Deano said:
What do you like about the U.S.?
As alluded to by others, the vastness of the country and the consequent and seemingly endless variety of subcultures. I grew up in the Midwest (specifically in Wisconsin) and lived for many years (most of the 90s) just northeast of New York City. The cultures of those two regions alone are so different that it almost seems like different nations.
I currently live in Denver, a city with an odd characteristic: most of the adults here are not natives. In other words, over half the people I meet came here from some other part of the US (just like I came from the NYC area). So this city is a great melting pot, where all the subcultures of the US come together.
As an odd aside, the "melting pot" nature of Denver is the main reason we have some of the worst traffic in the country. It's not the fault of the road designers - it's that everyone learned to drive in different styles, in different parts of the US. Yes, even how you drive is part of your culture. So the mix of every type of aggressive, normal and timid driver creates such confusion that traffic jams are the constant result. NYC has almost nothing but aggressive drivers - but because everyone there drives insanely, traffic actually flows smoother!
And the vastness of the country bit ... I live within sight of the Rocky Mountains. In less than a 2 hour drive, I can be in the highest mountains in the continental US (only Alaska has higher mountains). The Grand Canyon is a day's drive away, the Great Plains a day's drive in the other direction. The Badlands in South Dakota, the Everglades, the forests of New England... the wonders are endless.
Deano said:
The success that the evangelical religious right is having with imposing their culture on the nation. The vast freedoms of the US allow that to happen. Not that I'd ever advocate removing the slightest bit of those freedoms, but it shows that every benefit has a dark side which can be exploited.
The homogenization of the culture, which combats the variety that I talked about above. Finding good, purely local interests gets harder as national conglomerates take over everything. Clear Channel owns most of the big radio stations. Six Flags has gobbled up all the amusement parks. Walmart has famously driven thousands of local merchants out of business. There's still great local culture in every city, but it's getting harder and harder to find. A random tourist will now have great difficulty doing so; you now need a local guide wherever you go to find anything interesting.
Deano said:
What did you used to like but now you hate?
Can't think of a good answer to this one offhand, so I'll be different and reverse it: something I used to hate but now like - the 2nd amendment and gun rights. I used to be a gun-control proponent. And if there were a way to control guns without stomping all over the rights of normal gun owners, I'd be all for it. But the 2nd amendment is serving a good purpose - preventing knee-jerk reactions to school shootings from making all gun owners into criminals. And for the record, I do not own any guns, so that's not why I'm saying this.
That actually leads to a point which should be mentioned ... so far, the constitution in general has worked. Despite the abuses and offenses of individuals, things eventually get corrected. Sometimes it takes a long time - it took a century for blacks to start getting full civil rights. But our legal processes are built on a solid bedrock that has not yet been corrupted, so in time all wounds get healed.
Deano said:
What can we do to serve the world better?
Lead the way in healing the environment, preferably before Florida goes underwater because the Greenland glaciers melted.
(Because my parents have a pool at their house in Florida, which I like to use when I'm there every 3 years or so.)
Elect leaders who will cooperate with the rest of the world, using the UN for interaction. We have that beautiful building in NYC for a reason, even if the current president would like to pretend it's not there.
I'd like to emphasize that in the following three points, I am to a large extent playing devil's advocate...
Forostar said:
-This exagerated way of talking "Hellooooow, oh my God... how AAAARE youuu...", in other words, their superficiality in engagements, meetings. People from Europe look through that and experience this as an act. So act normal and real, it can be crazy enough already.
In my experience, that is a female trait. I honestly don't know any guys who talk like that (but I do know many women like that). But consider: in America, that kind of behavior is actually genuine. It may seem strange to a European, but it's quite real here (as in, not an act). So for people who grow up in that culture, talking that way usually
is "natural and real".
LooseCannon said:
Americans playing American-only games declare themselves "World Champions".
If it's an American-only game, then our champion would indeed be the best in the world. I don't see the problem here. It's entirely reasonable to call the NFL champion the "world champion of American football", since no team from anywhere else would be better. I will admit that this complaint is reasonable for some other sports like baseball and basketball which have strong international followings. But even in these cases, the American teams are usually among the world's best. The "world champion" label may be indicative of egotism, but it is nonetheless often correct.
Perun said:
This thing basically sums it up. A totally pointless thing, waste of money and power, just for the sake of not having to walk. Ridiculous.
Inventing new gadgets is an American obsession, even if the gadgets appear useless. But more importantly, the Segway was invented with a specific use in mind: fast transport from building to building in large corporate campuses. In such environments, you may have to travel a mile to your next meeting, and you may only have 10 minutes to do it. The inventor's mistake was hyping his invention like it was really meant for ordinary people. And I've never seen anyone using a Segway; people here still prefer to walk.
Let me emphasize this again:
I'm
not saying the above posters were wrong. I'm pointing out that there's two sides to every story, and a most Americans would see the above points differently like I did. I find it interesting, as an indicator of my own bias, that the above three points were not made by Americans ... while the posts above from Americans I generally agreed with.