americans and their " culture"

[Cod]

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Edam, I agree with you, that you have every right to be angry about donations to Noraid. However, blaming all americans for the actions of some, is no different than if I were to blame ALL muslims or saudis for the 9/11 (I was in nyc with my family on that day and am permanently scarred by the experience). I also, do not think that everyone who donated to the "charities" that supported Al Queda (sp?) is evil. I suspect that many were misguided and did not think that their donations were going towards a plot to murder thousands. I would guess that they thought that their donations were going to support various religious, social and political goals that they had. Similarly, I would have thought that the majority of people (american and irish) who support(ed) the ira are doing so out of belief in an ideal. Unfortunately they didn't forsee that a lot of deaths would come along the way.

Defining american culture is a little like asking someone to define fruit. There are many different types of american culture with some common threads running through all of it. And much of it is dependent on the ancestry of the americans. For example, I grew up in California where there is a large hispanic population. Instead of baseball being part of my culture growing up, soccer was.

sofia et al, the point surely is that at the moment the US is the most powerful state/culture in the world. criticism/questioning go with that territory i'm afraid.

Yes, zebra, but if you write Belizean-American or American-Belizean, you have made one noun. Shown the hybridisation of culture.

leaving northern ireland alone for a moment, many americans unwittingly "contribute" albeit involuntarily to an american tax system which has tried to obliterate "cultures" far more complex and older than their own. Case in point, the american military establishment, School of the Americas, think tanks at Georgetown University, etc etc etc. Its all how you look at things. Catholics in N. Ireland rose up against an oppressor, i.e. the British Govt, and if any american who actually lived here through the "troubles" gave money to put an end to that perceived oppression, what is the diff between that and money used for destabilising Nicaragua, etc. The difference of course is that tax money is "authorised" and voluntarily donated money is not authorised, to contribute to kill.

What has this to do with american culture? We forget that part of the american culture is a love of guns, and in my estimation, a propensity to go to war for what is perceived to be "right" or threatening to the american way of life.

mamadadawahwah, I am finding your comments, rude, ill informed and incendiary in an otherwise interesting conversation. You clearly already have an opinion on what american culture is, so I find it disingenuous to pretend that you are actually interested in listening to americans trying to define their culture for others.

sophable, there is nothing wrong with criticism and questioning. However if it degenerates into name calling and blind stereotyping then I don't think it's productive or well mannered and since I wouldn't tolerate my children behaving like that, I certainly don't want to hang out with adults who act like that. (If your child gets hit by the playground bully at his school and that playground bully happens to be black, would you think it was acceptable for your child to tell everyone that black people are mean and nasty?)

Huh? What? Name calling? Blind stereotyping? mmdww is talking about American government policy, she's not saying each individual American is doing these things personally.

I'm obviously not seeing the same thread as you are, SofiaAmes.

do i need to apologise for "my" opinion? this thread isnt about americans and their opinions, this thread is about americans and their culture, open to discussion, on a u.k. based mumsnet. Havent said anything yet which isnt true, in MY opinion. There is no way to put the american "culture" into less than a tome, so yes i am generalising, to do otherwise would take a lifetime.

I didnt think what i said was rude! What was rude about it? Americans love guns. No not all americans love guns, but a large majority of americans love guns. Its part of the american culture to "love" guns. Its in your constitution. Just because you personally might not carry a gun, or support the carrying of a gun, dosent mean millions of others think like you.

Also, its a fact about the school of the americas and a fact about american tax dollars going to destablise certain central american countries. If this is a lie, please show me where? Your country is at war right now. If we are to believe the exit polls, Mr Bush won at least 50% of the vote and as he is a war monger, at least 50% of the american people back him up in his war plans.

This is not to exclude other nations which go to war, but we are talking about the U.S. here. Americans do go to war a lot!

What is it, in american culture which precipitates this?

I should add that since Mr Bush entered in to politics, the sense of irony and usual thick skinned"ness" of americans is growing mighty slim.

Is this part of the culture too, to diss critisism. I know plenty of americans living in america right now who agree with me 100% and more.

"mamadadawahwah, I am finding your comments, rude, ill informed and incendiary in an otherwise interesting conversation" Hmmm, is it only conversations that are sweet and light that are interesting?

Perhaps we should wait for an Iraqi mum to give her opinion on american culture. I am sure my opinion will pale in comparison. I dont want to dwell too much on the negatives here. America is a vast and complex land with so much good in it. But if you want to talk about something, like american culture, its bound to open up a can of worms. THis is mumsnet, plenty of well read and well informed people on it, many of whom, including myself who have lived in the U.S.

My opinion is my opinion, if you dont like it, remember its not about you.

This smells distinctly like American bashing. It's just what I was talking about in my first post on this thread. Why are Americans not due the same respect about their homeland that other expect.

Sofia, I agree wholheartedly with all you have said.

Oh, and there many Iraqi women who are very thankful for the removal of Sadam Hussein... but you won;t see them on the liberal news or read about them in the (liberal) Guardian. Granted, there are also Iraqi's who don;t like America. But to assume that all feel that way is just not accurate.

America bashing? "Liberal" news? Why is it that to an american, anyone one or thing which does not show america in a good light is bashing america??? What exactly is the liberal news. "Liberal" today in the U.S. is synonymous with satan. Next in line is the dreaded "unamerican" word, whatever that means.
C'mon people. This is the U.K. We enjoy a good dose of criticism. It gets the brain working and allows for discourse.

Because this thread has turned into a vast array of topics whose only common thread is to show America in a less than flattering light. So it seems the intent is just to put America down.

I still think people think that is fine, whilst at the same time criticising American for not respecting other cultures. Seems hypocritical to me, and I still want to know why you think it is okay?

And furthermore, mumsnet is not a forum intended exclusively for the United Kingdom: it is open to all internet users.

mamadadaetc: it's hard to have a discourse with someone who has already made up her mind. I'm afraid American culture is more complex than you seem to think it is. It's as though you've compiled your opinions from soundbytes--it feels 2-dimensional & incomplete.

I honestly do not see the bit here where anyone has been bashing America. Yes, some critical things have been said. And what has been said about Britain? Their culture consists of tea and the royal family. And what has been said about other countries? Similarly (gentle) not-nice things.

People are being honest and forthright. People are expressing their opinions. As is their right. If you're not comfortable with the subject, then don't read about it.

Forthright! Now that is a word i have been searching for, for ages. Being forthright is not being aggressive, or rude or ungracious.

Yes mumsnet is open to all, who said it wasnt!. However, from my understanding, maybe i am wrong, it is predominantly U.K. based mums who have their own take on the world from their own perspective. If you go to Yahoo chat rooms, you will undoubtedly be told, that the rooms are "american". This is ludicrous I know. This is the internet. However, you are talking to mostly U.K. mums here and this one, does not have the same opinion on the USA as someone who lives there.

also, tried to connect my comments with culture so i dont think this thread is all over the place.

I don't perceive that the majority, and certainly not a large majority of Americans do "love" guns... what do you think, Sofia?

How Uwila used the word "liberal" did upset me. I come from a very left-wing ALL AMERICAN family; my grandfather fought in WWIi and Vietnam, my dad believes as much as any other "American" that his country is the best in the world, but this insinuation that being "liberal" makes us any less American... well, there's one more reason why I emigrated.

25% of all adults have guns. 38% of all households possess at least one gun. (Cite )73% of all Americans think the constitution supports the individual right to bear arms, but 57% support "stricter gun laws". (Cite )

So, it doesn't sound like the majority "love" guns. Still, I'd be surprised if any other nation has private gun ownership to this extent (not counting situations like Switzerland, obviously).

oh this has just turned into a schoolyard brawl. I'm off to do more interesting things. I'd be happy to talk about the interesting aspects of american culture (or british or any other culture) with anyone who is genuinely interested... but perhaps a fresh thread would be better.

By the way, I have lived in a variety of places in the usa, visited quite a few more and been all over the world. The ONLY person I've ever met who professed to LOVE guns is my dh who is very decidedly english.

Sofia, to clarify, I restricted my criticism to Americans who donated to Noraid. Not to anyone else, although clearly as we are talking about the most powerful nation in the world, its actions and policy is of great interest to us all.
Have only ever visited the US briefly and had no problem with anyone I met there - actually I had a fantastic time. But have lots of problems with US policies.