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On May 03 2013 19:53 Nothingtosay wrote:
People who have never lived in the US or at least visited multiple states will probably be astoundingly ignorant of the differences in our nation.
on the other hand, compared to other parts of the world (europe / asia) the differences in the US are negligible so confusion about differences in culture are understandable.
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Well my prejudices would be that Texas is very conservative and gun-friendly and alabama even racist.
This is pretty much the most of "culture" I know from individual states.
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Op, pro tip: Find less retarded friends (:
America is straight out the country with the most culture of the world this century, and I say this as a German living in Vienna.
next time link your friends to wikipedia, they show the amount of American culture quite nicely (I hope he can read!).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_the_United_States
regards
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Arkansas alone has a unique culture that separates us from the rest of the South, let alone the nation. Our local government is odd mixture of nonsense, with incredibly liberal fiscal policies (open and honest about the need to feed our fellow Arkansans with our tax dollars) while at the same time being increasingly (overly so, in my opinion) conservative on issues such as gay marriage and abortion.
I view it as a special implementation as that southern, Arkansas Baptist that wants to aid their fellow man while being incredibly conservative on social issues. We also, of course, understand the need for federal Medicare and such, so while we have gone Republican in the last 8 or so presidential elections, we have continuously elected a Democrat as Governor and usually have a Republican/Democrat House/Senate. We actually have a Republican dominated House/Senate, but that was bought by lobbyists and is the first of its kind since Reconstruction (so...1865-ish).
While Arkansas walks a thin line between our seemingly conflicted stances (which we've made work wonderfully, we've been operating on a surplus for years), you have states just nearby like Texas that is almost obnoxiously conservative and states rights oriented, continuously shouting about secession and other nonsense. Then you have places like Mississippi, which we all laugh at in the South.
Basically, what I'm saying, is it's not even as easy as North/South culture. It goes even deeper, especially in the South, and get as specific as region by region. Ozarks Arkansas is world's different than Delta Arkansas, just like Urban Arkansas is completely different than, say, Houston, Texas.
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You're objectively wrong if you think otherwise. There's a noticeable difference between rural Minnesota and Twin Cities Minnesota, or rural Minnesota and rural Iowa. To compare two different states like Minnesota and Kentucky would be like comparing two different European countries.
on the other hand, compared to other parts of the world (europe / asia) the differences in the US are negligible so confusion about differences in culture are understandable.
No, they're really not. Going from California to Minnesota to Alabama to Massachusetts will show you so many cultural differences that it would be similar (although not quite as extreme) to going between England, France, Germany, and Italy. Hell, we all speak English but we even speak different dialects.
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On May 03 2013 21:11 Stratos_speAr wrote:
To compare two different states like Minnesota and Kentucky would be like comparing two different European countries.
i am pretty sure that this is not the case
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On May 03 2013 21:15 hfglgg wrote:Show nested quote +On May 03 2013 21:11 Stratos_speAr wrote:
To compare two different states like Minnesota and Kentucky would be like comparing two different European countries. i am pretty sure that this is not the case
Edit: I guess I should clarify things since it's so early in the morning around here.
The difference isn't literally state by state; there aren't 50 different unique cultures. It's not Minnesota vs. Wisconsin culture and that's so radically different that it's comparable to Europe. What's comparable is regional culture. Minnesota/Dakotas/Wisconsin/Iowa is a completely distinct culture from the deep south, which is distinct from the west coast, which is distinct from the Northeast, etc., and these regions are very analogous to comparing two countries like Germany/France or England/France, even if they speak the same language.
Really, aside from English (which has a huge amount of dialects in this country), there is very little that makes Minnesota, Washington state, or Kentucky similar culturally.
Walmart? McDonald's? These massive corporations are evenly spread out through different continents, let alone states.
Love of American sports? Seattle-ites are MASSIVE soccer fans and Minnesota likes hockey as much as Canadians whereas Kentucky is all about college basketball and football.
Language? Have you ever HEARD a Kentucky-ite speak? The accent alone makes it sound like we're speaking different languages. We often have completely different dialects, with different words for certain things and different expressions/phrases, or even saying the same word differently, so it's not like this is a "common bond" that bridges the gap between our cultures, even if it is the same language.
Laws? Completely different, down to what is taxed and what isn't. Perfect example: at my college, out-of-state students are always pleasantly surprised to find that 1) the state tax in MN is 6.5% on retail sales and 2) there is no sales tax on clothes or food. Speed limits? Completely different. What you can buy or not? Can't buy fireworks in MN, but you can in other states. The list goes on and on.
Food culture? This is one of the obvious differences around the country. Anyone who has heard legends about southern cooking knows this.
History? Ancestry? All of this is completely different for certain regions, and the only similarity is the federal government.
Ethnicity? Background? Also completely different. Minnesota is almost completely Scandanavian/German, while the biggest minority population is Hmong. Kentucky is mostly English and Irish and their largest minority is African American.
Even the seasons and weather make activities and past times completely different. It's 3 May here in MN and we still have snow in southern MN. Kentucky probably barely saw snow for most of the year. Washington basically always rains and it's always cool out there. Florida is so humid that you feel like you're living in the Devil's armpit. inland California has a dry heat that makes you want to roll over and die. Hell, I still get asked this question routinely, "Is ice fishing ACTUALLY a thing here in Minnesota?"
I mean this list could go on and on but you get the point.
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I don't think State lines are a good way to draw the live because there are cultural differences inside states (Northern v Southern Cali, Western Pa v Eastern Pa, Michigan glove part v upper peninsula, Indiana's Chicago v Cincinnati burbs, etc.). I think municipal areas are probably better, for instance I'd lump Detroit, Cleveland, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh as fairly similar culturally (although Pittsburgh could probably be dropped since they have their own unique dialect). While geographically close rural areas have cultural similarity, the bible belt consists of multiple states that have similar religious and social values and share the same rural culture with each other (obviously their will be towns in those states that don't fit).
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and how many cultural studies have you done and how did you define culture?
oh and you all speak different dialects yeah thats almost like different languages.
(hint: all countires have different dialects, i for example do not understand germans from the southern germany and i have real troubles understanding the ones in the east or the older generations in the west).
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United Arab Emirates439 Posts
I don't know, not strictly state by state. Like, Ohio and Michigan are very similar in culture. Ohio and Florida though are very very different.
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I love when people say stuff like.. "California is really liberal, and Texas is really conservative". When what a lot of people outside the USA don't realize is that everyone, is everywhere here. Califonia can't get gmo crops labelled, or pass gay marriage (Even though they for sure have the largest gay population in the USA). How's that "Liberal" working out for ya? More liberal people tend to live in larger cities, but 50% of that population is in rural areas. The most racist, redneck, hillbilly people I have ever met were in New York, and Pennsylvania, not in Alabama, or Arkansas.
In America we have multiple cultures, but because of the media, I feel like people only see, or can't see through the stereotypes that are projected. It might sound silly, but being from Texas, you wouldn't believe how many people outside the USA have asked me if I rode horses, or own guns.
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The arrogance of assuming that dialects are unique or especially prominent in the US is really showing.. everyone has them. I don't have any problem with any US dialect, but several from the UK are much more diverse and harder to understand. The US HAS cultural differences, no one is denying that, but they pale in comparison with much of the rest of the world.
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On May 03 2013 21:26 hfglgg wrote:
and how many cultural studies have you done and how did you define culture?
oh and you all speak different dialects yeah thats almost like different languages.
(hint: all countires have different dialects, i for example do not understand germans from the southern germany and i have real troubles understanding the ones in the east or the older generations in the west).
Its not like southern drawl compared to midwestern standard its fairly different http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh_English
I like how you assume that a country which is larger than the EU, where most states developed in a time when traveling long distances was difficult, composed largely of immigrants that settled various parts, would have a single homogeneous culture.
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On May 03 2013 21:34 helvete wrote:
The arrogance of assuming that dialects are unique or especially prominent in the US is really showing.. everyone has them. I don't have any problem with any US dialect, but several from the UK are much more diverse and harder to understand. The US HAS cultural differences, no one is denying that, but they pale in comparison with much of the rest of the world.
Plenty of Europeans in this thread have come into it with an assumed arrogance of European superiority (or more diverse set of cultures, in this case). What you guys aren't understanding is that culture is more defined by geographic regions than national lines (even though the latter has a major influence). The U.S. is significantly larger than Europe, so yes, we have a very large amount of cultural diversity. This is, undoubtedly, the most diverse nation in the world currently.
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And then comes in the guy with the american superiority complex and puts everyone in place!
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ok so just for the records:
language does not play any part in culture diversification at all? it does not come to your mind that when people cant communicate with each other (which they could not until english became really wide spread the last 30 years or so) different cultures have to emerge even on a very restricted and small area like europe (which has a bigger population as welll).
yeah....
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On May 03 2013 21:48 Velr wrote:
And then comes in the guy with the american superiority complex and puts everyone in place!
Just because I don't bow down to a European superiority complex means that I have an American one? Look in the mirror, champ. Just because I stated an observed fact doesn't mean I have an American superiority complex. If you want to criticize me, you should probably realize that I am routinely an incredibly harsh critic of American culture and policies on this very website, so it's stupid to say that I have some kind of "American superiority complex".
ok so just for the records:
language does not play any part in culture diversification at all? it does not come to your mind that when people cant communicate with each other (which they could not until english became really wide spread the last 30 years or so) different cultures have to emerge even on a very restricted and small area like europe (which has a bigger population as welll).
yeah....
First, I never said anything about languages NOT aiding in cultural diversity. You literally made that shit up.
Second, don't pretend that you were all secluded hermits before 30 years ago. Obviously diverse languages -> diverse culture, but to even attempt to say that Europeans were "unable to communicate" is patently absurd.
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Does Europe have more diverse culture than the USA? Of course it does, you are talking about multiple countries, where over 200 different languages are spoke, and nations that are hundreds and hundreds of years old. But comparing one country, to an entire continent of multiple countries is really comparing apples to oranges. I think the fact that most people in the USA all speak one language, and pretty much only one language people have trouble seeing them apart. Sure, there are immigrants and small patches of people who speak other languages, but English is the primary language, where as Europe has 23 official languages, and giant groups of people speak those languages.
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EPT
