10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America

Jeanwah

tybird wrote:

BTW, the Big Picture is nothing without the tiny details.

What a crock. :roll:

tybird

Jeanwah wrote:

tybird wrote:

BTW, the Big Picture is nothing without the tiny details.

What a crock. :roll:

I would hate to live my life with your attitude.

Byrnzie

Jeanwah wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

The U.S is like five countries in one. The South may as well be another country from any East Coast, or West Coast city.
And a place like the Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, is a World away from any city.

Says the person who lives in China... :roll:

It's not as diverse as you may think. Regions are definitely different topographically and cuisine-wise, society is basically the same. Everyone has at least one tv set and cell phone, speaks English and/or Spanish (thanks to immigrants from Mexico - not a bad thing imo), values Walmart, individualism, capitalism and American Idol, hates the president and socialism, is status and money-obsessed, lacks empathy, may have a weight problem, is over-worked, stressed out and is likely fearful of anything radically different. These things are the American way. We're not that diverse at all.

What does my living in China have to do with it? Are you suggesting that because I live in China, that I've never traveled across America? How did you arrive at that huge leap of logic?

Byrnzie

Jason P wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

How long would it take someone in the U.S to fly to, say, Belize, or Cuba?

I just checked Expedia for airfare from Chicago to Belize City ... it was $666. :think:

Looks like you could do worse:








Belize is known for it's beauty and that includes the beautiful Belize girls: http://www.be-an-online-travel-agent.co ... -girls.jpg

Also, English is the National language.

chadwick

Jeanwah wrote:

tybird wrote:

BTW, the Big Picture is nothing without the tiny details.

What a crock. :roll:

i thought what tybird said here was beautiful, intelligent & confucius like, not a crock.

catefrances

brianlux wrote:

This feels like we've reached an impasse here and the last four or five pages of this discussion have focused on traveling and a debate about whether we are as diverse as the rest of the world. I'm not pointing fingers-- I also have talked about traveling and I chimed in on my believe that we are not nearly as diverse as the rest of the world.

But IMHO I think we are passing over a rich opportunity to take a good look at some interesting things about American self-awareness-- or our lack of (myself included)-- by way of the excellent, well written, thought provoking OP article.

can you tell me what you mean by this statement?

Jeanwah

tybird wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

tybird wrote:

BTW, the Big Picture is nothing without the tiny details.

What a crock. :roll:

I would hate to live my life with your attitude.

Likewise.

Jeanwah

chadwick wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

tybird wrote:

BTW, the Big Picture is nothing without the tiny details.

What a crock. :roll:

i thought what tybird said here was beautiful, intelligent & confucius like, not a crock.

The rest was fine, but when boggled down by details, it prohibits one from seeing the big picture. No details are necessary to see the big picture, that's why it's a crock to say otherwise.

catefrances

Jeanwah wrote:

chadwick wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

What a crock. :roll:

i thought what tybird said here was beautiful, intelligent & confucius like, not a crock.

The rest was fine, but when boggled down by details, it prohibits one from seeing the big picture. No details are necessary to see the big picture, that's why it's a crock to say otherwise.

perhaps diversity is in the little things. :think:

brianlux

catefrances wrote:

brianlux wrote:

This feels like we've reached an impasse here and the last four or five pages of this discussion have focused on traveling and a debate about whether we are as diverse as the rest of the world. I'm not pointing fingers-- I also have talked about traveling and I chimed in on my believe that we are not nearly as diverse as the rest of the world.

But IMHO I think we are passing over a rich opportunity to take a good look at some interesting things about American self-awareness-- or our lack of (myself included)-- by way of the excellent, well written, thought provoking OP article.

can you tell me what you mean by this statement?

Catefrances, if you mean the underlined sentence, I'm speaking from my somewhat limited experience- I've traveled all over the U.S. have lived in or spent a good deal of time in a fair number of states but have only been to Italy, the Bahamas, Mexico and Canada outside the U.S). My perception is that there is less cultural diversity in America than there is world wide. I also base this statement on the many detailed stories my sister has told me about her travels to many countries all over the world including some very remote parts of the world.

If you are referring to the last statement in my post, I'm saying that in my opinion the OP article offers several thought provoking ideas worthy of discussion but the thread seems to be narrowly focused on the themes of travel and diversity.

catefrances

brianlux wrote:

catefrances wrote:

brianlux wrote:

This feels like we've reached an impasse here and the last four or five pages of this discussion have focused on traveling and a debate about whether we are as diverse as the rest of the world. I'm not pointing fingers-- I also have talked about traveling and I chimed in on my believe that we are not nearly as diverse as the rest of the world.

But IMHO I think we are passing over a rich opportunity to take a good look at some interesting things about American self-awareness-- or our lack of (myself included)-- by way of the excellent, well written, thought provoking OP article.

can you tell me what you mean by this statement?

Catefrances, if you mean the underlined sentence, I'm speaking from my somewhat limited experience- I've traveled all over the U.S. have lived in or spent a good deal of time in a fair number of states but have only been to Italy, the Bahamas, Mexico and Canada outside the U.S). My perception is that there is less cultural diversity in America than there is world wide. I also base this statement on the many detailed stories my sister has told me about her travels to many countries all over the world including some very remote parts of the world.

If you are referring to the last statement in my post, I'm saying that in my opinion the OP article offers several thought provoking ideas worthy of discussion but the thread seems to be narrowly focused on the themes of travel and diversity.

yeah i was referring to the bolded and underlined sentence. thats why i bolded and underlined it. :P



multicuturalism by definition brings diversity to a country.... any country. what seems to be the problem in this thread of late, is the definition of diversity. im gonna speak about my own country for a minute here... australia was/is a settler state. what that means for those who dont know is that soemone came from some place else and decided this was gonna be their home regardless of who was here already... and make no mistake this land was already settled by the indigenous population. instantly not only did the british settlement of sydney make this land multicultural(in the eurocentric sense of the word) but it also gave it more diversity.yes, more what we seem to have failed to acknowledge is that even before white man came here, the diversity was already in place. the indigenous peoples of australia did not all live the same cause they did not all live in the same natural conditions.. some lived in the desert, eeking out their lives there.. some lived by the rivers, some on the broad flatlands whilst others lived in the mountains... and others still lived by the coast living their lives differently from the desert dwellers.

as time went on waves of immigrants from other countries came here... and all of them brought along their culture and their language and whatever else made themselves them. and yes they all came to live side by side with each other. and sure given time they all(and my family as well when they came) assimilated enough into their new home that we all became australians. does that mean we are all the same? that our many varied cultures are the same?? no it doesnt. it means that within the larger scope of the australian society many cultures have forged their australian identity right along that of where they came from. and this people is diversity. you might not think it is but it is. so please when you all speak of diversity or lack thereof remember where it was you came from... and how much if any of that heritage lingers.


and its not only our heritage that brings diversity into a country but also how we live within that country. i can assure you that my day to day life is not like that of someone living in the outback... or someone living in a mining town. it is also different from someone whose life revolves around the water... be it as a fisherman or abalone diver or even a surfer. someone who lives at the beach has a different lifestyle to someone who lives in the mountains. and dont even get me started on city vs country. sure were similiar but were also different. thats diversity people.

brianlux

catefrances wrote:

yeah i was referring to the bolded and underlined sentence. thats why i bolded and underlined it. :P



multicuturalism by definition brings diversity to a country.... any country. what seems to be the problem in this thread of late, is the definition of diversity. im gonna speak about my own country for a minute here... australia was/is a settler state. what that means for those who dont know is that soemone came from some place else and decided this was gonna be their home regardless of who was here already... and make no mistake this land was already settled by the indigenous population. instantly not only did the british settlement of sydney make this land multicultural(in the eurocentric sense of the word) but it also gave it more diversity.yes, more what we seem to have failed to acknowledge is that even before white man came here, the diversity was already in place. the indigenous peoples of australia did not all live the same cause they did not all live in the same natural conditions.. some lived in the desert, eeking out their lives there.. some lived by the rivers, some on the broad flatlands whilst others lived in the mountains... and others still lived by the coast living their lives differently from the desert dwellers.

as time went on waves of immigrants from other countries came here... and all of them brought along their culture and their language and whatever else made themselves them. and yes they all came to live side by side with each other. and sure given time they all(and my family as well when they came) assimilated enough into their new home that we all became australians. does that mean we are all the same? that our many varied cultures are the same?? no it doesnt. it means that within the larger scope of the australian society many cultures have forged their australian identity right along that of where they came from. and this people is diversity. you might not think it is but it is. so please when you all speak of diversity or lack thereof remember where it was you came from... and how much if any of that heritage lingers.


and its not only our heritage that brings diversity into a country but also how we live within that country. i can assure you that my day to day life is not like that of someone living in the outback... or someone living in a mining town. it is also different from someone whose life revolves around the water... be it as a fisherman or abalone diver or even a surfer. someone who lives at the beach has a different lifestyle to someone who lives in the mountains. and dont even get me started on city vs country. sure were similiar but were also different. thats diversity people.

Well done, Catefrances. Putting the way you have, it could easily be said that the U.S. (also a settler state) is far more diverse than many other countries in the world. There surely is more diversity in the U.S. than in, say Myanmar. So maybe the problem here is one of correct word usage.

But I think the point Jeanwah and others have been trying to make here is that the U.S., diverse as it is, is still somewhat a microcosm in a bigger whole. We see ourselves as a bigger part of the whole than we really are. We often don't realize how many other colors there are in the spectrum out there. We think we are invincible and better than everybody else. That's probably normal in some ways. In truth, don't we all think that or at least act that way subconsciously? Can we increase our chances of putting ourselves in perspective by learning more about the bigger world around us?

And I hope at some point we can talk about some of the articles other points but I'm 10 seconds away from burning the rice on the stove. Four, three, two...

FiveB247x

Great post catefrances. I often feel that many of the things we have attempted to face and deal with in our nation are also the biggest problems we face (the great experiment notion we were founded upon)... diversity and immigration which have led for everyone to many choosing their own culture over a national identity; freedom of religion and expression has led to people taking on extreme views which bleed into political debate/policy as well as the idea of equality for all men even though we have never really lived up to that through slavery, until abolishment, and then women's rights, minority right, now gay rights, etc. Most of the fundamental things we like to think are the cornerstones of our great nation are the very same things that tear it apart. But because most other nations have not experienced this in the same time or place, it makes us special in some regard even though we're young as a nation in comparison to other nations with somewhat moral backings (atleast in theory). Anyways, that's my patriotic speech..lol

Jason P

Byrnzie wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

How long would it take someone in the U.S to fly to, say, Belize, or Cuba?

I just checked Expedia for airfare from Chicago to Belize City ... it was $666. :think:

Looks like you could do worse:

Belize is known for it's beauty and that includes the beautiful Belize girls:

Also, English is the National language.

I'll keep this place on my travel radar. To be honest, I knew little about this country. Thanks for the tip.

polaris_x

Jason P wrote:

I'll keep this place on my travel radar. To be honest, I knew little about this country. Thanks for the tip.

i've been twice - if you ever go ... let me know ... can pass on what i know ...

tybird

catefrances wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

Jeanwah wrote:

What a crock. :roll:

The rest was fine, but when boggled down by details, it prohibits one from seeing the big picture. No details are necessary to see the big picture, that's why it's a crock to say otherwise.

perhaps diversity is in the little things. :think:

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Exactly...thank you

dustinpardue

This is incredible! Thanks for sharing this