Our country's culture is going down the crapper.

The american standard of living is unquestionably the best on earth. However our moral values, our faith, our culture ( what little culture we have ) is absolutly terrible IMO. We have noone but ourselves to blame because its us who supporting these ideals and the people who are benifiting from them.

What does it mean to be an american citizen? What do we stand for? Our forefathers are probly turning in their graves due to the lack of respect for oneanother, how we have neglected to keep our country safe from corperate takeover, and how we now let the dollar run our lives.

The struggle for justice lost in decades of struggle for the paper.

There is no question that when America was first founded out leaders came up with laws and obligations that best suited (spell?) the people.
They started us on the right track and it looked promicing, ( tho i dissagre that what we did to the native americans was in their best intrest, taking their land by force and pritty much killing off that whole people ) once we had gotten ourselves established. Then came the industrial revolution, so many great inventions and great thinkers of our time came into play. America was prospering (spell?). After that medical reaserch started to thrive ( and still is somewhat ).

Now it seems like we have hit a dead end. Just look at the people that we idolize now, people like 50 cent, Michael Jackson, Courtney Love, Maddonna, Jessica Simpson, Arnold Shwartzinegger (whos a govenor for goodness sake), Brittny Spears just to name a few. These people are nothing more than pritty faces with no real intrest in what direction they are pushing the generation that adors them. As long as they have 8 - 9 digit bank accounts what do they care. I dont concider myself raceist but, look at all the rap artists ( the majority being african american) they talk about little more than Drugs, Sex, and Violence and will continue to do so because the people are eating it up. The public needs a sereious reality check because the problems we face as a nation now will only continue to get worse.

I tell all my friends I should of been born in the 50's because that would mean I would have grown up in 60's - 70's a time when there was a mass of people who knew that our country was slipping into corruption and wanted change. Its just that they didnt know how to go about doing it wich is the problem that the few of us who are awake and see the world for what it is today face.

Any comments? Anyone dissagree? Id like to see what you have to say. If anyone has any answers for the quistions i put up in the begining im dieing to know.
What does it mean to be an american citizen? What do we stand for?

The american standard of living is unquestionably the best on earth

No it isnt, it is about 14th actually. Norway is top.

And I would question wether the US had any culture to lose in the first place, apart from rampant comercialism

I view US as having history but when it comes to culture well this is a young nation compare to the rest of the world and our culture is a mix of ethnic groups beliefs, dreams and hopes, Americans are unique in that way.

Our culture is on the making and is no down on anything is rich and diverse as the people that live in this nation.

[edit on 8-8-2004 by marg6043]

Yes, but they are cultures of the parent nations, rather than being a truly American culture. You do not see the British claiming parts of Indian culture as their own, but we still celebrate it. The American culture that we are all subjected to daily is superficial and is designed to make money.

stumason, that comes with been a free nation having a free market.

Indeed............. free market and money making aside, it isn't really much of a culture is it?

We are children of all the nations on earth.
That makes us totally unique. As far as culture, it's very varied. I do agree that instead of In God We Trust" it has now become "In This Dollar We Trust".
Maybe the government should put that on the money??? Sad to say, what you say is true, but I still believe that most average Americans are good people.
What you're talking about is mostly how the media is influencing people.
Media can be a very powerful tool in makeing people think certain ways or act certain ways. This includes movies, music, magazines, newshows, etc.
I personally don't like alot of what is going on with that myself.
Glad to hear someone else thinks this too.

stumason,

I can tell you this I am getting nothing of this money making culture that you talk about I live from pay day to payday, but is others that have the American dream come true, I am just not of them.

Its strange because you cant really say wiether or not america has culture because we have such divercity in our nation that you cant pinpoint our social, religious, intellectual, and artistic beliefs or ideas. We have a mix of all kinds of cultural backrounds and tho we cant say that one peopls culture is our own or another peoples culture is our own, I think that is the beauty of it.

Our culture, in a sense, is not having a culture. You can come here and think and believe whatever you wish. Its true that you can do that in most parts of the world now but it was not always that way.

What you're talking about is mostly how the media is influencing people.

You are correct. I ask why they promote such meaningless dribble instead of focusing on things that really matter and make a diffrence. Instead of putting up hollowood gossip (pun intended) they should be reading many of the posts on this sight and reaserching that. It seems like the people want this garbage tho, we have the choice of either watching CNN or the E! channel and most people are making the wrong decision IMO. I fail to see how these peoples lives are more interesting than the war in Iraq, space exploration, or even nature. We live in a matereal world and its hurting our people in ways some of them may never know.

[edit on 8-8-2004 by Tr33stump]

Yes, our culture is declining. It seems our country is fast getting into it's dumbing-down phase.
Commercially, there is little TV, less music. We look up to actors who make too much money. We appear on "reality" shows. We are spoonfed the "news" and few of us vote. We can't read or write very well. We do little thinking on our own and don't like to take responsibility for our action. We don't value life very much.

With all the Muslims flooding the United Kingdom and tony Blair kissing their asses all the way UK culture is definitly under threat. We are a backward muslim nation in all but name. Makes me vomit that we even entertain these people, half of them are illegal and the other half all hate western culture despite the fact they cant get enough of this place. They are a bunch of hypocrites and Tony Blair is a traitor of the highest order.

I am with you on that one mate. Where I live, i am one of 3 english families on the street. Everyone else is either a muslim or an african. None speak english, most try and rob me on my way home, and all of them dont work and milk the system.

We are a backward muslim nation in all but name. Makes me vomit that we even entertain these people, half of them are illegal and the other half all hate western culture despite the fact they cant get enough of this place.

We have a problem like that over in the states too. Like I said before I dont concider myself a racist (and im not saying you are either) but we deffinitely have a latino problem. Like you said half of them are here illegaly and the other half do nothing but milk the system for all its worth by living off welfare and food stamps and if your going to come to this land the LEAST you can do is learn the language. But instead we are catering to their needs by having all instructions, street signs, and now telivision channels in spanish. Whats worse is there are gangs poping up in the southwest region wich encourage this behavior and want to take back that part of america and give it back to Mexico. Sound like they really care about our county and its morals.

[edit on 8-8-2004 by Tr33stump]

We have the same here.
Our local councils spend god knows how much having services in every conceivable language, but whenever i try and get anything for myself, I get turned down. But go into the local benefits office, and its full of immigrants/illegals claiming, and complaining when they dont get enough! And we have street signs and train station signs in Hindi and Urdu!! If you know Southall in london then you will know what i mean!
I am not racist, and I dont oppose immigration, but I feel the immigrants should adapt to our way of life, not the other way around.

Hey I am spanish. yes I know we have a population and migration problem but one part of the spanish minority population does not make for the rest of them.

The following is from Rense.com I believe. It happend at an Independance day ralley. I know this is not how all the spanish decending people think but this (the brown berets) is an on organized group of people, I dont want to call them a gang but something similar, who are possibly some 20,000 strong.

"Augustin Cebada, Brown Berets, we're here today to show LA, show the minority people here, the Anglo-Saxons, that we are here, the majority. We do the work in this city, we take care of the spoiled brat children, we clean their offices, we pick the food, we do the manufacturing in the factories of LA, we are the majority here. We're here in Westwood, this is the fourth time we've been here in the last two months, to show white Anglo-Saxon Protestant LA, the few of you who remain, that we are the majority, and we claim this land as ours, it's always been ours, and we're still here, and none of the talk about deporting. If anyone's going to be deported it's going to be you! Go back to Simi Valley, you skunks! Go back to Boston! To back to the Plymouth Rock, Pilgrims! Get out! We are the future. You're old and tired. Go on. We have beaten you, leave like beaten rats. You old white people, it is your duty to die. Right now we're already controlling those elections by violence or nonviolence. Through love of having children we're going to take over." Other demonstrators: "Raza fuerza (brown race power), this is Aztlan, this is Mexico. They're the pilgrims on our land. Go back to the Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria."

They dont value our ideas or our "culture". I respect any latinos who work for a living, are here legally, and who dont preach hate against the people who have taken them in and givin them a better life.

So, do you think that our culture has declined since the days of "the Brady Bunch," and "Gilligan's Island?"

What about "the Howdy Doody Show."

The three stooges?

Burlesque shows?

Carnival freak shows

Public Executions,

et cetera, et cetera.

There is nothing special about our culture past, present of future.

Originally posted by stumason

No it isnt, it is about 14th actually. Norway is top.

And I would question wether the US had any culture to lose in the first place, apart from rampant comercialism

I agree with you on the standard of living thing. But the culture thing I cant agree with you. When you see a kid in Sub Sahara Africa wearing a Micheal Jordon Jersey thats a example of American culture. When you hear Rap music that too is American Culture. I could go on and on on examples of culture that is created in America.

Originally posted by HowardRoark
So, do you think that our culture has declined since the days of "the Brady Bunch," and "Gilligan's Island?"

What about "the Howdy Doody Show."

The three stooges?

Burlesque shows?

Carnival freak shows

Public Executions,

et cetera, et cetera.

There is nothing special about our culture past, present of future.

Thank you for your imput HowardRoark youve made it so easy to explain what im trying to say now. What do all those things youve mentiond have in common? There all telivision shows. TV is whats really the problem. They throw the most nonsenceicle (spell? ) garbage at you. Totaly mindless Sh*t wich has nothing to do with the real world and has gradually gotten worse and worse as the years go by. We used to enjoy going to a theater ( not a movie theater to specify ) and watching the art that was preformd on stage. Going to a museum and looking at the peices of art created by human hands. Going to see an orchestra and listining to a variety of sounds come together and create musical ART. Most telivison shows are just mindless crap that requires no thought prosess at all. People used to read, but now we have become mentally lazy as a people and would rather watch these so called "reality shows" that dont really have any point to them. The incredible thing to me is that peope actually enjoy it. Its because TV has become a childs best friend, Ive seen children sit in front of that thing for hours and watch the same cartoons over andover again. It has controll of their minds IMO and its just a scary thing to me. Instead of playing with blocks, putting a puzzle together, or going out and communicating with other children they just sit in fron of the tube and rot their mind. Once they start to grow up a little and loose intrest in cartoons they have Mtv to tune into. Like I said before, look at the people we Idolize, What do they stand for? Most are just a pritty face and if they are not a pritty face then they have money and can buy a pritty face. Drugs, Sex,and Violence sells and that is sad IMHO.