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What is it about the US?
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| HardTranceProd |
This past weekend I traveled from Washington DC to North Pennsylavania along the I-95 corridor, looking at the sprawling suburbs, malls, and churches of America as I was driving, and thought about American culture.
Here's what I thought: The US is part of several countries that were populated by the British, and hence have an Anglo-Saxon cultural base:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- USA
- South Africa
Yet, out of all these countries, the US remains culturally distinct, and extremely different from, say, Canada and Australia. Why? What is it about the US that makes it such a sharp contrast to the other former British colonies?
Why are the US' Anglo-Saxon siblings all Socialist, while the US abhors Socialism? Why are the other Anglo-Saxon countries secular, while the US is religious?
Could it be geography? Climate? Just what exactly is it, given that all the former colonies share the same ancestry.
BTW, I realize that there are actually two different "United States" (the South and the North - very distinct culturally), but there's a lot of things common to the continental US. |
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| Yoepus |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
This past weekend I traveled from Washington DC to North Pennsylavania along the I-95 corridor, looking at the sprawling suburbs, malls, and churches of America as I was driving, and thought about American culture.
Here's what I thought: The US is part of several countries that were populated by the British, and hence have an Anglo-Saxon cultural base:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- USA
- South Africa
Yet, out of all these countries, the US remains culturally distinct, and extremely different from, say, Canada and Australia. Why? What is it about the US that makes it such a sharp contrast to the other former British colonies?
Why are the US' Anglo-Saxon siblings all Socialist, while the US abhors Socialism? Why are the other Anglo-Saxon countries secular, while the US is religious?
Could it be geography? Climate? Just what exactly is it, given that all the former colonies share the same ancestry.
BTW, I realize that there are actually two different "United States" (the South and the North - very distinct culturally), but there's a lot of things common to the continental US. |
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the USA is the only nation in that list to revolt from the UK...
Maybe they didn't see eye to eye with that culture? ;) |
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| HardTranceProd |
So my question is, why?
It's all coming from the same place, Britain.
For example, if you told me that Canada was settled by the British but the US by the Irish, I would understand the difference: Ireland is not the same as Britain, its culture is slightly different.
But here we have 5-6 countries that trace their origins to Britain.
All these countries have Protestant Anglo-Saxon values. |
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| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
So my question is, why?
It's all coming from the same place, Britain.
For example, if you told me that Canada was settled by the British but the US by the Irish, I would understand the difference: Ireland is not the same as Britain, its culture is slightly different.
But here we have 5-6 countries that trace their origins to Britain.
All these countries have Protestant Anglo-Saxon values. |
Because Socialism sucks! |
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| HardTranceProd |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shakka
Because Socialism sucks! |
Clearly, the people in all the other Anglo-Saxon countries don't think so at all, quite the opposite. |
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| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
Clearly, the people in all the other Anglo-Saxon countries don't think so at all, quite the opposite. |
That's cool. Everyone is entitled to their opinions!;) |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| quote: | Originally posted by Yoepus
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the USA is the only nation in that list to revolt from the UK... |
yeah, id agree with that.
its also really cute to hear people call australia socialist too :stongue:
id also point out that something like the US' legal culture has played a massive part. ie the australian constitution is very different from the US'. both in design & functionality. having inalienable rights such as free speech & the right to bear arms enshrined in law can fundamentally change the way in which a society evolves.
to the best of my knowledge the australian constitution doesnt give its citizens any rights at all. its mainly concerned with telling the various levels of govt/law how to relate.
the US is also at least 200 (??? sorry dont know exactly) years older than australia. |
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| Subey |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
But here we have 5-6 countries that trace their origins to Britain.
All these countries have Protestant Anglo-Saxon values. |
You see a loose thread in the fabric of reality.. i'll give it a little pull for you.
Is communism better than capitalism?
Would you be able to answer this question if communism existed solely on paper? Would you be able to answer this question if capitalism existed solely on paper?
How much of the world would you need to answer this question? and how long would it take?
or for humours sake...
Is Jesus God or is Jesus a Man. How much of the world would you need to answer that question? |
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| St_Andrew |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shakka
That's cool. Everyone is entitled to their opinions!;) |
well his point was not wheather or not it was good, but why the US turned out so different ;)
But i guess it has something to do with a few driving forces or so makeing it more independent? |
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| metalgearsolid |
| quote: | Originally posted by HardTranceProd
This past weekend I traveled from Washington DC to North Pennsylavania along the I-95 corridor, looking at the sprawling suburbs, malls, and churches of America as I was driving, and thought about American culture.
Here's what I thought: The US is part of several countries that were populated by the British, and hence have an Anglo-Saxon cultural base:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- USA
- South Africa
Yet, out of all these countries, the US remains culturally distinct, and extremely different from, say, Canada and Australia. Why? What is it about the US that makes it such a sharp contrast to the other former British colonies?
Why are the US' Anglo-Saxon siblings all Socialist, while the US abhors Socialism? Why are the other Anglo-Saxon countries secular, while the US is religious?
Could it be geography? Climate? Just what exactly is it, given that all the former colonies share the same ancestry.
BTW, I realize that there are actually two different "United States" (the South and the North - very distinct culturally), but there's a lot of things common to the continental US. |
Maybe it is because the US is run by huge corporations that have billions of dollars to do what they want. And what they want is to make lots of $. So thats why you see lots of suburbs and malls. It is all a part of the economy to make it grow and make these corporations richer than they are now, along the way they take out the small business owner.
It might also be because there are over a hundred million ppl compare that with other British once ruled countries. So the more ppl the more diverse it should be right? |
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| Goashem |
| there are no huge corporations in canada, groundhogs influence the way we dress and the way we vote! :haha: |
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| metalgearsolid |
| quote: | Originally posted by Goashem
there are no huge corporations in canada, groundhogs influence the way we dress and the way we vote! :haha: |
yea i figured that....but whatever....i mean if you look at it who has the biggest corporations in the world? The US. |
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