Hello analysforum, After living in America for over 5 years, I wonder if I have lost my cultural heritage. Old habits from home are fading, mainly for benefits of time and convenience. Time is used on learning new sports/hobbies and spending time using new technology. The life in America is arguably better and more advanced. But then I realize many people in other parts of the world do not live like us, yet the world still revolves regardless if we ‘melt’ into one, or keep our distinct cultures. For those that have immigrated to America, what are some of your experiences?
Are you the dude from India who kicked out his parents out of your home because you wanted freedom? I read about it in the New York times over the weekend.
No, he’s the guy who turned his Kwik-E-Mart into Americana with flags, hot dogs, and a baseball cap on his Buddha statue.
Hi, Sondeep. Like you, I am an immigrant and have lived in the US for around 5 years. I definitely understand what you are going through. Whenever I return to my home country, the effects of my Americanization are obvious. However, I don’t see this as a negative thing. Everyone changes, regardless of whether or not they spend time in different countries. Your personality is the product of your experiences. Since living in the US has been a meaningful experience to me, I am not ashamed that it is reflected in my character. There is nothing wrong with living a happy and abundant life, as long as you have an overall positive contribution to society. I do not think you have anything to feel guilty about.
lol… I know I need to get some sleep b/c I thought this thread was about the restaurant, Melting Pot …
Mmmm…Melting Pot…
melting pot is bad - you probably just left it in the car’s glove compartment too long.
i was watching speeders the other fay, the cop stops a cadillac SUV for speeding (don’t know which state), then says he smells pot in the car and asks the guy if he was smoking and if he has any in the car. the dude looks at him, and hands the cop a blunt and small bag of pot. The cop asks him if he can drive and makes a routine sobriety test, dude passes the test. He gives the dude a ticket and lets him go. Now my question is in which state this is happening? Why didn’t they put the dude into jail? Is Larry Kudlow still doing lines? CFA or MBA?
daviskr Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > lol… I know I need to get some sleep b/c I > thought this thread was about the restaurant, > Melting Pot … Ha ha, me too…I was like oh fondue! Alas…
Sondeep - once you took up roller blading you basically lost your cultural heritage.
There is nothing more American then not giving a damn about your cultural heritage. I don’t care about Poland, Ireland, or Canada*. I’m more of a burger and fries kind of guy. * Special points to Canada for the whole hockey thing.
man. I had a BBQ’d peameal bacon sandwich last weekend that was worth murdering for. the bacon was like 3/4s of an inch thick. grab one of those babies, a few moosehead and flick on the hockey game, damn it feels good to be a Canadian gangster.
Keep the good values from home, like being conservative, and adopt the good values from America, like being liberal.
It works the other way too, if you spend any time elsewhere you quickly lose your Americanization. The problem with the USA is there is no culture, no homogination in some central form with a human purpose. But homogination always occurs by nature, and so US culture just ends up being whatever benefits capitalism, which has no purpose - it is just a simple machine. The result of this is wealthy but chaotic mentally/physically unhealthy people who don’t know who they are. Okay, that’s my disturbing observation for the day, as you were.
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It works the other way too, if you spend any time > elsewhere you quickly lose your Americanization. > > The problem with the USA is there is no culture, > no homogination in some central form with a human > purpose. But homogination always occurs by > nature, and so US culture just ends up being > whatever benefits capitalism, which has no purpose > - it is just a simple machine. > > The result of this is wealthy but chaotic > mentally/physically unhealthy people who don’t > know who they are. > > Okay, that’s my disturbing observation for the > day, as you were. I am skeptical of your conclusion. America arguably exports more culture than any other country in the world through movies, TV, music, literature and American-designed products. Nike shoes are an American cultural invention. So are blue jeans, baseball caps, email, cheeseburgers, Scientology, Spiderman, Britney Spears, iPods, Coca Cola, the CFA charter and thousands of other things. There does not have to be a disconnect between commercialization and culture. The Indo-Chinese spice trade in the 16th century shaped the current culture of the country in which I was born. In a similar fashion, globalization has caused American culture to influence much of the world. Perhaps it is so widespread that people just don’t notice it any more.
It isn’t *my* conclusion, it is what exists. But ya, we both said the same things which both coincide with what exists. The culture is capitalism - ipods, bridney, pepsi, hollywood, etc (hollywood is the big one, they sell the dreams to China/India of living a life, which is a buying life). The culture is not family, home cooked meals, religion, loving realations with a member of the opposite sex, free activities, or other things that can not be monitized…in fact anything that detracts from the buying life people are brainwashed into being skeptical of [is it okay to end a sentance with the word ‘of’?]…keep going until I end with a different word than of…ok and then…bam. It is just a system like any other, a system forms and then works magic on the participants putting pressure on them to conform. New entrants like Sondeep conform. Some free thinking people do not conform to the system around them, these are the interesting people I think. But ya, it is so widespread that people don’t notice it, just like any social system.
capitalism isn’t the culture. thats too simple of an explanation. it just so happens that america produced most the largest retail/consumer brands out there in food, clothing, past-time goods, etc and they have a direct influence. most of the non-US corporations today wouldn’t exist in the same way if america didn’t set the bar. The French becoming fatter and fatter everyday b/c their lifestyle is becoming Americanized, not just in the length or workweek, but in what they eat. Because they eat too much McD’s, American burgers and fries, they have the fastest growing fat population in the world. What is culture? India’s culture isn’t defined by the spices they have just in the same way that America isn’t defined by the burgers they shove down the world’s throat right? Culture is how you treat eachother on the street. Culture involves the degree of chivalry. Culture is customs. Japan is mostly capitalist but does that mean their culture is identical to America’s. Culture is manners, the degree of xenophibism and custom/routine, and i’m sure many other things. America is spreading. It is American custom that is making Europeans fat. It is American custom that is sending young emiratis to monstrous malls to spend on things they don’t need. America is the new Roman Empire in terms of influence. Capitalism and Consumerism are different things. Capitalism is the SYSTEM. American Consumerism is the CULTURE. That culture is spreading.
i shall elaborate further only by posting this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspicuous_consumption
Also Americans are all about intellectual disputation and the use of specific words instead of the idea. 
Okay okay, consumerism is the culture. It is spreading fast. One of the most hilarious things that you guys may not know, many people in Asia believe that life in the USA is actually like a Vin Diesel movie…maybe a pool party and drinks and guns, some guys break dancing, some girls doing a dance off in bikinis, everyone is a free law breaking rebel with bleached tips and super hot [just me baby], never working, hanging out snorting whatever. It is funny until you realize they aren’t joking. They wanna join up.
purealpha Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Also Americans are all about intellectual > disputation and the use of specific words instead > of the idea. Okay okay, consumerism is the > culture. > > It is spreading fast. One of the most hilarious > things that you guys may not know, many people in > Asia believe that life in the USA is actually like > a Vin Diesel movie…maybe a pool party and drinks > and guns, some guys break dancing, some girls > doing a dance off in bikinis, everyone is a free > law breaking rebel with bleached tips and super > hot , never working, hanging out snorting > whatever. > > It is funny until you realize they aren’t joking. > They wanna join up. Some places abroad have no idea how puritan and conservative the US is. They all think life’s like a rap video, when is closer to Rockwell painting.