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> I didn't go, but the photos of the architecture from the different countries were beautiful. Apparently, the American pavilion was not among them: Now that
by klenwell 6y ago
> I didn't go, but the photos of the architecture from the different countries were beautiful.
Apparently, the American pavilion was not among them:
Now that the US Pavilion has been open for several days, its reviews, to be generous, are mixed. Visitors, after a two-hour wait, enjoy the upbeat attitude of the student “ambassadors” who greet them in Mandarin — but few are impressed by the three films that constitute the US Pavilion’s content. (One reporter noted that the price for the three shorts, about $23 million, is more than the production costs of the Oscar-winning film, The Hurt Locker.) The “American people’s” sole walk-on are brief vignettes that flicker on the screen and then are gone. Chinese visitors are reported to have remarked, especially after the hype and long wait, “We expected more from America.” Visitors exit the theater into a large hall dedicated to fawning over the 60-odd corporate sponsors whose names and brands are the only aspects of American life and culture to which the pavilion accords recognition.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/an-epic-failure-of-planni_b_561697 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/an-epic-failure-of-planni_b_5...
- ipsum2 6y agoDefinitely, check out the photos on the Wikipedia article I linked. USA looks very plain, compared to Thailand, Taiwan, India, France, Portugal, UK etc. USA's architecture looks closer to North Korea than the others.
- thepasswordis 6y agoThe US seems to have largely decided that any amount of national pride is something to be ashamed of.
- TomSwirly 6y agoI've visited some 40 countries and have never been in one that was anywhere near so ostentatious in displaying symbols of national pride as the US. It's like you guys will forget you're Americans if you don't see a flag for a minute or two.
- WaxProlix 6y agoIs that sarcasm? American nationalism and over-the-top expressions of patriotic pride border on the jingoistic.
- colordrops 6y agoThis thread is a perfect microcosm of the american psyche - two extremes that only see the other side's extremism. There is little measured, nuanced opinion to be had. Both extreme jingoistic nationalism, and shame for any nationalism at all are unhealthy.
- collaborative 6y agoThere is a difference between nationalism and patriotism. Patriotism is the love of/honoring your heritage, gratefulness for the work that your elders did for you to be here. Nationalism is the promotion of a specific group at the expense of others, relies on victimism to justify supremacism and deludes itself with an ideal that never comes. The difference between these 2 is mostly known in continental Europe where it became very pronounced in the 20th century, but the psyche of the rest of the world (US included) still has to go through a learning excercise. And this knowledge is also quickly fading in Europe itself. There is no healthy middle ground when it comes to nationalism (not patriotism)
- WaxProlix 6y agoI don't think there's any of what you're saying here. Compared to almost any other country, objectively, there are more flags per capita in the USA, more flags displayed (where else does everything from a car dealership to a hardware store have multiple prominent flags?), etc. These phenomena exist everywhere, but pretending that it's not more prominent in the US of A is committing some fallacy of the golden mean or something.
- colordrops 6y agoI don't think you understood what I said.
- markdown 6y agoOrdinary people hang US flags off the front of their houses. In a bizarre indoctrination ritual, they make their kids pledge allegiance to the state from a young age. They think they're the greatest country in the world. Have you taken a good look at your own country.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- jiofih 6y agoI don’t get the fuss with the pledge of alliance (non American here). > "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? It’s not like you can’t leave (except for the IRS) if you don’t like it.
- TomSwirly 6y ago> Why is it bad to declare your commitment to the country you’re born in and it’s values? Why should a child be forced to do that? What if you just don't agree with the values? > It’s not like you can’t leave (except for the IRS) if you don’t like it. For most people, it is exactly that you cannot leave.
- orf 6y agoBorderline indoctrination. You're not pledging commitment to it's "values" and young children are not at an age to have a nuanced discussion or awareness about what those exactly those values are, and make a decision about if they should be declaring a commitment to them or not.
- jiofih 6y agoShould everyone wait until their kids turn 18 to start teaching them their own morals and values? You’d just be auctioning their brain to random others who are willing to do that. I think we either have very different concepts of what indoctrination is, or there is much more beyond the pledge itself, and that is where the real issues are?
- alaxsxaq 6y agoSounds like Disney. Disney World (? - the one in Florida, USA) had a gift shop at the exit to every ride last time I was there. The bean counters probably consider it a great addition, and I'm sure it pays dividends, but that sort of unadulterated cashing in puts me off.
- jhu247 6y agoNot necessarily for lack of effort. I was there and Obama recorded a video specifically for the visitors to the US Pavilion.