American Identity

by Amazing 20 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  WildHorses

  Hi Kent,

  You said

  tries to write English as the second language - and it doesn't come through as expected.

  Tell me about it! I as an American, have a hard time coming through as expected, and English is my first launguage.
• 

  TMS

  Americans have an adjacent culture with some antiquity that few appreciate-Mexico! More intricate and diverse than the typical sombrero-headed, cactus farmer, pinata-breaker stereotype.

  Now living on terrain that was once part of Mexico, the corn tortilla, jalapeno, tomato, avocado and butternut squash are my required staples.

  The siesta is my new religion.

  Tequila is my sacrament.

  U.S. tourists, of course, do not see Mexico. They see the tourist dollar created Cancun, Cozemel, Acapulco. Air-conditioning, Coronas with lime and tour guides. Forget all that crap.

  Go to the "silver cities"; Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Taxco, San Miguel de Allende, Cuernavaca. Go to Oaxaca.

  TMS
• 

  Mulan

  And how about La Penita? Really quaint little town without a tourist attraction in sight. About 40 miles North of Puerto Vallarta. We camped near there for 10 days about 20 years ago. I think we saw the real Mexico. You HAVE to know Spanish, because they do NOT know English. Fortunately my sister in law, had a big Spanish dictionary, and a working knowledge of the language. Her dictionary looked like an Aid book!!
• 

  Cautious

  Thanks for the post Amazing. I've been thinking about this subject a bit since it was posted in the other thread. I too have met a few Americans visitors and found most of them to be really nice people.

  The other thread has had me thinking about the role that exposure played a major role in how we view other nations. I have found that expanding knowledge tends to help increase tolerance of other viewpoints. When you said

  It is the JW religion that caused me to be somewhat judgmental

  it reflected a conclusion I had come to some time ago- JWs live in a closed community and are thus very limited in their exposure to other peoples, increasing intolerance levels, IMHO. Most of my friends are uni grads and tend to be interested in what is happening in the world, and thus make an effort to find out. I find these people to be more accepting of people for who they are, not what nation they are from.

  I have been lucky enough to live in three different countries, and enjoyed every one of them. It would be wonderful if we could enjoy the differences of the people on this board.

  Cautious
• 

  Uncanny

  Amazing,

  As one of your 'brothers' here in Australia,I thank you for your post.

  As an Australian, I, too, do wish Anglo-Europeans in other nations like Canada, Great Britain, Australia and South Africa would not forsake their own cultural idioms and icons to embrace American ones. I also wish non-Americans would not judge America adversely by using their own limited criteria or on the too few Americans they may have met in their life.

  However, your words did give me the impression you seem to feel a need to defend United States lifestyle values, or indeed, apologise for their insidious role in the worlwide homogenisation of popular culture. Don't bother. It's not your fault. This is a phenomenan the world has asked for, and one which has been intensified the last few years due to corporate globalisation and the world being shrunk itself by English language communication developments like the Intenet. American Rock n Roll and Hollywood movies might have started the process 50 years ago, and now Television continues to highlight the joys of everything American - from our own locally made version of 60 Minutes through to first run epoisodes of Everybody Loves Raymond on Sunday night.

  Surely, it is only the American identity which is synomymous with the pursuit of freedom, fashion and fun - of being 'cool'. And those are the qualities in life which the majority of citizens now pursue all around the world; if they can afford it. For those who cannot, there is always a Big Mac and a baseball cap to wear backwards, just like the black kids in the crowd the other day who celebrated their freedom via the 25th anniversary of the Soweto riots in South Africa.
  The only thing missing there was a rap song playing in the background.

  Like it or not, we must all live in a global village in the 21st century; a world of shrinking ethnic cultures which has allowed itself to be managed and manipulated by the ruling American-made mindset, its military firepower and the US dollar.

  Things could be worse. We could all be Vodka swilling ruskies, or eating monkey brains for dinner in China.

  Uncanny

  ...we''ll save Australia
  don't wanna hurt no kangaroo;
  we'll build an all American amusement park there,
  they got surfin' too...

  (Randy Newman.)
• 

  Outaservice

  Amazing,

  I tried e-mailing you a few days back. Did you get it? It not, please e-mail me @ [email protected].

  Been following all of your posts. Thanks.

  Outaservice
• 

  Amazing

  Hi Uncanny: I enjoyed your comments. I am not really trying to defend or apoligize for America, but I am sorry that many or our people who travel abroad have brought about a poor reputation for us. I can say that within the USA we have cultural tension between the West and Midwest and East. Californians are often viewed the same way by the rest of the US and Americans are often seen by the rest of the world. I originally came from California, and relate to this in-house tension when I have traveled. I now live in the Midwest and my accent has changed so that people no longer ask if I am from the West. - Amazing
• 

  Amazing

  Hi OUtaservice: Yes, I got your email. Sorry I did not reply right away. I hope to see you all in Waterloo the end of June. I will email more tomorrow. Thanks. - Amazing
• 

  Roamingfeline

  Having lived in Australia the past 2.5 years, and having traveled to Asia also (and one day we will for sure go to Europe, as my husband is German born and reared), I would like to voice my feelings on this subject. Thanks for the opportunity, Amazing. Good post. You too, Uncanny.

  When I came to Australia, I had previously only been to Mexico. Reared in middle America, I am a true blue one by blood. In my entire 45 years on earth, I have NEVER felt like my country of birth was "Above" other countries or cultures. Different, yes, very priveleged, most certainly, but not better or worse.

  In Australia, I have made quite a few friends, and learned a different culture. Not one I always agree with, but this country has alot of beauty, and alot of potential, if the greed and corruption I see running rampant in their government don't bring them to ruin. It is a very young country, but with old roots. Very cosmopolitan, a melting pot of different countries and cultures, especially here in the west, in the Perth area. Alot of Asian influence here.

  Yes, I said some things in the previous thread in response to Prisca's obvious put-downs of Americans. She do well to remember that even the country music her hometown is so proud of came from American culture.

  My husband and I will always have homes in Australia, and will think of it as "home" at least part of the time, no matter where we live. I have a fondness for the country, and most of the people. I can't say I like their government, but then again, the American government certainly has it's drawbacks as well! It is my experience that people see what they wish to see, and hear what they wish to hear. American culture IS infiltrating everywhere, for sure. You see McDonalds, KFC, Burger King (Hungry Jacks in Oz) everywhere you turn, even in Asia. American TV shows are shown here daily. If they didn't like those parts of our culture, they wouldn't be here, would they?

  Just as one person in another country doesn't have to like everything about American's, we don't have to like everything in your culture. Take meat pies, for instance. Who the hell wants to eat that garbage which has animal blood and all sorts of gawd awful crap in it? See? Just my opinion. Some of you may eat those things with relish! (not relish as in pickles) I know several of my Ozzie friends do, with tomato sauce (ketchup) and they love them. UGH! But that doesn't make me like my friends any less. We ARE STILL CLOSE FRIENDS. Get my drift? Celebrate your differences, but love one another, and try to get to know one another and accept the differences. That's all it takes.

  RCat

  Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.

  -- Christian Furchtegott Gellert
• 

  Englishman

  Hey all you ozzies,

  During my witnessy days quite a few JW's that I knew emigrated to OZ from the UK. Did you ever come across these names?

  Haddaway. Finning. Stevens.

  Just curious,

  Englishman.

  ..... fanaticism masquerading beneath a cloak of reasoned logic.