceptions are what should have been burned...
I AM MINE0 -
Byrnzie wrote:brianlux wrote:I know my opportunities to actually experience other places is fairly limited.
What stops Americans from traveling abroad?
Not only money and having kids, but Americans have a thing for consumption, which ties us down to our "things" rather than freeing us up to the ability to travel often. See number 10 in the OP.riotgrl wrote:I'm reading an interesting book called "Confucius Lives Next Door: What Living in the East Teaches us about Living in the West" by T.R. Reid...
Sounds like an interesting read, riotgirl. I may look into this book, thanks! After the tsunami in Japan, the people didn't loot or riot at that time either, which would have been a sure thing to have happened under the same circumstances in the West.0
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