Is American culture a thing?

[Hotteok]

Does it even exist?

As far as I know, America is made up of people from all sorts of nations, races and origins.

It’s not homogeneous, like South Korea or Japan.

What makes American American?

Is it just a tendency of people speaking in English?

 

Or do you find in yourself something uniquely American when compared to Aussies or British people?

Or is it really about race? If you are not a Caucasian but an American, do you have a different mind compared to the white American?

 

I’m from South Korea, full of Koreans.. who are different from one. another. but their differences are within the same category.

I think in a multiracial nation like US, there could be so many different categories of people.

[carlos]

I would say there is an American culture indeed.

 

It's true that being such a huge country, with so many different environments and people from so many different backgrounds, there are big differences between the way people behave. People in Florida are completely different from people in New York or California or Wisconsin. It's like you traveled to completely different countries. Even then, there are big differences from an area to another even inside the same state, and also big differences between the way different racial communities live in the same area.

 

Yet there are some features that are common to the whole of the United States. For example, there is a strong feeling of nationalism. The notion that the US is the leader of the world. You see American flags in most houses. There is also a very strong sense of personal freedom. People are a lot more vocal in the US about their rights than they are in Korea, even in simple things. From the founding of their country, Americans were always rather distrustful of their national government and added several regulations in the Constitution to enforce personal and community rights in case the government turned tyrannical.

 

Something else I have noticed is that you find the same chains of stores and restaurants throughout the country. A mall in San Francisco is not too different from a mall in Arizona or Orlando. People everywhere have access to the same products, so that influences their culture too. They also watch the same TV programs and movies.

 

Well, these are my personal impressions as a non-American who has traveled a lot in the US. Maybe I got everything wrong.

Edited January 1, 2021 by carlos

[Hope]

I think you're pretty spot on, @carlos! 😊

[Katty]

I find there are aspects of American culture that are pretty cohesive, but I don't find Americans have that thing that all Americans are in agreement about, like how Canada has The Tragically Hip and Kraft Dinner or Britain has stuff like hot tea, enjoying pre made sandwiches or some kind of meat or sausage encased in bread or drinking water with squash (not the vegetable squash but like a fruity flavoring added to it) or pubs. I can't think of any cultural aspect of America that all regions of America are in agreement about except maybe American Football and burger joints.
America: land of the burger. Order a burger and boy will you get a BURGER!

 

Edit: interestingly, I find the most famous foods associated with America like hot dogs, burgers, etc. originated in Germany, but that kinda makes sense since the most populous ethnicity in America is German American.

 

Oh yeah, and I suppose innovation is an aspect of American culture. I mean Edison was an American, and a fitting symbol of American innovation, and Tesla, even though he wasn't born in America, found his greatest successes there. And, what I've found, being in Britain is that you can't as easily find affordable electronics such as mobile phones, nor the variety that you can find in the US. A lot of the technology that makes the world what it is, if it wasn't invented in the US, it was, at the very least, improved upon by an American company to become the incarnation of such technology that we now recognize

Edited January 1, 2021 by Katty

[Ahuvah]

Yeah nah, just like the kiwi culture mate ... hangi hongi and jandals ... tui beer ... meat pies and hokey pokey ice cream. 

There grows a culture (and I'm not talking fungi) everywhere where people are and traditions are established they become part of a heritage.

In America the culture in the south is a lifestyle around soul food and jazz. In Texas ... cactus sitting and hollering. Each region sounds vastly different to me and uniquely each a different culture.

[Tortuga]

For sure dude...

[Tia]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

Well, these are my personal impressions as a non-American who has traveled a lot in the US. Maybe I got everything wrong.

Brother Carlos Nailed it!imho

[Barbara Anne]

I live in Switzerland such a small country but with 4 different languages... We drive 30 minutes and the language changes from French to German

Sent from my MI 8 Lite using Tapatalk

[EccentricM]

Yes, for sure, both historically and modern.

 

I mean, its more broken up into many sub-cultures, but there are there.

 

Like Katty said, its a big mix of people from all different places in the world, and so many foods have origins from people from other parts of the world (Germany, Italy, etc).

 

But like real home brewed stuff, you got cowboys, country, street culture (like hip-hop), several music genres and dances that were invented in the US from many years ago and right up to now that now dominates all modern music across the world. All that is a form of culture.

 

I think another big one that is shared by many is also patriotism, "the American way!" (at least stereotypically).

 

Of course, let's not forget to mention the Native Americans! They have so much of their own culture too, some of which is embedded to a degree now in "American culture" or subculture, too.

[Dustparticle]

American people has change through the years. If you go back in the 1500’s, an American was just Indians , hence they are known today as Native Americans, but those who were born or live today in American are truly known as Native American. 
 

And I see problem with this in different areas and that is many blacks who visit their homeland Africa are told to go back where they belong to. And I have see on YouTube of Hispanics are told to go back where they belong to, yet at least 8 states in southwest of USA was part of Mexico. Many people hate each other in USA, because they are different from one another, yet they are Native Americans in the 21’st century.

[EccentricM]

10 minutes ago, Dustparticle said:

they are Native Americans in the 21’st century.

Exactly. It's like calling me a Saxon (German) because of my Englishness. People born in the US today are far removed from their origin nations where their ancestors came from. And yet, though existing for hundreds of years, most in the US I find see each other in some form of "segregation" rather than all being Americans (where as most other nations in history considered people born in their land and culture to be part of them, even if born genetically from people once considered foreign, in a far shorter time span, afterall we are all Noah's children, so technically we are all foreign to whatever land we step on if we are going to judge by those demographics, as you can just keep going back and back and back through the ancestral lines).

Edited January 1, 2021 by EccentricM

[hatcheckgirl]

From an Australian point of view, American culture is what we see the country stands for - freedom. It had a veneer of goodness and wholesomeness in the 1950s, thanks to Hollywood exporting its values. It had the grandiose reputation as a Rescuer from oppression from its intervention in WW2 and in opposing Communism. It had the lead in innovation and enterprise, especially with lunar and space exploration and the immense wealth it generated in its economy. 
 

That’s how we saw the American culture- freedom, wealth, a land of opportunity. And then the veneer fell off, and those “wholesale” values disintegrated into corporate greed, a culture obsessed with its own personal wants rather than that of the common good. Of lawyers, obesity, extreme pandering to the self, mass shootings, and basically a basket case.
 

Yet, still the American culture has left its mark on all other cultures. We used to say “Only in America” when we saw the incredible things that went on there. That is no longer true. 

[carlos]

Another thing I've noticed in Americans, at least in the middle age and older generations, is that they rightfully take pride in doing everything by themselves. I guess it has to do with being a land of pioneers and many people having to live in more remote areas where not many services were available. It may also have to do with many people having worked in big industries and factories. And with living through difficult times were you had to make things last because you couldn't afford a new one.

 

I see a lot of people who have the ability and the knowledge to do all kinds of tasks, from building a barn to repairing their car, fixing the power generator, taking care of sick animals or mending any common malfunction in their homes. Most people where I live have to call a professional to do most tasks. I guess the younger generations, especially in the big cities, are losing those abilities.

[Thesauron]

Are we talking about South, Central, or North America?

[1MKnight]

Yes. I’ve heard people claim that American’s are “Uncultured” or otherwise accused of having no culture. Such a stance comes from a lack in understand of how culture works. I recently brought up the point in another thread that culture is essentially just generally shared preferences among a population. America has a culture, but many people don’t see it because it’s become so commonplace. Just like you may hear other people’s accents, but not realize that you also have an accent. But, there are American ways of doing things. American manners are not the same as all the rest of the world’s. Our taste palette is largely different. Our family dynamic is often very different than other cultures. 

 

I don’t think I could articulate it here. As others have mentioned, there are numerous subcultures, partially due to immigrants, partially due to America’s size and distance between places. But there are certainly certain memes (units of culture) that perpetuate most of the country and effect the rest of the world less. 

 

As to what people said about nationalism, I think that’s a stereotype of Americans that is very real among some, but certainly not all. I live near Seattle, and I have to say that people aren’t particularly patriotic. This is kind of a hub of the idea that “America is Racist” and other social revolutionary ideas. And of course, American culture has shifted dramatically over the decades. 

[carlos]

7 minutes ago, 1MKnight said:

As to what people said about nationalism, I think that’s a stereotype of Americans that is very real among some, but certainly not all. I live near Seattle, and I have to say that people aren’t particularly patriotic. This is kind of a hub of the idea that “America is Racist” and other social revolutionary ideas. And of course, American culture has shifted dramatically over the decades. 

Thanks, Michael. The impression I got that nationalism is widespread in America is basically due to those flags seen in every house and many vehicles. Also how the national anthem is played at many events, and how people react when someone seems to disrespect it. People in Spain couldn't care less about the flag or the anthem, so those were shocking to me. But of course maybe some areas are not like that.

 

There there's Hollywood movies. Whether it's a pandemic, an alien attack or a terrorist organization scheming to take over the world, it's always America that saves humankind.

 

A common statement where I live is that most Americans can't locate Spain in the map, that they would point to somewhere south of Mexico. The implicit idea is that Americans are very US-centered and know very little about the rest of the world. In my experience this is only partially true. I've met a number of people in the US who wouldn't know where Spain is. On the other hand, if you ask the average Spaniard where Ghana or Mozambique or Fidji is, they won't know either. I guess we are all familiar with places that are meaningful to us and have an effect on our lives, and tend to ignore those that don't. But in general I think it's true we are more used to hearing from other countries while news reports in the US are more American-centered.

 

I admit I used to believe many stereotypes about Americans most Spaniards have, but my viewpoint changed a lot after I traveled across the Pond and met the real thing.

[CHecker]

I'm really enjoying this topic. Living in the US my whole life and not being a big traveler my view isnt as broad as others. But I do try to reach out to others from other places. My community is mostly Norwegian, Scandinavian ethnicity. Mostly the older established communities. They're not very broad minded. But getting to know others and their culture during CA and RC as well as pioneer school helped me to widen out.

As far as geography is concerned I love it. When people join a Zoom meeting from far flung areas I can't wait to Google it and look around. 

Thanks to you all for your opinions of how people in the US appear to you. 

[1MKnight]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

The impression I got that nationalism is widespread in America is basically due to those flags seen in every house and many vehicles.

Depends on where you go. There are areas near me that do in fact have jeep’s and trucks with huge flags sticking out of them. But, that’s more a subculture than a dominant part of the culture. 

 

I do believe there is a near universal dislike of non-capitalist or non-democratic regimes. But, even that stereotype isn’t true when you look at college and university graduates. 

 

1 hour ago, carlos said:

Also how the national anthem is played at many events, and how people react when someone seems to disrespect it.

While the anthem does play a lot, most people in my experience are apathetic to it. Go to a sporting event and some will be into it and a huge population will not even bother standing. The United States is very lenient when it comes to anti-patriotic views. Not sure if it started here, but flag burning is something I remember learning about in school and hear touted occasionally when we talk about freedom of speech. 

 

One thing that American’s are aware of is the perception of us as a bunch of outrageous gun-toting, truck-driving, flag-waving, cowboys who love our military xD. That stereotype is used and propagated in America, by Americans for satire. Thus, the popularization of “Merica” or even “Merca.”

1 hour ago, carlos said:

A common statement where I live is that most Americans can't locate Spain in the map

This is so true! 😂 We don’t get a lot of international media by default. And even if you do watch international media, it’s often talking about the U.S. And the only thing i “know” about Fiji is that it’s on the ‘other side of the world.’ I would argue that most American’s aren’t even very aware of Canadian politics, let alone Mexican. I also don’t believe Americans travel internationally as much as European citizens do. I’ve heard some people claim that the E.U. allows similar freedom of travel between it’s nations as the U.S. does between states. If so, I could see that being a reason why Europeans travel internationally more. Countries are closer, and less a hassle to enter. 

 

We visited Thailand a couple years back and while we were there we flew to multiple countries in East Asia. WAY less of a hassle than flying in, out of, or back to America. 

[Tortuga]

1 hour ago, carlos said:

I admit I used to believe many stereotypes about Americans most Spaniards have, but my viewpoint changed a lot after I traveled across the Pond and met the real thing.

I'm afraid to ask if Tim and I changed your viewpoint when we met...

[M.J.]

14 hours ago, carlos said:

There is also a very strong sense of personal freedom.

This is right on point, and going along with it, individualism. In the USA, people pride themselves on having the liberty to be and do and say whatever they want. They can choose what they want to wear, eat, listen to, and they love that no one can tell them what to do. People here often use the phrase "It's a free country" along with the idea that they can do whatever they want. (within reason) But it's a double edged sword, because of the lack of cohesion, common norms of decency and decorum are slowly disappearing. People are dressing more and more like slobs, because everyone just does whatever they want. (of course, part of it is the stress of the times we live in, but that's a whole other story)

 

5 hours ago, 1MKnight said:

flag burning is something I remember learning about in school and hear touted occasionally when we talk about freedom of speech.

Yes, extremely significant. Flag burning is an extremely cherished tradition because it is the perfect representation of how much freedom we have. We have the freedom to burn the flag, the same symbol of the country that established our freedom. Which is fundamental to understanding how freedom works in this country. Many times in court you will hear lawyers say, I don't agree with you, but I will defend the right you have to say it. And I will fight for you to have that right, no matter how much I don't agree with the actual things you say. Of course, for some this might be hard to grasp if you haven't grown up in this country and with this thinking. People are obsessed with their rights. Hence, why you see so many articles telling us to not focus on our "rights".

 

(Side point: Interestingly, there was an amazing experience about a teacher who asked a young JW student, who never saluted the flag, to spit on the flag, and she refused. The teacher then took another student who did regularly salute the flag, and when asked, he easily spit on the flag. So the teacher said she understood better what our value system was.)

[Hope]

American culture regarding personal freedom and independence is directly responsible for the lack of crucial systems that look after citizens as a whole... universal healthcare for one.  Others are government supported vacation time, maternity/paternity leave and university education.  Each individual is responsible for those things and it depends on if they're lucky enough to have a job that covers those or enough money to do it themselves.  Or... they go without- coz they shouldn't have children or illness or education if they can't afford it. Or they should have a better job. 

 

It is not a kind culture to those who are disadvantaged or have no personal support system. 

[comtemplate]

On 1/1/2021 at 11:53 AM, VisualizeUrParadise said:

Or do you find in yourself something uniquely American when compared to Aussies or British people?

Or is it really about race? If you are not a Caucasian but an American, do you have a different mind compared to the white American?

So, I've been to UK spent some time there, I didn't feel American per say but there were differences in expressions that I think we both thought were hilarious that one called something one thing or another but we'd laugh it off.   All languages evolve over time.  Language was clearly understood and mindset was clear too.  (EX:  braces & suspenders we got a kick out of that )  I've never been to Australia.

 

As far as being of other races other than Caucasian, no differences in feelings, that I can think of, but definitely differences in experiences of life depending on where in the US and what you've been exposed to.  Some allow those experiences to shape their feelings on life and others don't.  

 

 

 

[carlos]

23 hours ago, 1MKnight said:

While the anthem does play a lot, most people in my experience are apathetic to it. Go to a sporting event and some will be into it and a huge population will not even bother standing. The United States is very lenient when it comes to anti-patriotic views. Not sure if it started here, but flag burning is something I remember learning about in school and hear touted occasionally when we talk about freedom of speech. 

Thanks, Michael. I thought not standing with your hand over your heart when the anthem is played was a big deal. But if nobody cares it shouldn't be a problem. Maybe it depends a lot on the area. This is all very foreign to me, we do not face this kind of issues here (for the time being).

 

I didn't know anything about flag burning, I read just now that it is covered by freedom of speech according to the Supreme Court and that several attempts to add an amendment to the Constitution forbidding it have failed. Interesting.

 

23 hours ago, 1MKnight said:

I also don’t believe Americans travel internationally as much as European citizens do. I’ve heard some people claim that the E.U. allows similar freedom of travel between it’s nations as the U.S. does between states. If so, I could see that being a reason why Europeans travel internationally more. Countries are closer, and less a hassle to enter. 

Yes, traveling between countries in most of Europe is like domestic travel in the U.S. Everywhere in Europe is within a 3 or 4-hour flight and you can cross the borders without even realizing it.

[carlos]

23 hours ago, Tortuga said:

I'm afraid to ask if Tim and I changed your viewpoint when we met...

I had long lost my prejudices when I met you, Richard. But if I hadn't, I would have.

 

Another common stereotype Spaniards have is that America is a dangerous country: That it's very likely to be a victim of theft or aggression. I guess Hollywood movies have contributed to that idea. Of course there are some dangerous areas, specially in some poorer neighborhoods of big cities. Yet I find life in America in general quite calm and safe. I was surprised to see few windows with bars. And it was funny to see houses with whole walls made of glass or plywood walls that you can break apart with a kick. Those wouldn't last one day in Madrid.

 

In all the Southern States, from California to Florida, I found it's easy to start a casual conversation with a complete stranger in the street. Store clerks and restaurant waiters are in general extremely obliging. Most people are nice and willing to help a foreigner. In NYC people are hectic and less likely to stop and talk to a stranger, but still they were quite nice to us.

[DarinS]

On 1/1/2021 at 10:53 AM, VisualizeUrParadise said:

Does it even exist?

As far as I know, America is made up of people from all sorts of nations, races and origins.

It’s not homogeneous, like South Korea or Japan.

What makes American American?

Is it just a tendency of people speaking in English?

 

Or do you find in yourself something uniquely American when compared to Aussies or British people?

Or is it really about race? If you are not a Caucasian but an American, do you have a different mind compared to the white American?

 

I’m from South Korea, full of Koreans.. who are different from one. another. but their differences are within the same category.

I think in a multiracial nation like US, there could be so many different categories of people.

Depends on where you live .....

 

big cities can have tons of different races and ethnicities and food and customs and stores

other towns - think 50k -100k people might have some diversity.....but maybe 2-4 primary ethnic groups

 

my town has over 200k people ... 17 congregations of ~ 120-180 people each (Our town is on the coast)

1 ASL

1 Portuguese

5 Spanish 

10 English

town above us has about 100k people 8 congregations

1 Haitian Creole

3 spanish

4 English

 

the ages and people and colors vary but they all live in an ‘American town’ and have similar needs, shopping, clothing etc

you can maybe tell their origins by some of their clothing or food choice or accent.....

but they shop the same businesses, eat some of the same foods and their kids attend the same schools

 

if you go west 30-40 miles there is a large change in personality and jobs and clothing and accents....

it’s a ‘country’ town...... think farmers-  hunters  - fisherman....lots of pickup trucks and camouflage clothing

they still might be white - spanish or black but they are wearing cowboy boots and Stetsons (hats) or ball caps 

( these folks are still ‘Americans’ and many are just down to earth good ole folks,.......

but they remind me more of Texans and Okies/Sooners (Oklahoma)

 

1 town - Hialeah - near miami is 98% Cuban - 240k people

 

go to the North border or west to California and You will find Many differences in those areas

 

south Korea nd North Korean have what about 25 and 40 million people maybe 38k square mile

 

US has around 330-340 million people so quite a bit more people allows for quite a bit more diversity and almost 4 million square miles

 

after all that .... Jehovah’s people - no matter where I go have many many of the same wonderful characteristics no matter their origin country