Views on American Culture Outside North America

[Lachrymal]

I stumbled across this article today and found some embarrassing and also some misunderstood things. Also, certain things like tipping. Who the hell started that and why?? It's always bugged me and I was born and raised here. This is just a few people from around the world and theirs list of unusual and even admirable discoveries about us.Though you may or may not have lived here in North America what are some discoveries on N.A. and our people's culture that you find hard to understand?

 

http://thoughtcatalog.com/michael-koh/2013/11/16-people-on-things-they-couldnt-believe-about-america-until-they-moved-here/

 

 

edit: typo.

edit #2: and Canada.

[Osmium]

Please refrain from just saying generic stereotypes. I too wish to know how people see us in all honesty.

[Scionyde]

I can't help but feel this will end poorly.

[Lachrymal]

What I hear a lot is that Americans know little history or fact about anything outside of our country. It's pretty sad that history courses here are very little effective and usually inaccurate in the history of the world. My history classes were just reading text from a book year after year. Only now am I interested in my states culture, US past, and the development of foreign culture.

[Lachrymal]

I can't help but feel this will end poorly.

 

Hey, sometimes a little debate and expression can only help us as a People grow. 

 

 

(I can't type today...blegh)

[Thecrazyswede]

As a swede i feel actually upset that the swedish guy talked shit about the constitution, especially his first and last points.

[MrSuperb]

As a swede i feel actually upset that the swedish guy talked shit about the constitution, especially his first and last points.

why? Aren't those statements quite accurate?

[minimalist]

As a swede i feel actually upset that the swedish guy talked shit about the constitution, especially his first and last points.

 

He sounded like a pompous prick.  

[Osmium]

What I hear a lot is that Americans know little history or fact about anything outside of our country. It's pretty sad that history courses here are very little effective and usually inaccurate in the history of the world. My history classes were just reading text from a book year after year. Only now am I interested in my states culture, US past, and the development of foreign culture.

 

Well the main stereotype I can personally say is true is our education system is an utter failure. But still I wan't to know what else people think.

[Misanthrope]

Here's one that avoids lots of controversy: There seems to be a culture wide tendency towards sentimentalism, to the point that as an outsider it becomes annoying and hard to watch. Popular movies are far too cheesy and painted with the broadest strokes and television has literally become unwatchable since it works on the same principles: 9 times out of 10 their show will be about a mean spirited, unapologetic Brit shitting on the overly sentimental-to-the-point-of-extreme-emotional-instability participants on a competition or just following an odd looking family business that nevertheless portraits strong family values after all and must feature Soldiers or Cops or Firemen on a regular basis as if they were the only "heroes" they could look up to.

I mean everybody is so high strung, so sentimental, crying at their first given chance, who the fuck watches this drivel with a straight face? I doubt many Americans are honestly like this all the times and I'm sure produces cherry-pick the most mentally damaged people they can cast but Americans still consume it. And the other end it's just as transparent: If it's not a glorious and noble modern hero ready to cry their shows feature cartoonish anti-heroes with meth dealers, drug addicts, there's even more than 1 show portraying serial killers as the lead characters for fucks sake the real world doesn't works that way either.

[Thecrazyswede]

why? Aren't those statements quite accurate?

 

No they are not, read about background checks and waiting periods, and because the constitution is what built america and its perfectly able to be translated to the present age, they were even designed just for that reason, i wish sweden had something similar to the second amendment.

[Mcdoorknob]

Well the main stereotype I can personally say is true is our education system is an utter failure. But still I wan't to know what else people think.

What do you mean by that?

 

Look at these: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/world-ranking

 

 http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013

 

The top of those 2 lists are dominated by United States.

 

 

 

Not sure why the second link wont work. but it works if you copy paste it into browser

Edited February 24, 2014 by Mcdoorknob

[Lachrymal]

-snip-

 

There is certainly a lot of that. That's your Hollywood cookie-cutter film writing for Dummies 101 crap. I won't deny I will watch whatever I can if I'm bored enough, but I don't have cable and I can usually tell the whole jist of the movie within 10 minutes if it's anything like you mentioned. I ruin it for myself every time. I also don't trust the ratings on just about anything in the entertainment world. 

 

"Best movie of 2014!!" ---Ebert, Jan 2014

[Mcdoorknob]

Some of the things mentioned on that site bring out the things we take for granted and how well we really have it. 

[Lachrymal]

This is so just around the corner:

 

 

But there are many here in North America that resist this lifestyle and hate to be generalized to this just as any other person in the world.

[Scionyde]

Here's one that avoids lots of controversy: There seems to be a culture wide tendency towards sentimentalism, to the point that as an outsider it becomes annoying and hard to watch. Popular movies are far too cheesy and painted with the broadest strokes and television has literally become unwatchable since it works on the same principles: 9 times out of 10 their show will be about a mean spirited, unapologetic Brit shitting on the overly sentimental-to-the-point-of-extreme-emotional-instability participants on a competition or just following an odd looking family business that nevertheless portraits strong family values after all and must feature Soldiers or Cops or Firemen on a regular basis as if they were the only "heroes" they could look up to.

I mean everybody is so high strung, so sentimental, crying at their first given chance, who the fuck watches this drivel with a straight face? I doubt many Americans are honestly like this all the times and I'm sure produces cherry-pick the most mentally damaged people they can cast but Americans still consume it. And the other end it's just as transparent: If it's not a glorious and noble modern hero ready to cry their shows feature cartoonish anti-heroes with meth dealers, drug addicts, there's even more than 1 show portraying serial killers as the lead characters for fucks sake the real world doesn't works that way either.

 

Wow, you just don't like any TV at all, do ya?

 

Just kidding. One of your descriptions there perfectly sums up reality TV and why I can't stand it. I watch stuff on Netflix and Hulu, and after browsing their TV show selection it's almost mind-boggling how starved for ideas they are. Seems like any B-list celebrity or job profession gets their own reality show with producers trying their best to manufacture strife and controversy between characters every episode.

 

I guess there's also a point to be made about an over-abundance of gritty anti-heroes in our media, but for some reason I enjoy it. I thoroughly enjoy shows like Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and Dexter(only the first four seasons though) because they at least felt well-written. Sure, they world doesn't truly work that way in those shows, but that's fiction for you. Usually, I think there's enough interesting in the dialogue or the story for a 'suspension of disbelief' that allows one to look past how implausible a certain chain of events would be in real life.

[Misanthrope]

Wow, you just don't like any TV at all, do ya?

 

Just kidding. One of your descriptions there perfectly sums up reality TV and why I can't stand it. I watch stuff on Netflix and Hulu, and after browsing their TV show selection it's almost mind-boggling how starved for ideas they are. Seems like any B-list celebrity or job profession gets their own reality show with producers trying their best to manufacture strife and controversy between characters every episode.

 

I guess there's also a point to be made about an over-abundance of gritty anti-heroes in our media, but for some reason I enjoy it. I thoroughly enjoy shows like Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, and Dexter(only the first four seasons though) because they at least felt well-written. Sure, they world doesn't truly work that way in those shows, but that's fiction for you. Usually, I think there's enough interesting in the dialogue or the story for a 'suspension of disbelief' that allows one to look past how implausible a certain chain of events would be in real life.

No I do watch TV, lots of it in fact but I stick to shows and not reality TV: Law & Order (all 3 main flavours) House md, Twin Peaks (damn that was a good and criminally short lived show) etc. Some comedy too but again shows, not reality tv.

[Osmium]

What do you mean by that?

 

Look at these: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2013-14/world-ranking

 

 http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2013

 

The top of those 2 lists are dominated by United States.

 

 

 

Not sure why the second link wont work. but it works if you copy paste it into browser

 

Those are universities and colleges. The public school system (K-12) is a flat out failure, on those graphs I am not even sure we make the top 20.

[Biggerisbetter]

Those are universities and colleges. The public school system (K-12) is a flat out failure, on those graphs I am not even sure we make the top 20.

I disagree that public school system are a failure here in the United States. Parenting, religion, and politics are to blame for our educational woes. Poor parenting is the number one reason why education fails.    

[Scionyde]

Those are universities and colleges. The public school system (K-12) is a flat out failure, on those graphs I am not even sure we make the top 20.

 

I think it depends what source you want to get your data from. If it's a ranking of education system, I think the US was around 17th. http://www.ibtimes.com/us-17th-global-education-ranking-finland-south-korea-claim-top-spots-901538

 

But if it's a ranking of the student's proficiency in math, reading, and science, apparently we're ranked 26th, 17th, and 21st respectively. The reading and science scores are apparently on average, and the math score is slightly below average. Maybe not an utter failure, but perhaps pretty lacking compared to the country's wealth. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-04/to-fix-u-dot-s-dot-public-education-take-a-lesson-from-countries-that-top-student-rankings

 

Still, with these studies, you kind of have to take them with a grain of salt. That first study ranks a lot of the European nations at the top, but in the second one, a lot of Asian countries were higher ranked. Kinda interesting.

[Lachrymal]

I disagree that public school system are a failure here in the United States. Parenting, religion, and politics are to blame for our educational woes. Poor parenting is the number one reason why education fails.    

 

The closer you get to high school, the more they only care about how well you do in college. They just want you to pass tests by then. Teacher/student ratio is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. But that can be said in more places than North America. My personal experience from school was a poor elementary school that took me out of math studies everyday to work on my speech skills. Then when I graduated speech class I was so behind in math I was in Learning Disabled math until high graduation! ....Not to mention my dad didnt care that my mother did my homework for me half the time. So, it's pretty variable.

[Biggerisbetter]

The closer you get to high school, the more they only care about how well you do in college. They just want you to pass tests by then. Teacher/student ratio is absolutely ridiculous if you ask me. But that can be said in more places than North America. My personal experience from school was a poor elementary school that took me out of math studies everyday to work on my speech skills. Then when I graduated speech class I was so behind in math I was in Learning Disabled math until high graduation! ....Not to mention my dad didnt care that my mother did my homework for me half the time. So, it's pretty variable.

Does our system have faults, of course it does. The system that the US has on higher learning is build on greed and not the need of the individual.

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Does our system have faults, of course it does. The system that the US has on higher learning is build on greed and not the need of the individual.

 

I'm so sick of people blaming everything on greed.  Your living standard in the US is greedy compared to a lot of the worlds population.  All you can think about is people above you being greedy.

 

The only difference between the rich and the poor is jealousy.  They're both just as greedy.

[Osmium]

I disagree that public school system are a failure here in the United States. Parenting, religion, and politics are to blame for our educational woes. Poor parenting is the number one reason why education fails.    

 

     I agree on the first and third point and I won't bother addressing the second. But the two political arguments on education are to axe the system and go private only or just dump even more money into it. Neither of those (in my opinion) will fix anything. But really kids shouldn't be in school when they have no intention of trying. All it does is ruin the system to those who do and reinforces politicians to their stupid arguments to dump money or axe the system. Plus it makes the teacher's jobs more difficult and just degrades the environment for everyone.

 

I think it depends what source you want to get your data from. If it's a ranking of education system, I think the US was around 17th. http://www.ibtimes.com/us-17th-global-education-ranking-finland-south-korea-claim-top-spots-901538

 

But if it's a ranking of the student's proficiency in math, reading, and science, apparently we're ranked 26th, 17th, and 21st respectively. The reading and science scores are apparently on average, and the math score is slightly below average. Maybe not an utter failure, but perhaps pretty lacking compared to the country's wealth. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-02-04/to-fix-u-dot-s-dot-public-education-take-a-lesson-from-countries-that-top-student-rankings

 

Still, with these studies, you kind of have to take them with a grain of salt. That first study ranks a lot of the European nations at the top, but in the second one, a lot of Asian countries were higher ranked. Kinda interesting.

 

     Well it makes sense for the asian countries to be on top. Not everyone goes to school over there and there is much more pressure on the students(however suicide rates are another story). The variation between those is a little bit fishy but the US is consistently somewhat low on the list (considering our wealth).

[Biggerisbetter]

No they are not, read about background checks and waiting periods, and because the constitution is what built america and its perfectly able to be translated to the present age, they were even designed just for that reason, i wish sweden had something similar to the second amendment.

I disagree with you statement that the US constitution can be translated to the present. The constitution said it was legal to own slaves, to take people land, women have no rights.