OT (or is it?): American Imperialism

[Will]

Just a vain attempt to bring some levity to the discussion:

geoschmo said:
I don't know what parents in Hollywood complain about.

They complain about how hard it is to find a good supply of Vicodin. You would be doping up, too, if the whole world was blaming you for things. Even if they bought everything from you willingly, and continue to do so even after complaining

And re: American culture, to that I say: What American culture? We don't have any. We just take from everybody else's, mix together haphazardly, put it in lots of packaging, and call it "our culture". If anything, the only thing that you could call "American Culture" is our somewhat unique practice of selling anything and everything to whomever wants it, as long as you pay real money for it. And even then, I'm pretty sure that's just a European practice taken to the utmost extreme.

[dogscoff]

And even then, I'm pretty sure that's just a European practice taken to the utmost extreme.

Thankyou, that actually sums up my attitudes to American culture better than my own last post did. It seems that American culture is all about pushing evrything to its furthest possible extreme. Cars are good. Therefore, it must be good for everyone to have two cars each, and for each one to be the size and weight of an armoured personnel carrier. You like burgers? Well, here's a burger the size of your head- buy one get another free. Guys like boobs, right? Well then girls, go out and get surgery so your tits look like a couple of badly parked Volkswagen Beetles.

Moderation is gradually being erased, replaced by a culture of excession. This is a bad thing, in terms of personal health, public life and global resources. What's more, it's extremely hard to resist this kind of excession because it is so... well... excessive. By definition it has to be bigger, heavier, louder and richer and will out-compete and utterly destroy (or at least absorb, bastardise, soil, repackage and sell on) any more moderate alternative that stands in its way. It's a plague, it's the Borg. This is what the usa has brought to global culturem and this is why there is now this backlash (moderate backlash, like mine, and extreme backlash, like Al-Qaeda) against US culture.

[narf poit chez BOOM]

Moderation in all things are some pretty good words to live by.

However, if someone sells you something and you buy it, you are responcible for the use to which you put it.