Cultural Differences

[elder999]

Crikey mate! 6000 miles :faints:. Leaving aside my having flown to Calgary and back (via Chicago), I'm not sure I've gone that far in my entire life :lol:.

I drove nearly that much moving to New Mexico from New York. Twice :lol:

Average American driver drives around 12,000 miles a year, I think. I drive a quite a bit more than that, but I like to drive...:lol:

 

[CoryKS]

Different styles with a common lineage. You get a lot of variety in these offshoots.

 

[Steve]

Crikey mate! 6000 miles :faints:. Leaving aside my having flown to Calgary and back (via Chicago), I'm not sure I've gone that far in my entire life :lol:.

It's the journey that matters. Right?

I would personally rather drive for 5 days and spend 3 at a "destinition" and then 5 days home along a different route, than to fly and spend more time. Some of my fondest memories are of the road trips we took as a family and I want my kids to experience that. You miss the entire country if you fly. My wife and I disagree on this to a point.

I like going to DisneyWorld, but it's like travelling in a vacuum. We fly down one day, landing on the very opposite corner of our Country. We take a shuttle from the Airport to the Disney resort, spend a week or so in the cocoon of the Disney experience and then fly home. It's like a virtual vacation, to me.

Whereas, if we drove, we would see so much more... literally an entire country's worth. The journey is the vacation, not the destination.

I'm with Elder, though. I love to drive. Before the baby, I would pack up anyone who wanted to join me and go out on the weekend and just drive up through the mountains. I would look for twisty roads up in the hills or deep into the forests and just drive until lunchtime... then drive home.

I'm also one of those geeks who can easily spend the afternoon in the loft playing Gran Turismo.

 

[Sukerkin]

Ah, we find a commonality between at least these examples of American's and Englishmen .

Gran Turismo is a great passion of mine. At one time I was amongst the top competing drivers in the world (as such things are measured by inter-board OLR events) and now greatly enjoy wielding the virtual spanners coaxing the best performance for the best A-Spec out of a car.

Here's my main 'showcase' these days:

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=103928

Sadly, my co-engineer has gone and gotten a real motorsports job which means that the front-page doesn't get updated any more (I don't have access ).

Off-topicness over .

 

[Makalakumu]

While there is an element of truth to this for some of the families "at the top," it's largely a socialist-proletarian canard, based upon a lack of experience with any of those families. You could be right about the financuial institutions, but, just as one example, the Kennedys are largely descended from a criminal bootlegger.The elite schools, while they may have started out emulating similar institutions in the U.K, and may even have some similar traditions, are largely American affairs.I don't even know what you mean by "crazy emphasis" on bloodlines and purity. People are into their lineage and sometimes heritage, that's all-if you were descended from someone who came over on the Mayflower, you'd know it.

While I don't deny that we have what some would see as an aristocracy based upon inherited wealth, it is a distinctly American aristocracy based upon wealth. Don't even know what you mean by the "top of our society," let alone "tied to the U.K." Sounds like more "one world government, Rothschilds and Bildebergers, Illuminati and Trilateral Commission" confusion to me....:lol:

I've read and heard a few things here and there, but in reality, what the hell would I know. I'm a polish/german/indian that grew up in the frozen wastelands of Minnesota. I'm about as "elite" as a can of good lutefisk.

That said, from what I "know", its a small world at the top...and that world is tied closely to Britain.

 

[Makalakumu]

Got any WASPs in England?

 

[elder999]

I've read and heard a few things here and there, but in reality, what the hell would I know. I'm a polish/german/indian that grew up in the frozen wastelands of Minnesota. I'm about as "elite" as a can of good lutefisk.

That said, from what I "know", its a small world at the top...and that world is tied closely to Britain.

Well, it might make for another thread......what do I know? While I went to school with a few of the people that you're probably referring to, I'm just an african/indian/polynesian/fill in the blank whose ancestors happened to get rich before any Kennedys or Rockefellers did......

...and when you get right down to it, hell, I'm black, and even if I wanted to forget it, I've never met a Kennedy, Rockefeller, Lippincott, Mellon, DuPont or even Ford who'd let me...:lfao:.....though,I also have to admit, from time to time some of them seemed to forget it themselves.......

 

[crushing]

These travel distances get back to the point of percentage of people having passports. If I wanted to check out Stone Brewing Company in my own country, that's a 2200 mile trip for me without ever leaving the US.

Someone can leave Manchester and head to Munich and take a little detour through Belgium and the Netherlands and in around 900 miles have been in four different countries.

Also, I'm not sure when you saw the passport statistics, but the US passport percentages likely went up recently as the requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative are implemented.

 

[Archangel M]

Im going to add something that may sound offensive/confrontational, but its intended to illustrate my point not stir things up....many people who immigrated to America did so because they didnt give a damn what the "old country" thought...

That being said, we do need to "get along" with our worldly neighbors, but IMO, I dont want my politicians first thoughts to be "I wonder what Europe thinks about us." I teach my kids to be courteous, be respectful, but be their own person. If you think something is right then screw the rest. The "American Way" has been to be fiercely independent. We were born a Revolutionary nation and that was only yesterday in global terms.

 

[elder999]

Im going to add something that may sound offensive/confrontational, but its intended to illustrate my point not stir things up....many people who immigrated to America did so because they didnt give a damn what the "old country" thought...

And many did because they had no choice.While some if those chose to do so because it was the only choice left, hell, many did their "immigrating" as ****ing cargo! :angry:

And many "others" were already waiting here for waves of immigrants to commit genocide against them....:angry:

That being said, we do need to "get along" with our worldly neighbors, but IMO, I dont want my politicians first thoughts to be "I wonder what Europe things about us." I teach my kids to be courteous, be respectful, but be their own person. If you think something is right then screw the rest. The "American Way" has been to be fiercely independent. We were born a Revolutionary nation and that was only yesterday in global terms.

Agreed.

(Betcha didn't think the first part would be "offensive" quite that way, didya? :lfao

 

[morph4me]

I think alot of the cultural differences come from the fact that we are a very young country, with the arrogance and brashness, and independence of youth. When we are around for a couple of hundred more years, I suspect our diffences will become less noticable.

On a somewhat related note. my daughter is London for the semester and my wife and I will be visiting for a week in the beginning of May. I will endeavor not to add to the negative image

 

[KELLYG]

I dig this thread. Some people may think that we are very different but we are not. If you are judging me from what you see in the media or on American TV you have missed me by a long shot. I have not or don't have the desire to meet any one or emulate any one in the "Super Upper class elite" Most of them are imitating each other and that would have to be boring at the very least. I am from here and have experienced the WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION that people give out without really knowing you. I do not have to instantly gratify my every want and need to the point that it puts me in a financial bind.

I like most people go to work, come home, take care of household chores, and try to find some time to have fun.

Don't even get me started on REALITY TV.

 

[Rich Parsons]

In a recent thread in a discussion on an emotive subject someone stated there was a big difference in cultures between America and Great Britain. Given that the two countries have always, well after the War of Independance anway, been the countries that have been the closest in many things, are our two cultures so different?

Not just in things like spellings, use of words etc but in major things about the way we look at emotive subjects like sex, abortion, homosexuality, religion. Are we just allies because we happen to speak much the same language or do we really have enough in common that we understand each other. I must admit that I have difficulties at times in understanding why things that seem simple here are more complicated in America. I imagine that works both ways?

Both countries are fiercely independant with different experiences of the same history, but are we still cousins? should we be or should Britain look towards Europe rather than America for support? Does America look to Britain still or does it look towards its Spanish speaking neighbours more now many Americans have Spanish as their first language?

Britain and the rest or Europe has a longer history of not getting along.

With recent wars in the 20th century it made sense to be allies not just for politics but for business as well.


As to Sex, Abortion, Homosexuality, and Religion, I think Britain has made much more progress in all of these areas in openness and understanding and tolerance. I can see it from US to Canada.

 

[Kreth]

These travel distances get back to the point of percentage of people having passports. If I wanted to check out Stone Brewing Company in my own country, that's a 2200 mile trip for me without ever leaving the US.

Someone can leave Manchester and head to Munich and take a little detour through Belgium and the Netherlands and in around 900 miles have been in four different countries.

I remember years ago reading a blurb in Reader's Digest, IIRC, that illustrated this. An American was having some friends visit from Europe, and they were asking about visiting something like Disney World in the morning, and the Grand Canyon in the afternoon... :lol:

 

[thardey]

Talking about young, my city was "Incorporated" in 1885! And that was mostly tents, I'm sure. It was just a place to cross the Rogue River.

And as far as travel, One year my whole family drove to eastern Texas and back, via Southern California, to visit family. (4,000 miles) The next summer my sister, her boyfriend and I drove to Oaklahoma and back in one week total, right after I graduated from High School. (2,400 miles in 6 days.), and the summer after that, just my sister and I drove to Missouri and back, to visit relatives (3,600 miles.) The "Road Trip" is a rite of passage. That's 10,000 miles in a year and a half - most of which was done without anybody in the car over 21.

It's nothing to go visit my in-laws that live 300 miles away. We do it all the time. (See why we whine about gas prices?)

One other thing I've noticed as a cultural difference is the "Do-It-Yourself" (Or "DIY") mentality. A "Plumber" here (S. Oregon) is someone who installs plumbing in a new building, not someone you call when you have a leaky faucet -- you're expected to fix that yourself. Part of our standard education (culturally, not necessarily Public school) includes basic carpentry, welding, motor vehicle repair (basic mainenance stuff, like oil changes, filters, spark plugs, etc.), plumbing, and stuff like that. You only hire someone to do that for you when you get some "disposable income."

Also the degree of "politeness" varies considerably from area to area. We think New Englanders (Yankees, to us) are very rude -- they think we're way too polite. But even our type of "Politeness" is still different from people I've known from England.

It's also true that our history is related to what affects America. Even "World History" only focuses on the world before we became a nation. So, in a sense, it's all "American History." We'll study England, and France, and Rome, and Greece, and Egypt and all that, until 1776, then it's all about us. (Or should I say U.S?) We only study other cultures in the sense of how they affected us. Either they have been allies, or enemies. (The exception to this being Israel, mostly because of deeply embeded religious culture, I suppose.)

 

[Archangel M]

And many did because they had no choice.While some if those chose to do so because it was the only choice left, hell, many did their "immigrating" as ****ing cargo! :angry:

And many "others" were already waiting here for waves of immigrants to commit genocide against them....:angry:




Agreed.

(Betcha didn't think the first part would be "offensive" quite that way, didya? :lfao

My Immigrant relatives on one side were Italian. Back "in the day" they were as discriminated against as any other minority. Lynchings, street killings, riots..Hell my great-grandmother had some newspapers that outright called them ethnic slurs. But they didnt let that influence what they saw as the promise of "America". The "American Ideal" is larger than and separate from the way Americans have behaved in the past.

 

[Archangel M]

In terms of "support" it seems to me that we were pretty much left to our own devices and nobody really thought all that much about us on the world stage until after the World Wars. Which is a couple of minutes ago in "world history time".

 

[CoryKS]

We only study other cultures in the sense of how they affected us.

Yes, and also in the sense of "how can we use this?" Americans tend to be voracious adopters of other people's stuff, provided that it appeals to us or offers a real benefit.

 

[Archangel M]

Britain and the rest or Europe has a longer history of not getting along.

With recent wars in the 20th century it made sense to be allies not just for politics but for business as well.


As to Sex, Abortion, Homosexuality, and Religion, I think Britain has made much more progress in all of these areas in openness and understanding and tolerance. I can see it from US to Canada.

I agree. It seems to me that short of our Civil War, America has been unusual in its ability to "get along". My grandfather was around when Europe was slaughtering each other wholesale a few decades ago.

I think that there is also a perception difference regarding our stance on political issues like abortion, religion etc. Our laws/government is where "tolerance" is found here. We are used to having the freedom (and some would say the expectation) to make a big stink about not agreeing/liking what "the other side" believes. In some ways our battles over things like abortion is a "good" thing. Compared to just "going along to get along".

 

[Makalakumu]

In the city I used to live, there were old ethnic neighborhoods where entire communities from the Old World came and settled. These communities can be located today by looking at the difference in architecture, street names, and pubs. Anyway, back then, all of the old hatreds and prejudices were carried from the Old to the New and a culture of antipathy grew up between the various sections of town. Now, no one remembers any of that, but the culture of antipathy remains. The rivalry between various neighborhood schools, the anti-neighborhood graphitti and vandalism, and even some of the old epithets used remain.

For example, in my old neighborhood, we had street names of Ulm, Bern, and Munich. Our neighborhood pub was the Bierstube. Guess who settled that neighborhood?

Across the railroad tracks, near the harbor, you had Brussels and the Belgian club. Guess who settled there?

I had friends on the other side of the tracks who immediately associated the rivalry to us just because we lived there. Our hockey games were classic!

The worst were the scandinavians. The Norwegians, Swedish, and Finnish must not have mixed well because there are some cases where people on one side of town still won't associate with people form another. I remember two boys arguing in my classroom about this hot girl and whether or not they were going to ask her out. One sides entire argument was that she was a Cooper.

I don't think anyone remembers what that means anymore.