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This is the most concise explanation for what many on the left fail to grasp, and one of the many reasons why I and many are Trump supporters. We are on one ha

• angstrom 10y ago
  I've driven across the US three times. American culture is largely gone, coopted by cookie cutter homes, strip malls and wal-marts. It's a beautiful country though.
  • gph 10y ago
    I disagree. American culture is still very much there, it just doesn't exist within the corporate/commercial realm. I think something people always seem to overlook is that there never really was a singular American culture. The different regions have had very distinct cultures. I've been to Polish festivals across the Midwest, large bbq/cookouts in the south, and plenty of bluegrass festivals around appalachia. There's plenty of culture around. It's just not at the surface anymore now that mass media and other interests have sort of taken control of that arena.
    • seanp2k2 10y ago
      And in California, music festivals and underground parties, all the swimming holes around Yuba, Tahoe (not the touristy stuff), countless other hippie hang-outs... And that's just a specific sub-culture in NorCal. I'm sure tons of similar things exist around the US, but the California one is pretty awesome and does reach to other places in the world (Hawaii, Costa Rica, Bali, etc)
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  • marmaduke 10y ago
    > I've driven across the US three times. American culture is not found on its interstates? Driving cross-country is not a qualification to make such a negative statement.
    • angstrom 10y ago
      No, the interstates are a bigger joke. You'll see nothing, but make great time. What I've seen as someone originally from Ohio that's lived in NYC and Seattle the last 10 years is much of the culture is diluted because people move around and communities receive more outside influence than they did pre-WW2. I've seen too much to list here. The rural areas like where I grew up and the farm I was raised on are familiar. It's the faces of people and culture are familiar to me. And people do cling to religion and sometimes guns. I've also lived in the wealthiest zip code on the upper east side and listened in on elitist ramblings as people discuss international finance in the corner Starbucks. Oblivious of the wider social impacts such topics have. My day today is spent working in a technocracy that unfortunately over estimates merits and the ability of anyone to simply advance beyond their circumstance. The culture exists, but it has Americanized over the years. Polish, Irish, German, Swiss, etc it all gets diluted from the European versions after 5 or 6 generations.
    • mindcrime 10y ago
      You could argue that interstates are actually a very specific part of "American culture". Certainly they had a large impact on the way of life for many Americans over the past 60 some odd years (or however many it's been). Motels, those clusters of shops around the interchanges, certain kinds of diners and truck-stops, not to mention the ubiquity of semi-trucks ("18 wheelers"), etc., are tightly tied to the emergence of the interstates and are iconic in American culture.
  • code_duck 10y ago
    Those cookie cutter homes, Wal Mart and strip malls are not an absence of culture... that is the culture.
    • Chris2048 10y ago
      It's one part of it, and needs to be taken in historical/global context to be viewed positively.
      • ssully 10y ago
        For those interested in this, check out Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck. It was written in 1962, but I think it holds up well. An aged Steinbeck feels out of touch with a country he is famous for writing about. To aid this, he travels across the country with his dog to see the America and it's people he has grown away from. He specifically avoids major highways and roads for the reasons people list here.
    • pessimizer 10y ago
      No, they aren't; though culture grows through them and around them. They're the result of government policies. Soviet apartment blocks aren't culture either.
  • kriro 10y ago
    Very much disagree. Check out a small town in the South, some fishing village in the North East, go to Alaska or Hawaii, watch a high school Football game on a nice Friday night in Texas. Enjoy some Jazz in New Orleans...I think the USA is dripping with culture(s). Even the mega cities are very rich. NYC has a very distinct feel, LA has movie culture which is very much a US thing. But the USA is also a country of immigrants and natives. It seems silly to toss out immigrants who have actually enriched the culture of the country. I think it's fantastic that you feel the German influence in Pennsylvanian, there are Chinatowns in most cities, I've heard rumors that there might be some Irish influence in Boston etc. etc. I am a little sad that the native culture isn't a bit stronger.
    • Moru 10y ago
      So now the american natives are 4'th generation germans/britts/whatever instead of the Indians? :-) Just shows that this has happened to many cultures already. Cultures evolve or stagnate and disappear.
  • nommm-nommm 10y ago
    Well if you just drive around on the main roads it can feel that way. Talk to the locals and participate in local culture and you'll feel very different.
• noobermin 10y ago
  How are you not allowed to cultivate your culture? EDIT: A number of people are asking you this question, I don't want to make it feel like you are being ganged up on or in for a trick. I myself am asking due to curiosity.
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• vacri 10y ago
  What are some examples you see of being forbidden to cultivate, maintain, and respect your own culture?
  • laichzeit0 10y ago
    Somehow it feels "frowned upon" to celebrate that you're a white male. It's something we can't be proud of. Patriarchy and the fact that white males dominate the corporate world is apparently something that should be "changed". I hope Trump changes that.
    • ricksplat 10y ago
      Have you actually checked your privilege? As a white male you are the wealthiest, healthiest, most celebrated segment in modern society. If you feel otherwise it's likely something going on in your own head. EDIT my point is that you're complaining you can't celebrate your white privilege, when in fact every day is a celebration of that. Not that because you are white you necessarily are any of those things - just that it is easier to be. EDIT2 > All it leads to is an endless loop of arguments Or, if you step back and don't get so "offended" it's also known as a "discussion". There's a huge amount of people who really, really don't know how good they have it. Talk about how they need more. Then get offended when you point out there are people worse off. Inequality is a serious issue, and yes we do need to have a discussion around "privilege", who is or isn't "privileged", and comparison of levels of "privilege".
      • laichzeit0 10y ago
        > As a white male you are the wealthiest, healthiest, most celebrated segment in modern society. Yes. I don't want to feel that I need to apologize for this or be treated in a negative way. I get that we're at the top of the ladder, now leave us alone.
        • ricksplat 10y ago
          >Somehow it feels "frowned upon" to celebrate that you're a white male. Clearly it isn't.
• nugator 10y ago
  "...but are not allowed to cultivate, maintain and respect our own (American) culture." Could you give an example?
  • seertaak 10y ago
    One example would be the adoption of European, and "ethnic" literature in lieu of the American literary canon -- even in American Literature courses! There's a comment about this by the late Andrew Breitbart, you can google it. (He studied American Literature.) That's just one example, there are literally millions. Here's another way of looking at it: - if a African American outwardly expresses his cultural origins and identity, this is called "affirmative" -- a word with positive connotations; - if an Italian American expresses ties to his cultural origins, it's considered less inspiring, but still ok - if an white European American expresses pride at his cultural heritage, then he's usually derided as nativist, racist, xenophobic, or, worst of all -- an old fogey.
    • davidcollantes 10y ago
      There is something odd on that example. An Italian-American is a white European, Italian-American.
      • seertaak 10y ago
        Exactly. It makes no sense. The story is similar with regard to Irish cultural heritage. Actually, it does make sense if you look at it through the right lens. "Oppressed" => affirmative "Hegemonic" => racist, bad AFAICT, this is how the calculation works. And to be fair, it's not entirely without merit. It just seems to me the pendulum -- which was too far in the pro-European heritage direction before -- has now swung too far in the "European/White bad, everything else good" direction.
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• throwaway-hn123 10y ago
  > We are on one hand supposed to respect and honor other cultures, but are not allowed to cultivate, maintain and respect our own (American) culture. Oh, who prevented you? What exactly is your culture?
• Melk 10y ago
  What Trump supporters fail to grasp is that many on the left agree but don't think Trump is the man for the job. He doesn't care about culture. You've been duped.
  • welanes 10y ago
    But that was never the conversation. It was always about how only bigots and deplorables could support him. The concerns powering Trump's rise were shooed away as small-minded. Well, Brexit and Trump are two black eyes. I really hope the Left tune in to the grievances of the majority now, because I'm fearful of what comes next if they don't.
    • lunula 10y ago
      The left has almost no political power. It is also the popular majority. There are more registered democrats in the us than republicans. Clinton is likely to win the popular vote. The system is physically designed, by districting and the electoral college, to support the political minority. You are conflating the actual demographics with the electoral system, which is lending more power to an oppressive point of view that is precisely what the political elite cultivates.
      • cft 10y ago
        Trump won the popular vote too.
        • fsck--off 10y ago
          Just because he's leading in the popular vote now doesn't mean he won the popular vote. The New York Times projects that Clinton will win the popular vote once all the ballots have been counted. http://www.nytimes.com/elections/forecast/president http://www.nytimes.com/elections/forecast/president
          • heneryville 10y ago
• peteretep 10y ago
  > but are not allowed to cultivate, maintain and > respect our own (American) culture Citation?
  • TeMPOraL 10y ago
    Most of the things written in past few years about diversity. The western culture is evil, because it was built by white men. Regardless of the merit, when you have actual white men talking like that, it seems a tad self-destructive.
    • peteretep 10y ago
      > Most of the things written in past few years about > diversity. The western culture is evil, because it > was built by white men. As a white man, I'm yet to read anything I've taken seriously suggesting that "western culture" is evil. I've read plenty to suggest that my experience isn't always the most important one though, and I think the whole idea of privilege is very very useful. I found the whole GitHub meritocracy debate to be genuinely mind-expanding. > Regardless of the merit, when you have actual white > men talking like that, it seems a tad > self-destructive. I wonder what we'd make today of the discussions about Southern Culture around the time of abolition. Self-destructive?
      • TeMPOraL 10y ago
        > As a white man, I'm yet to read anything I've taken seriously suggesting that "western culture" is evil. Try "colonialism", "white man's burden", etc. I've seen a lot of those being thrown around lately, with the implication that the current western culture is still imperialistic and oppressive, and therefore all of us - stereotypical westerners - should ask the world for judgement and forgiveness. My point is - well, sure, imperialism happened, lot of bad things were done. Let's resolve particular claims of particular peoples in a mature and legal way. But beyond that, I don't feel any personal responsibility for what happened 100+ years ago, and I don't see why I now - as suggested - should hate myself, hate my culture, or bow down and voluntarily make place for the "oppressed" to step up. > I wonder what we'd make today of the discussions about Southern Culture around the time of abolition. Self-destructive? Discussions about slavery != discussions about the whole culture of people. Again, I'm fine with discussing a specific issue on merits - but the current media situation is that one has to be wary of saying anything "too white" or "too patriarchy", lest he be chastised by his own fellow white men - that feels like a pretty self-destructive phenomenon.
• paublyrne 10y ago
  But American culture is not homogeneous. The platform on which Trump ran seemed to elevate certain parts of American culture while dismissing others. More important to his success - it seems to me as an outside observer - were his promises to do things that are not possible but sound appealing to voters. Reopen mines, open factories that will offer many jobs to low skilled workers, and so on, to build a symbolically protectionist wall without paying for its construction.
  • DominikR 10y ago
    American culture is in many aspects very homogenous. Take for example the fact that there's 50% of the population that wants to cut down on government even if it means that social services are to be cut. Or the business culture which is very unique, at least I've seen nothing similar anywhere in the world. Then there's a degree of freedom of speech that nowhere else exists, and rights like being allowed to carry a gun in public which is vigorously defended by large parts of the population. And yes, there is an American brand of Christianity. Even if you don't see it in population centres it's still there everywhere else and it is more important than Christianity in most other Christian cultures. There's a kind of attitude among US citizens leaning towards some Classical Liberal or Libertarian principles that can't be found anywhere else in the world. Where ever else you go the majority expects the government to take care of every member of the society from cradle to grave.
    • gph 10y ago
      >rights like being allowed to carry a gun in public which is vigorously defended by large parts of the population. Just FYI that's actually different depending on local laws. I don't live in an open carry state so I very much don't have the right to carry a gun in public. Not unless I went through the rigorous process to get a carry permit.
      • DominikR 10y ago
        Yes I know that many regulations are done on the state level and then there's gun free areas and so on, but I'd still say that this is something very unique about the US. I can't name even a single example where societies, even if it is only at a state level, generally allow citizens to carry a gun in public (without having to acquire some special permission that only very few people have access to) If there is some other society that allows this then it's probably an Anglophone country.
• ricksplat 10y ago
  > are not allowed to cultivate, maintain and respect our own (American) culture. - Hollywood - Pro Wrestling - Super Bowl - "World" series - The Internet - Silicon Valley - Petro Dollars - Big Cars - Rock n' Roll - Hip Hop - The Iraq War - The War on Terror I could go on, and on. A peculiar quirk of American culture indeed is, that not just do you get to cultivate your own culture. Everybody else has to participate as well.
  • atmosx 10y ago
    I think there's also: - Scott Fitzgerald - Mark Twain - Herman Melville - John Steinbeck - Wall Whitman - E. Allan Poe - Ginsbert - Bukowski - Charlie Chaplin - Miles Davis - Bob Dylan - (countless others) Depends on where/what you choose to look. I understand that the average American is not all that knowledgeable but neither is the average European, Australian, Japanese or Nigerian...
    • ricksplat 10y ago
      Right, yet more examples of the celebration of white american culture that is celebrated and isn't in any way curtailed.
    • bazzargh 10y ago
      Just nitpicking, but Chaplin was born in the UK and was already a vaudeville star when he was signed up by Karno and went to Hollywood. His status as an immigrant led to calls for him to be deported when he protested against HUAC. In the end, when he left for the premier of Limelight in London in 1952, the AG revoked his re-entry permit, and he didn't return to the US for twenty years. Which is not to deny that his silent movie career isn't American culture; just that Chaplin's relationship with America was complicated.
      • atmosx 10y ago
        I didn't know the details, thanks for sharing. I believe that he shaped part of the US and World's culture with movies like "The dictator"[1]. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sfJxdytYn4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sfJxdytYn4
• beatpanda 10y ago
  "respect for American culture" always comes in the form of trashing and stereotyping other cultures and enumerating the reasons why "they" should leave. Maybe if you tried an affirmative approach, instead of saying all kinds of racist and bigoted things about other cultures, fewer people would call you a bigot or a racist.
• karrotwaltz 10y ago
  I feel like this is exactly what is happening in France too... The media tries so hard to stay "politically correct" at all times that it is absurdely biased some times. An exagerated example: if an immigrant commit a crime, the medias talk about him as a victim of modern society instead of an actual criminal. I've completely stopped watching TV a long time ago, so it might have changed since then, but then again I would like to see the French values put forward instead of everyone else adapting to the few people that don't want to change (and, to some extent, don't really want to be French).
  • tdkl 10y ago
    And that's precisely why people start voting the alternative in EU.
• rebuilder 10y ago
  I'm a white male in a very predominantly white European country. The argument you make sounds familiar to me. When I hear people lament the cultural oppression of the white male, what I really hear is: "Here's what white males think and do in this country, why won't you let us be what we are?" This gives me the creeps something awful, because I'd rather not have some traditionalist's concept of white male identity imposed upon me simply because I belong to the same demographics, in many ways, as they do. Trying to cultivate, maintain and respect a culture seems to me to usually come with a healthy dose of thou-shalt-not-do. I prefer to think for myself, so I'm not really very sympathetic.
  • tnones 10y ago
    Then you should consider that there are plenty of non-traditionalists who feel the same way. Associating white and male pride with traditionalism is exactly the party line that's been pushed, and that created this situation. Until the humiliating defeats with Brexit and Trump, the progressive left was so high on its own supply, they wouldn't hear it. Some still won't hear it, they're just covering their ears and panicking, because they think the media's image of Trump and his supporters - the same media that predicted a 93% chance of Clinton presidency - was actually an accurate representation of reality. Think men aren't horrible oppressors? You're a misogynist, sexist MRA who wants to bring women back into the kitchen. Think "white people" are just a convenient but wrong proxy for class, and that blindly inviting uneducated and illiberal refugees into a service-based economy and libertarian culture is a recipe for disaster? You're a racist islamophobe who thinks black lives don't matter. Respecting white culture means respecting the values that built western society, and that includes rationality, impartiality, and evidence-based inquiry. Valuing male culture means acknowledging meritocracy, understanding that respect is earned - not given - and encouraging confidence to accomplish by yourself. There is really a stunning amount of projection stemming from the left these days, and it's left otherwise sympathetic people out in the cold. The progressive left repeats the right words, but they don't seem to understand what they mean or where they came from, incapable of self-reflection.
    • wavefunction 10y ago
      The progressive Left supported Bernie Sanders. The moderate Left and Right and the Establishment forced the exactly perfect candidate for Trump to beat.
• ainiriand 10y ago
  Here in Spain the 12th of October is remembered as the day Chris Columbus found the new continent but somehow the left is disgusted by the fact that there were some degree of imperialism and colonialism. FFS its our history and we should not deny it. We should learn from it, see what was good, what was bad, and celebrate the date because it was a important mark in this world.