Americanness

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In a similar vein to the Britishness thread, what reminds you of being American, what does it mean to Americans to be American?

Being a non American I can't comment, I just thought it would be interesting for the two sets of replies to be compared.

Imperialism
World Policing
Over-consumption
Poverty
Patriotism
A lack of static foreign policy

I think the US is a land of great contrasts:

Great intellectual achievement and creativity combined with one of the most appalling public school systems in the developed world.

A country that prides itself on being 'the greatest nation' and yet has the highest murder rate, execution rate and incarceration rate in the so called 'civilized' world.

A country that lectures the world on 'democracy' but where political influence often appears as corrupt (dressed up as contributions, and lobbying) as the countries that America lectures and ranks on its corruption lists!

A country that tries to impeach a President over alleged sexual misconduct BUT that remains silent when Presidents (through the US military) wreak havoc against foreign countries (on the other side of the world) that have never threatened or attacked the US.


Maybe it is a bipolar culture or perhaps the fulfillment of the 1984 prophecy.

Wow. That is so stupid. England is/was no better.

(needless choler)

I edited it out because it was too harsh and not what I meant.

And I am just a little anti-British over a few historical things. I apologize if it offends anyone.

And read above if you want to know how it fits in this thread.

Ok, fine. What does Americanness mean to me?

It means a lot of people with less claim to be Scots or Irish than I do calling British people (meaning "English people") tyrannical oppressors, usually with only sketchy understanding of Britain, British people and British history. Which is... oh, it's not so much annoying, as it makes me despair. It's so pointless.

*sigh*

And I was just writing elsewhere 'bout how I don't let the internet wind me up.

I'm sorry, I'll edit out my own post above. I should have respected your right to retract it, at any rate.

Americanness appears to me, as an outsider, to mean contradiction. I think you struggle to reconcile the ideals you tell yourselves you stand and stood for with the realpolitik your governments often practice and practiced. Perhaps it is harder for you than for most places, as your national mythic ideal is so strongly based on a fight for freedom and democracy which your people do not often acknowledge has taken more than two hundred years to move from "liberty for rich white slave-owning men" to "liberty." America, which should have led the way, has for the most part lagged behind Europe in civil rights, and that's a terrible contradiction for its people to deal with.

I'm an Irish-American, not just American. But hey, so sorry to have offended you.

for just this one person, being american means wishing i were a canadian instead. it means loving the land but being pained by the often parochial attitudes of many of its citizens and many officials in its government. it means being embarrassed by the right-wing "backworldsmen" in this great land who would take us back to the 1800s in the mistaken belief that life was somehow better back then. it means being embarrassed when other nations scratch their heads over us as we:
*foolishly [and short-sightedly] oppose universal healthcare;
*get so wound up, as a nation, over stupid trivia like janet jackson baring her breast for a brief moment on national tv;
*elect shrub not once but TWICE for christ's sake[!];
*actually show a willingness to impeach a president over his personal sexual pecker-dillos;
*actually have pols proudly apologizing to BP for mistreating them, as well as accusing others critical of BP, of being "unamerican";
*show the rest of the world our senior citizens saying ridiculous things like "i love my insurance company!" and "keep the government's hands off my medicare!"

I wish america would grow up, so others would not say of us things like how we usually choose the right course of action but only after choosing all the wrong ones first.

Obesity and baseball caps, frankly.

Or maybe nosiness and loudness. We're like the quintessential tourists.

The 2nd amendment lol.

Hippies
Sex
Pot
Rock n Roll

OK here is somethings "I" dislike about America. By all means get ready to take me to task as an Australian

Australia seems so eager to align with American policies without appreciating the need to evaluate it in terms of what is actually good or relevant to Australia

Australia happily gives many of its Executive positions in its largest companies to Americans, because they have American experience in the field (mindless of how their experience may not be in line with anything appropriate to Australia)

Australian kids will quite happily adopt the styles, fashions, pronunciation, and cultures of American sports regardless of whether they have watched a game of said sport.
(ie. Kid walks in with cap on back to front and basketball shirt on.
"Hey kid nice threads."
"Yeah thanks"
"Basketball huh?"
*Shrug* "Which basketballer is that then?"
"Michael Jordan"
"Oh OK. Watch many of his games?"
"Nah not really?"
"But you wear his clothes?"
*Shrug*
"What sport do you watch then?"
"Rugby"
"OK....")

Now. The real thing in all this....is it America's fault? Nope.
Ours

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTs1yepoMZU[/youtube]
Remember when America had a middle class
And an upper class, that was way before the exodus
That was the America that we thought was number one,
Thought would overcome, thought would never die
That was just our pride and faith, two sh***y deadly sins
I know faith isn't one of 'em but it should have been
Cuz when things were crumbling, we had no camaraderie
Just a faith someone would save us from despondence

We called it America (whoaaaaaa)

Number one America was a slogan used to keep morale up
When we knew we were already cooked
Then the richer western states, succeeded in secession
And the eastern ones followed right behind
Mexi-Can-America was the perfect name that
Epitomized the order of significance, authority and affluence
We had turned it all around
Went from number one straight to number two (s**t)

We called it America (whoaaaaaa)

National bankruptcy, circumcised society
USA dined and ditched, Fox reports "poor is the new rich"

We called it America (whoaaaaaa)

biased NT's