4 ms·

The genius of America is finding the lowest common denominator, and commercializing it. The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our cultu

The genius of America is finding the lowest common denominator, and commercializing it. The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. They complain that it has no taste, and they're right. But they underestimate how much everyone wants stuff that is plentiful, vapid, and cheap. It's no surprise that we similarly export our politics. Conspiracy theories are fast food. They come cheap, are accessible with no effort, and make you feel like you've gotten a lot. We didn't invent any of this but we've got a national genius for optimizing it.

throw8984398 2y ago
> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. They complain that it has no taste, and they're right I think it is even worse for people who live in US. "American" food is different outside of US. For example there are norms in most countries for meat, so the "beef" burger has more meat. We have less limitations on allergens, so we can add peanuts for a taste. Also foreign Coca-Cola has proper sugar, not corn based fructose (Mexicoke). I can never eat in US, even chocolate tastes like vomit! As for cinema, only good stuff is released outside of US. There is no oligopoly in cinema, you get way more diversity in movies. Some countries have censorship that removes some type of scenes. And garbage TV shows, are never released on foreign markets.
- kstrauser 2y ago
  Those are all complaints about bottom-tier American food. A good cheeseburger from a local place is mindblowing. I had one with peanut butter on it last week; we still eat allergens but they have to be labeled. Mexican Coke is way better, true. You're talking about Hershey's chocolate bars which no one considers to be "the good stuff". If you're looking at McDonald's and saying American food sucks, you're missing a whole hell of a lot.
  - mixmastamyk 2y ago
    Yup, like complaining about Budweiser and Lipton tea. The 70s/80s called and want their argument back.
    - kstrauser 2y ago
      Solid analogy. Yes, we know there are better options and we use them. Also yes, the cheap and “good enough” options will always be popular for good reason. That doesn’t mean they’re the only ones.
- AlbertCory 2y ago
  And therefore, we need censorship. Right? Where we'll be told the "correct" way to think. I'd rather see it all and decide for myself. And end up watching PBS but never, never pledging in their interminable pledge drives. Somehow, they still manage to stay on the air. By the way, in Hell they have PBS pledge drivers on the TV, 24x7, for all eternity. You can't mute the sound.
- indigo0086 2y ago
  [flagged]
Our_Benefactors 2y ago
> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. How can you honestly believe this with a straight face? People consume American culture abroad because they enjoy it. It’s not like they are colonies.
- jfengel 2y ago
  They do indeed enjoy it. And yet they also decide it as being classless, flavorless, and otherwise gross. The contrast between what they say they like, and what they actually seem to want, is striking.
paganel 2y ago
The “world” doesn’t consume US-produced media “in droves” anymore, there are still some locations where that probably still happens (like Denmark, probably, I’ve never been there so maybe I’m wrong), but at the same time there are also places where US media used to dominate but it doesn’t anymore. For example in Romania, where I live, the Spotify year-end charts for 2023 had the first US artist (not Taylor Swift, mind you) in about 15th or 16th place, and Spotify is a platform generally used by the more Westernized cohort, /trending on YT is absolutely dominated by Romanian-only songs and media. I’d go even further and say that (some) Americans’ mistaken belief that their culture/media still dominates stuff at the global level, unencumbered, is a good explanation for many of the US’s geo-political missteps from the last 10-15 years or so. The age of Rocky/Rambo and Michael Jackson is long gone.
- jfengel 2y ago
  Glad to hear you've got a great music scene. Americans still dominate the box office: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2023/?area=RO&sort=rank&sortDir=asc&ref_=bo_yld__resort#table https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2023/?area=RO&sort=rank&s... Though it looks like there were a few extremely popular Romanian films in the top ten.
  - paganel 2y ago
    Thing is, nobody goes to the movies anymore, it’s like saying the Americans still dominate the bingo scene, technically true but inconsequential. It’s all TikTok and YT now for the younger people. And sports betting, had forgotten about that.
lawn 2y ago
> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. The US has for the most part produced the best movies since... The beginning of movies I'd assume.
- jfengel 2y ago
  I don't know about the best movies, but certainly the most popular ones. Worldwide box office is dominated by American films.

throw8984398 2y ago

> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. They complain that it has no taste, and they're right I think it is even worse for people who live in US. "American" food is different outside of US. For example there are norms in most countries for meat, so the "beef" burger has more meat. We have less limitations on allergens, so we can add peanuts for a taste. Also foreign Coca-Cola has proper sugar, not corn based fructose (Mexicoke). I can never eat in US, even chocolate tastes like vomit! As for cinema, only good stuff is released outside of US. There is no oligopoly in cinema, you get way more diversity in movies. Some countries have censorship that removes some type of scenes. And garbage TV shows, are never released on foreign markets.

kstrauser 2y ago
Those are all complaints about bottom-tier American food. A good cheeseburger from a local place is mindblowing. I had one with peanut butter on it last week; we still eat allergens but they have to be labeled. Mexican Coke is way better, true. You're talking about Hershey's chocolate bars which no one considers to be "the good stuff". If you're looking at McDonald's and saying American food sucks, you're missing a whole hell of a lot.
- mixmastamyk 2y ago
  Yup, like complaining about Budweiser and Lipton tea. The 70s/80s called and want their argument back.
  - kstrauser 2y ago
    Solid analogy. Yes, we know there are better options and we use them. Also yes, the cheap and “good enough” options will always be popular for good reason. That doesn’t mean they’re the only ones.
AlbertCory 2y ago
And therefore, we need censorship. Right? Where we'll be told the "correct" way to think. I'd rather see it all and decide for myself. And end up watching PBS but never, never pledging in their interminable pledge drives. Somehow, they still manage to stay on the air. By the way, in Hell they have PBS pledge drivers on the TV, 24x7, for all eternity. You can't mute the sound.
indigo0086 2y ago
[flagged]

Our_Benefactors 2y ago

> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. How can you honestly believe this with a straight face? People consume American culture abroad because they enjoy it. It’s not like they are colonies.

jfengel 2y ago
They do indeed enjoy it. And yet they also decide it as being classless, flavorless, and otherwise gross. The contrast between what they say they like, and what they actually seem to want, is striking.

paganel 2y ago

The “world” doesn’t consume US-produced media “in droves” anymore, there are still some locations where that probably still happens (like Denmark, probably, I’ve never been there so maybe I’m wrong), but at the same time there are also places where US media used to dominate but it doesn’t anymore. For example in Romania, where I live, the Spotify year-end charts for 2023 had the first US artist (not Taylor Swift, mind you) in about 15th or 16th place, and Spotify is a platform generally used by the more Westernized cohort, /trending on YT is absolutely dominated by Romanian-only songs and media. I’d go even further and say that (some) Americans’ mistaken belief that their culture/media still dominates stuff at the global level, unencumbered, is a good explanation for many of the US’s geo-political missteps from the last 10-15 years or so. The age of Rocky/Rambo and Michael Jackson is long gone.

jfengel 2y ago
Glad to hear you've got a great music scene. Americans still dominate the box office: https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2023/?area=RO&sort=rank&sortDir=asc&ref_=bo_yld__resort#table https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2023/?area=RO&sort=rank&s... Though it looks like there were a few extremely popular Romanian films in the top ten.
- paganel 2y ago
  Thing is, nobody goes to the movies anymore, it’s like saying the Americans still dominate the bingo scene, technically true but inconsequential. It’s all TikTok and YT now for the younger people. And sports betting, had forgotten about that.

lawn 2y ago

> The world hates everything we produce -- our food, our movies, our culture -- but they end up consuming it in droves. The US has for the most part produced the best movies since... The beginning of movies I'd assume.

jfengel 2y ago
I don't know about the best movies, but certainly the most popular ones. Worldwide box office is dominated by American films.