Filitsa wrote:wyoming cowboy wrote:Filitsa wrote:wyoming cowboy wrote:how can you say that there is no culture in the usa, when the nation has history customs and traditions. A culture that invents has intellectual thinkers and is an example for the world. Could it be that cultures like Britain and France have a history of bigotry and racism thats hard to overcome therefore ostrocizes minority groups and makes them radical, much like the radical black american groups of the 60's and early 70's......
Howdy, Cowboy! (
) As I'm sure you know, culture is more than history, customs, and traditions. Culture also includes language, cuisine, religion, and the visual and performing arts. The best way to identify American culture is to take a look at what we "export" as culture to other countries. That would be fast food, rap, and hollywood. How often does one see an "authentic American Restaurant" while travelling abroad? I'll bet that no other country in the world has the variety of ethnic eating establishments that we do in the U.S.
Indeed the U.S. has history, but what are its customs and traditions other than perhaps fireworks on Fourth of July? Our language originated in England. Just as ethnic cuisine is numerous and varied, we sport a variety of religions and religious denominations. Yes, we have artists and genres unique to America, but the bottom line is that American culture is multiculturalism.
The culture of the USA, is unique, in that there is variety, there are no roots, that permeate into the ground for thousands of years. American music pop/rap/jazz is heard in every corner of the world, Hollywood movies are everywhere, the gangster, the cowboy the slang of the english language that i even heard cypriot kids use in cyprus. The point is that a El Salvadorean kid in Brooklyn can be on a corner and rapping, or a white kid playing jazz. The usa is not a multicultured society as you may think, but a melting pot where different cultures melt into one. What custom or traditions do the French have or Italians have that cant be compared to what the Americans call tradition.?
Even High Fashion someone said, originates in New York and then spreads to France and Italy...
Further, an El Salvadorean kid can be heard rapping on a street corner in El Salvadore. I really can't dispute anything you wrote above except that I never bought into the melting pot concept, not when immigrant groups create their own little enclaves within a city. Although, I suppose they melt into the community when, after several generations, they move to the suburbs
I'd like to answer your question about French and Italian versus American traditions, but you'll need to identify/define American tradition for me first. I ask again, what is American tradition? I was born and raised here, and I still don't know.
Finally, Milan has trumped NYC as the fashion capital of the world, thank goodness. Italians have better taste.
By definition a tradition is a customary pattern or thought action, or behavior(as a religious practice or social custom), the handling down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instructions. Cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions. Characteristic manner, method and or style.
After all these years of living here in the usa you cant see through the definition above that there are customs and traditions unique to the usa. And if Italians have better taste last year when they trumpeted NY, where was their great taste the past 50 years, did they just acquire it?
Most of the world's uniculturistic countries have one very important difference then that of America, and that is the rest of the world thinks in the group,ie(Greeks,Italians,German, christian muslim etc..etc..), here in the usa its all about the individual..Individual rights, individual inspiration, individual thought.
In european countries this concept does not exist or is it nurtured. thats why you see the problems in france with the migrant workers and in greece. The group matters in europe and the individual matters in America.
and with french and italian cuisine, its good, but american cuisine is just as good and in instances a lot better.
Migration should be allowed and encouraged, but there's a LIMIT.
