Is the United States a Civilisation ?

A relative of mine who teaches anthropology posed this question to a bunch of twenty year olds. He mentioned it to myself because we talk about ' The World ' sometimes, and he thought some of the answers were interesting.

Of the five ' coherent and memorable ' answers... the results were these : three said ' no ' , and two said ' yes ' . He stressed that this was a simple and ' very casual ' excersise ; in no way scientific. Just for debate on the topic of ' civilisation ' itself.

I am interested to know what educated adults think on this topic...

To paraphrase the results :
1. No - the United States is not a civilisation because it has no language of its own.

2. No - longevity is required ( no specific thoughts on longevity were offered ).

3.No - the US is a ' melting pot ' with no genetic ' binder ' .

4. Yes - the United States is a civilisation... because its inhabitants ' say so ' ( ! ).
Or, act as if they acknowledge the ' fact ' .

5. Yes - because other people say so or act as if they acknowledge the ' fact ' .

Any thoughts or input?

Is the United States a Civilization?

Not so's you'd notice.

Haven't you heard? Most of Europe still thinks we're barbarians.

And compared to them - we are!

The U.S. is a culture because it is unique. It doesn't neccesarily have a culture of it's own, but the "melting pot" effect is new, which makes it a mathmatical culture all it's own by grouping cultures into one explicit variable - US.

....and I've noticed some other countries have gotten some melting pot going on since the United States did it(eventually). I digress.... maybe the US is not the only one to diversify in segments of culture... my history pertaining to other countries is limited, as I'm sure anyone from another country has also noticed this deficiency in their history lessons.

There is this thing about U.S. culture. Aggressive, Fast(no time for pleasantries), economics is primary(which is not the case in most cultures believe-it-or-not though they are turning toward it), Entertainment is highly valued(or was a decade ago ex-Hollywood).

Probably what I love most about the culture of the U.S. is the fact that there are "regions" of culture. Other countries have this as well, ie France.... southern France.

U.S.A. has it's own culture, and either conciously or subconciously other countries are learning that this is a good thing, and are doing the same. Freedom of Religion(oh I mean culture) is a good thing to make the masses happy, and therefore good citizens.

Back to the topic. U.S.A. has a culture that is so radical, so revolutionary, that it redefines the very definition of culture. You have to really look at it to see it, but it's there.

It is everything and it is nothing.(this last line is a bit ambiguous)

Originally posted by dooper
Is the United States a Civilization?

Not so's you'd notice.

Haven't you heard? Most of Europe still thinks we're barbarians.

And compared to them - we are!

Sometimes I wonder if the Europeans don ' t just hate their own barbarity.
It would certainly be easy for a European to think of certain aspects of MY life as barbaric. Hell , come to think of it - they have, before...

reply to post by Skelkie3



I really don't comprehend why anyone said NO to the question.

My response would be:
Yes, The United States is a Civilization. It is a developed level of a society that clearly has complex social and political structure, along with material, scientific, and artistic advancement.

reply to post by Skelkie3


Well according to the definition in the dictionary, I would say the USA meets all the definitions.

Source Dictionary.com

civ⋅i⋅li⋅za⋅tion  /ˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [siv-uh-luh-zey-shuhn] Show IPA
Use civilization in a Sentence
–noun 1. an advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry, and government has been reached.
2. those people or nations that have reached such a state.
3. any type of culture, society, etc., of a specific place, time, or group: Greek civilization.
4. the act or process of civilizing or being civilized: Rome's civilization of barbaric tribes was admirable.
5. cultural refinement; refinement of thought and cultural appreciation: The letters of Madame de Sévigné reveal her wit and civilization.
6. cities or populated areas in general, as opposed to unpopulated or wilderness areas: The plane crashed in the jungle, hundreds of miles from civilization.
7. modern comforts and conveniences, as made possible by science and technology: After a week in the woods, without television or even running water, the campers looked forward to civilization again.

7. modern comforts and conveniences, as made possible by science and technology: After a week in the woods, without television or even running water, the campers looked forward to civilization again.


ROFLMAO. Now THAT is civilization.

By some academic definition, the US might not qualify as a civilization, but certainly we are still a civilized nation.

I won't get into an argument with an anthropologist, because in sociology there are terms that are misused in the popular culture and have meanings quite apart from their academic usage.

[edit on 2009/7/5 by GradyPhilpott]

Isn’t the question itself phrased wrong? The USA is a political construct, not something as broad and amorphous as a civilization or even a culture. I think what he’s really asking is whether or not America has it’s own culture, and of course the answer is yes. Our culture is incredibly complex, and has a very large number of sub-cultures, because of the enormous number of influences that immigration has brought, and because of geographic separation, but since when did total homogeneity define a culture? China and India are much the same way (perhaps even more so), and have been considered ‘civilizations’ for millennia.

Thumbs down to this so called educator for not even getting the question right.

Originally posted by Skelkie3



To paraphrase the results :
1. No - the United States is not a civilisation because it has no language of its own.

Try talking to someone from the hills of tennesee..You'd swear it wasnt english..

Originally posted by Redpillblues

Originally posted by Skelkie3



To paraphrase the results :
1. No - the United States is not a civilisation because it has no language of its own.

Try talking to someone from the hills of tennesee..You'd swear it wasnt english..

Let's not forget Spanglish. Very American that.