What I hate about American culture

[Berati]

Its culture seems to have basically two poles: the boredom of bureaucracy and the compulsive, aimless destructiveness of the underclass. Yes, there's a "middle way," but that just means that other parts of society (school, the corporate world, factories) just take their influences almost exclusively from these two sectors of society. It's a culture that has black, white, and shades of grey, but no actual colors.

Cynicism doesn't accomplish anything nor does a culture of blame.
Nice demonstration of both.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You left out baseball and American football. Oh..and BENGAZI!

[Shiranu]

I hate (already mentioned) how fucking puritanical we are. It pisses me off immensely that I wasted, if I'm lucky, a quarter of my life on that bullshit.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

I don't waste time on puritanical bullshit. I don't recall the time I ever have.
You can concentrate on the shit that pisses you off OR you can concentrate on the things that make you happy. 
Just the thought of being happy pisses me off.

[Solitary]

I hate (already mentioned) how fucking puritanical we are. It pisses me off immensely that I wasted, if I'm lucky, a quarter of my life on that bullshit.

Man, do I know what you mean. I'm too old now, but the only regret I have is passing up opportunities I had when younger being caught up in a Catholic culture of my friends. One of the best times I ever had was skinny dipping with a wild tom boy for the first time when I was about 12 and she was 16 years old, and how I passed up the chance for more because of what I thought was wrong. Then I got married because I thought love and marriage was magical. I've had a terrific marriage so can't really complain, because I became a devil to my wife and had a Mass Effect on her and showed her the error of my ways. He! He!  Solitary

[AllPurposeAtheist]

 

Man, do I know what you mean. I'm too old now, but the only regret I have is passing up opportunities I had when younger being caught up in a Catholic culture of my friends. One of the best times I ever had was skinny dipping with a wild tom boy for the first time when I was about 12 and she was 16 years old, and how I passed up the chance for more because of what I thought was wrong. Then I got married because I thought love and marriage was magical. I've had a terrific marriage so can't really complain, because I became a devil to my wife and had a Mass Effect on her and showed her the error of my ways. He! He!  Solitary

YOU sir are a soiler of purity. 

[aitm]

I am by no means worldly, but I have traveled the states pretty well. I have lived in large cities, small towns and outer suburbia, frankly, I have no understanding of why or what you stated.  I find a greater diversity than you I guess. I am disturbed by the amount of racism, disappointed by the misogyny but non-the-less, I see far less reason for pessimism than you.

[doorknob]

What qualifies as "color" by your definition? America has the most diverse amounts of culture than any other country. We are a tolerant and intolerant melting pot. If you look past what Holly Wood portrays there is much more to America.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Yeah, pretty diverse out there. Most people hide in their cocoons of their cars and suburban homes with 9 foot privacy fence,  the garage door is the introduction to the world of their McMansion, they go to work, go straight home, watch teevee, go to bed, fuck the old lady once a month, wake up, lather, rinse, repeat day after day after day after day after day.
Yeah, pretty depressing if that's your sum total of your life.

[Aletheia]

I live in the suburbs so it's pretty limited but I'm near Dallas, so I go out there when I have the resources

Seriously, you live close to Dallas and you think the culture is limited? You want diversity, go to Harry Hines and talk to the transvestites and drag queens, or go to Carrollton and start up a conversation with the resident Japanese or Koreans at the local H-Mart. Eat the best damn Curry Goat of your life at a Nigerian restaurant in Irving, or talk to your Samoli taxi driver while touring Greenville Avenue and see what his thoughts are about current politics. Visit downtown Dallas, just a few blocks from the courthouse and ask the homeless how they feel about society. Go to Frisco or Flower Mound and learn what living in a bubble is really like then turn around for a culture shock and visit Oak Cliff. The disparity between the two is enough to make your head spin.

Hell, if I was closer, I'd give you a tour of the whole damn metroplex. You want culture, work with some Germans in the landscaping business or be invited to a drinking competition by your fellow Russian co-workers at a moving company. Visit Stratos and enjoy some genuine Greek belly dancers!

If you have not been immersed in diverse culture given you are so close to Dallas, then you are seriously blind. You want bland, head over to east Texas, where the IQ drops in proportion to the distance you travel from Dallas.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

You want diversity in Irving just drive north and south on MacArthur down by Rock Island up to Las Colinas where you go from foodstamps to Exxon oil mansions in about a mile or two.  Down on MacArthur on Shady Grove they have a gigantic bronze horse statue that probably cost the city a few cool million in a neighborhood where living in a cardboard box is to rich for foodstsmps..

[zarus tathra]

Dallas sounds cool. How's the air quality down there?

[Aletheia]

Dallas sounds cool. How's the air quality down there?

It's better than Houston, but not by much. I was coughing for the first three weeks I was there before my lungs finally adjusted. A car or a really intimate knowledge of the bus system is a must if you want to go anywhere in the metroplex.

ETA: Also, stay away from the Trinity River. God only knows what could be lurking in those murky waters.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Its culture seems to have basically two poles: the boredom of bureaucracy and the compulsive, aimless destructiveness of the underclass. Yes, there's a "middle way," but that just means that other parts of society (school, the corporate world, factories) just take their influences almost exclusively from these two sectors of society. It's a culture that has black, white, and shades of grey, but no actual colors.

Sweeping statement noted. I've been in 38 states and 72 foreign countries, and I don't see a fundamental difference between the US and anywhere else. When it gets down to the street level people are just people, anywhere you go.