4 ms·

> Each state / region has vastly different cultures and standards of living. The culture in the US varies some from region to region (midwest vs northwest vs s

by iak8god 10y ago

> Each state / region has vastly different cultures and standards of living. The culture in the US varies some from region to region (midwest vs northwest vs south etc), but it's absolutely false to say that the differences are "vast", especially on the state-to-state level. Standards of living vary much more between urban/rural even within states than they do across states generally. Leaving aside the fact that EU states speak completely different languages, the cultural differences there are much, much more pronounced. Everyone in the US speaks the same language, watches the same TV shows, follows the same sports, shops at the same chain stores, etc, etc. Your comparison of the political structures is also quite off, though not very relevant to the question of cultural homogeneity.

ratacat 10y ago
I imagine you are correct that the cultural differences across Europe are greater, and yet everybody in the us definitely don't watch the same tv shows, and if i go to Memphis TN, there are plenty of people who I just can't understand what they're saying for the life of me, even though we speak the same language. (I'm from Montana). Probably not as much as Europe, but it is there.
- iak8god 10y ago
  You're right of course that not everyone watches the same TV shows (etc), but the major cultural divide is urban/rural, not state-by-state or region-to-region. There was an interesting discussion of this and related topics here just the other day: 'Duck Dynasty' vs. 'Modern Family': 50 Maps of the U.S. Cultural Divide (nytimes.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13264083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13264083 I moved in the last year from a mid-sized city in the northeast to a sightly smaller mid-sized city in the south, and everyone keeps asking me excitedly about the culture shock. People eat more okra here and it's hard for me to understand the speech of the few people I've met from more rural areas of the state. That's it. The culture here is "mid-sized US city," just like where I came from. It's almost disappointing.

by iak8god 10y ago

ratacat 10y ago

I imagine you are correct that the cultural differences across Europe are greater, and yet everybody in the us definitely don't watch the same tv shows, and if i go to Memphis TN, there are plenty of people who I just can't understand what they're saying for the life of me, even though we speak the same language. (I'm from Montana). Probably not as much as Europe, but it is there.

iak8god 10y ago
You're right of course that not everyone watches the same TV shows (etc), but the major cultural divide is urban/rural, not state-by-state or region-to-region. There was an interesting discussion of this and related topics here just the other day: 'Duck Dynasty' vs. 'Modern Family': 50 Maps of the U.S. Cultural Divide (nytimes.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13264083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13264083 I moved in the last year from a mid-sized city in the northeast to a sightly smaller mid-sized city in the south, and everyone keeps asking me excitedly about the culture shock. People eat more okra here and it's hard for me to understand the speech of the few people I've met from more rural areas of the state. That's it. The culture here is "mid-sized US city," just like where I came from. It's almost disappointing.