4 ms·
Well I've lived here all of my life and in many different parts of the US. I've also lived for short periods abroad. Let me address your points one by one: 1
by Nrsolis 14y ago
Well I've lived here all of my life and in many different parts of the US. I've also lived for short periods abroad.
Let me address your points one by one:
1. Comparing us to Japan is really a poor choice. Japan is a highly uniform society and very xenophobic. They have an almost uniform cultural, religious, and genetic makeup.
2. We don't have a single language, a single president, a federal police, or any of the other things you are mentioning in the same manner of which you think of them in your country. The authority of those particular institutions is VERY limited in some very crucial ways. We are more like a strong union of 50 separate states, each with its own government (and president, called a governor here) with its own particular political challenges. There have been SEVERAL fights between the state and federal government over things like national policy and states rights that run counter to your argument. For example, Arizona is fighting with the federal government over immigration enforcement. California is fighting with the federal government over marijuana. Nevada fights with the federal government over online gambling. etc etc etc. During the civil rights era, some southern states mounted what almost became an armed rebellion against the federal government.
We also dont have a single language. LARGE parts of this country speak ONLY Spanish, or ONLY Haitian, or ONLY Russian. There is no requirement for someone living here to speak English and it's been a HUGE problem politically in places like California, Texas, and Florida. In California and Washington State, there are large Chinese and Japanese populations that only speak their mother tongue.
Furthermore, the country itself is changing constantly. Dearborn, Michigan is home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the USA, and that is having an interesting effect on the political and social dynamic of what was once a very very white/european part of the country.
It's easy here to understand how we can identify a Southerner or a Californian by their manner, diet, and dialect. I feel like the rest of the world is often confused by the idea that the USA acts and thinks alike as a uniform country. We're not.
- jeltz 14y agoThe same applies to almost any large country. Outsiders tend to think that every country has a single culture, single language, etc. (I am from Sweden so for us that assumption is basically true.) Examples where it is not true: Russia, India, China, Germany, Spain, Italy.
- Iv 14y ago> Japan is a highly uniform society and very xenophobic. They have an almost uniform cultural, religious, and genetic makeup. I'm French, my wife is Japanese. We have experience of both immigration procedure. Let me tell you that Japan's xenophobism is a myth that dates from WWII. France is far more tough for foreigners. It is true that they are basically more uniform culturally and probably genetically and religiously than US. But you missed an important point : I did not compare US's healthcare to Japan's. I compared US' best county to Japan's average. That makes the uniformity of the country quite irrelevant, don't you think ? 2. You exaggerate the differences. 96% of Americans speak English. 87% as their primary language. Of course institutions are limited ! That's how it works in a democracy ! I agree that states are different, have some freedom (but probably not much more than a German Land or a Swiss canton, these are federal countries too) but my point is that stating that these differences are as big as the ones between EU countries is ridiculous.
- bane 14y agoOnly about 80% of Americans speak English as their mother tongue. And I can tell you pretty readily that even if 16% of the remainder speak "English" the level varies wildly.