What are Americans?

[Sunstone]

Besides American citizenship, is there any defining characteristic that the vast majority of Americans possess?

I would be especially interested in any responses to the question from non-Americans.

And to be sure, I am using the word "American" in the sense of a citizen of the United States. However if you feel there is a defining characteristic of most people living on the North and South American continents, please offer it up!

Here's an idea for you: Meow Mix was talking one day about there being multiple Americans. That is, looked at culturally and in other ways, it seems that America might be a land of more than one culture. For instance, there's a conservative, Puritanical culture that dominates the Bible Belt. And there's a liberal, less Puritanical culture on the West Coast and New England. Or, at least, that might be one way to look at it. What do you think? Are there any defining characteristics for most Americans? Or is America fragmented into different cultures, each with its own defining characteristics?

 

[ignition]

Awful manners, general ignorance, lack of respect, atrocious accents and sheep-like behaviour.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Evil, greedy selfish excuses for humans whose sole desire is to rob themselves of common sense.

George Carlin would agree with me on this :yes:

[youtube]l7I50-OSmtM[/youtube]

 

[Sunstone]

Awful manners, general ignorance, lack of respect, atrocious accents and sheep-like behaviour.

Yes, but do Americans have any bad qualities?

 

[Rakhel]

Awful manners, general ignorance, lack of respect, atrocious accents and sheep-like behaviour.

Evil, greedy selfish excuses for humans whose sole desire is to rob themselves of common sense.

George Carlin would agree with me on this :yes:

[youtube]l7I50-OSmtM[/youtube]

He asked about Americans, not New Yorkers.

 

[adi2d]

Awful manners, general ignorance, lack of respect, atrocious accents and sheep-like behaviour.

Pretty wide brush you're painting with.

 

[Sha'irullah]

He asked about Americans, not New Yorkers.

But New Yorkers are the conglomeration of all Americans combined :yes:. Tis true

 

[Marie75]

Obsession with material things such as nice cars, phones, I pods, smart phones...loves gossip, get's entranced when watching shows related to fashion and beauty. Celebrity gossip. Not all Americans, but many are obsessed with material things too much.

 

[Sha'irullah]

Obsession with material things such as nice cars, phones, I pods, smart phones...loves gossip, get's entranced when watching shows related to fashion and beauty. Celebrity gossip. Not all Americans, but many are obsessed with material things too much.

i cannot drive, do not care.
Never owned a phone.
Never purchased an iPod nor own an MP3 player.

I also strongly dislike gossip or people and especially celebrities.

I just could not care less .

I have always wondered what in the hell a 12 year old needs a cellular phone for

 

[LuisDantas]

No attribute is truly universal for Americans, but several traits seem to be more or less taken for granted even by Americans themselves.

1. A desire for prestige, personal success and recognition (no, that is not an universal drive).
2. A militaristic bent.
3. Perception of the government and the law as sources of services for the community.
4. Heightened individualism and consumerism.
5. Lack of desire for understanding the finer points of other countries - or, indeed, of recognizing that such points deserve recognition at all.
6. A fairly contradictory model of the roles of the individual and larger society, that leads to a high attachment to escapist hobbies and fiction (and drugs).

 

[I.S.L.A.M617]

Besides American citizenship, is there any defining characteristic that the vast majority of Americans possess?

A majority of all Americans? No. But there are defining qualities for different regions of the country. While I lived in Florida I felt like I was in a different country. Bostonians tend to have a more dry, sarcastic sense of humor that they didn't appreciate at all in Florida. Also drastically different driving habits. And they gave me a lot of **** for my accent (apparently I drop some Rs and put others where they shouldn't be, but let me make it perfectly clear I do say CAR) and the fact that I'm a potty mouth. I cuss a lot without even noticing it or giving it a second thought. Most people here don't care, but the people in Florida noticed and weren't pleased.

 

[Assad91]

Besides American citizenship, is there any defining characteristic that the vast majority of Americans possess?

I would be especially interested in any responses to the question from non-Americans.

And to be sure, I am using the word "American" in the sense of a citizen of the United States. However if you feel there is a defining characteristic of most people living on the North and South American continents, please offer it up!

Here's an idea for you: Meow Mix was talking one day about there being multiple Americans. That is, looked at culturally and in other ways, it seems that America might be a land of more than one culture. For instance, there's a conservative, Puritanical culture that dominates the Bible Belt. And there's a liberal, less Puritanical culture on the West Coast and New England. Or, at least, that might be one way to look at it. What do you think? Are there any defining characteristics for most Americans? Or is America fragmented into different cultures, each with its own defining characteristics?

I'ds ay different cultures.

 

[Assad91]

Also drastically different driving habits.

Heh, I am from Philly. Everyone hates how we drive

 

[DallasApple]

I hate to say it...but I think we are TOO individualistic.

Lack of a sense of community. :sorry1:

Not enough "unity" /

 

[Assad91]

Awful manners,

Like being apathetic towards victims of horrible beatings due to religious affiliation?

general ignorance,

Like football hooligans you Brits are well known for being?

lack of respect,

And negatively generalizing all of us isn't a show of lack of respect?

atrocious accents and sheep-like behaviour.

Right. How do you say aluminum again? Right, now go back to flooding the world with nonsense of your silly royals.

 

[Awoon]

Were any of you people before this?

[youtube]JwzHooPjZdk[/youtube]
The Americans - YouTube

 

[Assad91]

I also strongly dislike gossip or people and especially celebrities.

Yes. But FOX gets plety of viewers for **** like TMZ. Not to mention ET

I have always wondered what in the hell a 12 year old needs a cellular phone for

You must not live in the city

 

[I.S.L.A.M617]

Heh, I am from Philly. Everyone hates how we drive

Tell me about it... Being from Boston, I love to play the road rage games (cut someone off and slow down to 10mph because they didn't use their blinker, stuff like that) but Philly drivers are just something else... My dad's from Philly; I'm terrified when I drive with my cousins on his side. Going out there this weekend; wish me luck:yes:

 

[DallasApple]

Were any of you people before this?

[youtube]JwzHooPjZdk[/youtube]
The Americans - YouTube

As far as my bloodline? Yep I'm a "Mayflower babe'..

As well as Roger Williams the founder of Rhode Island is one of my fore fathers.

And yes I have Indian in me.

So I "think" I'm "American".

Where they (my forefathers) came before that.England (mostly) and Scottland.

 

[Riverwolf]

Most of them now live in reservations, and the rest of them have melded with the descendents of invaders, at least in the US.

I understand that Canadian tribes had a better time of it, and many of them live more or less with their ancestral languages and cultures, but with some modern advancements.

Central American Tribes still make up the genetic majority, I understand, but most of them probably don't speak their ancestral languages, and the modern cultures are a bit of a far cry away from their ancestral ones, I understand.

South America is quite interesting, though, since I understand there are still plenty of tribes living as they always have there, some of whom have barely had any contact with foreigners. But foreign and foreign-inspired culture is still quite prevalent down there, I understand, especially in Brazil.

'Course on the non-US tribes, I could be COMPLETELY wrong, so don't take my word for it.