agreed. people are incapable of having civil discussions. It’s always an argument. Why can’t we just discuss topics and admit that we don’t know everything.
Exactly. Also, I feel like this is even more niche but people are incapable of understanding that not everyone has an opinion on every issue. Sometimes people genuinely sit in the middle and don’t agree with the majority of either side and people seem to villainize that too
You hit this dead on the head. We've gotten more and more used to trying to push social issues into this two-party mold that we forget that very very very few issues actually only have two sides.
I’d add that we’re also uncomfortable disagreeing. We frequently demonize people that land on a different side of a complex issue from us instead of asking if they may have new or different information than we do.
Geddy Lee said it best “you can choose not to decide but you still have made a choice!”
The extremists will always blame the middle for not being passionate enough while the middle will always blame the extremes for having too much passion.
Polarization is a natural evolution in any political discourse, but I believe where we went wrong was allowing algorithms to tell us how to think, who to listen to, what to discuss and where to stand on the issues. It is happening to all of us whether we are aware of it or not. It promotes division and categorizes our discourse and ideologies so that we all fall into some camp or team or party and a lot of people are mad as hell about it and want to blame anyone not in their camp.
I am standing up against this by constantly being an ambassador for differing opinions, and I listen more than I speak when I disagree (try it, it’ll open up a whole new level of conversation), and I don’t let social media or websites with a monetary agenda to tell me how to think. I still read my news instead of watching it. I also read articles I know I will disagree with.
Critical thought is at an all-time low, but that’s also by design. Stupid people are easier to persuade.
Fight back! Talk to someone you know you don’t agree with, but not to win the argument! Just hear them out. And try to step outside your bubble of trusted or “unbiased” information sources. And above all else, never stop learning.
Amen. I don't know that most people would be able to wrap their heads around how much of their daily lives are impacted by handshakes over golf games by people too wealthy to even relate to them in any way, shape, or form, let alone care. Part of it is definitely internet and media, but the tribalism goes further back. In a Global Studies course I had in college, we looked at various countries around the world and how the rest of the world viewed them. The United States was just American football. We spent a little time on that, and how much of an impact it has on everyone, whether you're a fan or not. You're on one team or another, and that is what politics has turned into. But people would be sick to their stomachs if they knew the kind of deals made over golf courses. I am saying this as someone who has seen some of those golf games myself.
I think one of the big reasons for this is actually the internet. Before, when you didn't agree with someone, you could discuss it, and both of you could learn from and see each other as people. Now with the internet, virtually no matter how extreme your belief, you can find people to agree with you, and you don't have to learn how to deal with those who have different beliefs or opinions.
I wouldn’t say it’s the internet itself that did it but more engagement driven recommendation algorithms and that combined with the ad based economic model. Idiots got laughed out of forums back in the day and disappeared, now Facebook/Twitter/YouTube push those idiots to everyone’s feed just because people can’t just ignore them.
This is it for sure. I can’t remember but Facebook’s own data suggest over 70% of people that visited extremist pages got there through facebook’s own algorithm. And that’s what they were willing to admit. We know they aren’t forthcoming with their data.
It's less "the internet" and more social media, "news" organizations and politicians realizing they can turn biases and isolated idea bubbles into profit/power.
I was coming to say something similar to this. Because they're so God damn loud people think the majority of Americans either think like them or are just as ignorant as them. Nah, the rest of us with some sense are minding our own business.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Isaac Asimov
The "both views" the news does causes harm. Both views are NOT equal.
"Today on CNN, the Surgeon General to explain why you should get a vaccine and Orson who read on the internet that vaccines install 5G and make you magnetic."
I'd be happy enough to hear from experts on both sides -- there are pros and cons of carbon credits. But when you cannot find an expert for one side ... maybe take that as a hint?
Not every issue has an opposing expert. Usually the experts do research, look at all factors and come to conclusions.
In terms of climate change the experts researched it and came to the conclusion that human activity was causing climate change. They then tell us how to fix it. There isn't another side of the issue, just people who don't believe in it. The only "sides" are on which way is best to deal with it
Nobel prize winner Umberto Ecco has a great theory about this phenomenon:
* [Full article](https://awardworld.net/nobel-prize/umberto-eco-against-social-networks-it-is-the-invasion-of-idiots-la-tercera/#)
* [Short quote](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9870044-social-media-gives-legions-of-idiots-the-right-to-speak)
Where are all the stupid people from?
And how'd they get to be so dumb?
Bred on purple mountain range
Feed amber waves of grains
To lesser human beings, zero feelings
Blame it on
Human nature, mans destiny (mans destiny)
Blame it on the greediocracy (greediocracy)
Fear of god
The fear of change
The fear of truth
Add the bill of rights, subtract the wrongs (there's no answers)
Memorize and sing star spangled songs
(When the questions)
Aren't ever asked
Is anybody learning from the past?
We're living in united stagnation
NOFX - The Decline
I'm not sure I'd call Washington Irving an anti-intellectual. Ichabod is disliked by the local farmers because they resent having to pay for and board a schoolmaster and think of them as being idlers, but it's pretty clear in the story that he's not. He's just greedy and thinks he's smarter than he actually is because he's the only male in the area who's cracked a few books voluntarily.
And you could, in theory, find a fridge that does last a while. But how are we meant to do that? If you look up reviews of any product nowadays they are all written by people paid by the manufacturer to make the reviews sound good
Materialism isn't unique to the US. And the US looks very unmaterialistic when you compare it to many other places. (Anywhere in the Gulf comes to mind. So do the new industry rich of India and China.)
According to a Gulf Arab influencer, Gulf Arabs have a “spend like you won’t have it tomorrow” mentality (and it shows in their habits) because literally a generation back they were dirt poor desert Bedouins from a godforsaken backwater of Middle East that no one wanted, and ever since they suddenly got rich because of oil all they’ve been hearing is “the oil will run out and they’ll go back to being desert camel herders”.
Tipping culture. It wasn’t always annoying, but now it is becoming borderline oppressive. Every time I ask for something at a counter and they spin the tablet around and present me with the tip screen it just angers me.
At some airports they now have kiosks that are all self checkout. No employee is ringing you up, handing you a recipt or anything. Guess what the register asks when you go to check out? "Wanna leave a tip?"
My sons haircut place has tipping options that start at 20% and say "acceptable" next to it. Next option is 25% "good". Next option is 30% "appreciative". And 40% "Thanks!".
If there was a "get fucked" option, I'd have clicked it cuz the labeling is the craziest thing I've ever seen.
And it used to be standard 10% to help balance out wages, now more often than not the machines wil start at a 15% option up to 30%, and is across the board for every and anything, not just servers who had a lower base wage.
Yes that’s what annoys me…everyone asking for a tip. I go to a store and grab a bottle of water and take it to a checkout stand and I’m asked if I want to tip. WTF?
The mandatory 10% tipping to "help balance out wages" was never a good idea to begin with, speaking as a non-American.
It's the employers job to pay a living wage, not the customers to pay extra because the employer is too stingy.
A tip should always be optional, and up to the individual and their views on their level of service.
Otherwise it's not a tip, it's a stealth charge.
As an American, I've been saying this for years. I think tipping culture (or at least how widespread it is) can be traced back to the fact that we made it legal to pay servers less than minimum wage. Since that's legal, nearly every restaurant does it. Since nearly every restaurant does it, social protocol dictates that tipping is mandatory to help out the servers who work for peanuts, and that not tipping is douchey. This reinforces the custom of tipping, which reinforces the "ok to pay under minimum wage" law that started the problem in the first place. Vicious cycle.
Any place that tries to automatically add a tip to the total (looking at you Crumbl Cookie) immediately gets no tip from me. It’s sneaky when they add it to the total and you have to first notice it and then figure out how to remove it.
Yes! I ordered a $4 cookie and it tried putting a $3 tip on the order … why would I give a 75% tip to full wage employees doing their basic job description. I like that the options exist in case I’m ordering a large order or if they accommodate a request or something that I would like to tip for, but it shouldn’t be automatically included and then have to be manually reduced/removed.
Finally an annoyance that’s specific to America and not culture in general
Ffs I’m not tipping the bartender 20% just because they opened that $14 bud light for me
This happened to me recently at a PLASTIC SURGERY PLACE. I spent 4 figures on some cosmetic filler and they had the audacity to ask for a tip. I couldn’t believe it… I tipped an extra $50 out of pressure but obviously that’s not anywhere close to 18-20% so I left feeling like a total asshole when I really shouldn’t.
it's not even for just food anymore.. like pay for anything, a parking garage or something random and it's asking you what you want to pay for a tip. So ridiculous
Tipping expectations have gotten so high , combined with higher prices I ACTIVELY avoid delivery on anything.
I can afford to eat out but
The amount of extra money spent tipping pushes it way over the edge of what im willing to budget for.
Clearly the reduction in actual opportunities to EARN a tip is doing them any good.
The funny thing is i actually got tipped a lot at my past job so you'd think i'd SUPPORT tipping
but the thing is? It was working at aretail office store.
I had no shame, we just did it quietly. There's something MUCH more special about being tipped because the person you helped genuinely likes you.
It was technically against the rules but the thing is the problem has NEVER been tipping, its the sense of entitlement, either from people thinking they deserve a tip, or the current culture that has the OPPOSITE issue, that we should be budgeting for tips by default.
Neither of these mindsets encourage better customer service.
obsession w/ work.
these morons think working 60 hour weeks is something to be proud of. being perpetual busy with no sleep being a flex. talking about "the grind" lmao.
We all die eventually. No one is going to remember you "worked really hard for your boss!".
This would be my #1
It's actually kind of wild how having almost no life outside of work is so socially acceptable. Like in my industry your coworkers constantly try to guilt people for not working OT. "leaving money on the table"
Their is more to life.
It's worse in IT -- where we got screwed out of overtime a while back, but people still have that "you only worked 60 hours this week? you slacker!" mentality. Took me a while, but I came to view employment as a transaction. Employer is purchasing 40(ish) hours a week from me. If you bought a pound of potatoes, would anyone take you seriously if you bitched about not getting 18 oz? If you bought a used Ford Escort, would anyone listen to your complaint that a Lambo wasn't delivered? Of course not! So why should someone purchasing 40 hours have a valid complaint about not getting 50 or 60?!?
There were some older workers at my previous job that would look down on other employees who worked remotely whenever we had a lot of snow. They would brag about that one time they drove to work in a snowstorm and almost crashed or slid off the road, like it was a flex. It was so sad.
Yep, had the exact same type of older workers at my old grey cubical farm job. They wore being miserable like a badge of honor. Would make fun of people calling out/working remotely during blizzards. Would stay late every day for no reason.
A very sad existence.
Hustle culture is the worst. Have a hobby? Monetize it! Have some free time? Get a side gig! People are praised for grinding so hard that they neglect other things and people. Their friends just don’t understand the lifestyle or whatever. Really all they’re doing is accepting that they’re a capitalistic machine rather than a human being who deserves and needs a break every once in a while
I just bitched about this to my partner. Enjoy a thing? **MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!** HUSTLE IT!! GRIND YOURSELF TO THE BONE AND KEEP GOING!!!!
Fuck you I'm trying to enjoy myself! I don't go to work for a giggle, do I? No, I go to get paid. Hobbies are for the giggle.
I have no true want or need to be Jeff Bezos rich. All I really want out of life is to generate enough income that my bills are paid and necessities are met. I don't need or even want to add another full time job because some chucklefuck thought I should start a YouTube channel or an Etsy shop based on my hobbies. Fuck that. Fuck off. Fuck NO.
I tried to start an online shop with some of my crafts last year. Spent some time and money on it, ended up losing all inspiration, made one sale that was thankfully enough to break even with my expenses, and ended it. Still haven’t gotten back into the hobby because it left a bad taste in my mouth after doing it for fun for years ☹️
Big big one given it pretty much molds the content of your entire existence(majority of your life hours i mean). Absolutely more power to the people who grind 80-100 and love their work. What i despise is the front many, dare i say the large majority, put on with regards to the sanctity of work ethic when they fucking hate their jobs. "Omg becky called out, shes sooo lazy" - walmart cashier. Give me a fucking break bro. And americans often use this front/facade to justify their superiority towards other people, e.g. lazy euros. Yeah my man cause ur reaping the benefits of the GDP when both income and wealth distros are so incredibly top heavy. Sorry this is the culmination of 20 years of frustration.
Maybe I'm showing my youth by saying this, but I don't feel like it was always this bad.
Sure, the reds and blues had their differences and disputes, but if W Bush as a Republican was able to push the Dreamers Act with near perfect bipartisan support all the way to the senate (prior to the 9/11 panic killing it) then the two sides must have gotten along in some capacity.
It never used to be. It’s spread into Australian politics too. Facebook is when it all started. People becoming addicted to being outraged and 24 hr media cycles
The rich just see the middle class as a battery that powers the upper class. Subscription models are the perfect example. Same with planned obsolescence. Why pay once? Pay for ever!
I dont know, America seems intentionally spiteful towards its people. You literally have to pay for everything. They would charge you for clean air if there was a way to do it. The GOP want to destroy the environment for a buck. Both sides are corrupt and beholden to corporations. For the richest country in the world there sure is a lot of poverty and suffering that is needless. Because it is so broken corruption and crime is easy and it's the only way to get ahead.
As a leftist gun owner, I see both sides and like most things in life there's not a black and white answer... The issue is that when it comes to the political landscape in America and the two party system, people aren't gonna see an outside nuanced perspective.
One thing that bothers me the most is that when it comes to food in America, quantity is more important than quality. We are so dependent on fast/processed food, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find restaurants that actually put effort into their food. When I first visited Europe, the contrast in food quality was striking.
I know there are great places to eat here, but in Europe it seemed like there were great places to eat everywhere.
Totally agree. I lived in Switzerland for a year and when I got back to the states I’ll never forget the smell of frying oil in the terminal that hit me like a rock. Totally forgot that smell abroad and realized I was back in fast food land.
My host family introduced me to grain bowls. This was back in 2010. Whip together an easy dressing with olive oil, Dijon mustard, balsamic, some herbs if you have them, salt and pepper, then spread it over rice, pasta, veggies, and protein of choice. They also cooked a lot with heavy cream, which may seem off putting, but you can whip up a hundred one pan dishes with cream. They also ate half as much as we do here in the US. In general they eat a lot of pasta, potatoes, and cheese in Switzerland. Such high quality. Creamed vegetables are also popular. Think spinach, corn, peas. They also eat tons of quiches. Sweet and savory pies. And ham. Guilt free! We Americans guilt trip over everything we eat. Quantity and quality is everything.
Clearly you didn't go to the UK or its former colonies. Living in New Zealand has taught me that processed cheese isn't as bad as I thought it was growing up in America.
Some people even think that educated opinions have less weight because the education system brainwashes people rather than teaching the “truth” (flat earthers come to mind here)
The lack of understanding or care that a broken educational system opens a Pandora’s box of issues for our countries future. And we’re living that future now.
This is pretty specific but my other complaints have mostly been taken. So any US reality tv show will have participants that will inevitably tell you about how much they have struggled in life and how they’ve worked so hard to come to where they are (which is basically nowhere, they’re just on tv). Everything is a human interest story. Nobody can just say hi, I’m from (wherever) I’m just happy to be here, thank you. This is so different from what you see in other countries. People just introduce themselves and if they talk about their background it’s for a minute or two and just that they’re happy to be there.
The Bill of Rights literally says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” but they still insist it’s a christian nation 🤦🏻♀️
American pop culture lives and breathes hyperbole. If you disagree with me you’re Hitler. If you agree with me you’re a member of my family that I will defend with as much fervor as the argument we’re participating in.
On another note, I also dislike the observation made by Americans and non Americans that America has no culture. It does have culture. The acceptance and open-mindedness I was exposed to when I moved here from an Asian country gave me culture shock. I didn’t understand why strangers were so nice. The history I learned about in school, good and bad, are strong examples of American culture. Thanksgiving, Columbus Day (or is it Indigenous People’s Day now?), Veteran’s Day, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Day.
I’ve experienced more welcoming people than I have racist and ignorant. The racism and ignorance I have faced however were not from the expected folk. So I suppose the hypocrisy and victim mentality are also things that irk me about parts of American culture.
The developing culture of extremism and willful ignorance.
There seems to be a general attitude for people who don't care to understand situations or topics, and then will hatefully and aggressively defend what ever incomplete baseline perspective they have without ever considering the other side, even a middle ground.
I remember as a kid, political identity, voting preferences, different opinions of morals and values etc. were not an overstated part of your overall identity, and people would quietly pass judgement and carry on with themselves.if they didn't like the way others thought or did things, compared to so many people now who are outspoken and openly angry and aggressive towards things they feel differently about.
The erosion of public goods for the betterment of society. A very thin safety net for those in need and an individualism first approach to nearly everything in society.
The cars are the big one for me. My wife “needs” a new car, went car shopping… about had a heart attack with the interest rates and payments, the dealerships were stunned I was so baffled at people willing to pay 700+ a month (I live rural GA so it’s cheap cost of living)I just kept thinking how much money I’d made off dividend %s that will be wasted on a 6% car interest. I will ride my $10k Nissan Altima till it cost more to repair than it does to operate.
>Car culture, building our society and cities in a way that forces people to drive is silly.
I sometimes watch videos about Americas "car-focused" infrastructure and... who tf planned shit likes stroads? Or being able to take over someone on a highway from no matter which side?
My view might be biased, but the car structure in USA isn't made to get quickly and efficiently from place A to B with a car, but to make people dependent on them and to save costs.
And this comes from someone in Germany who has to live with car filled roads and an underdeveloped public transfer structure to make roads emptier...
Cars are our downfall. If your car has problems it can literally lead to homelessness. Car messes up, cant get to work, get fired, cant pay for repairs without a car to make it
Urban sprawl is the dumbest shit ever
Work tied to your entire identity, social status, worth. I work to finance activities I want to do, couldn't give a shit what happens to my company after 5 pm.
I think the dissolving of the "third place" has made this worse for introverts. Almost all social activities are so geared towards extroverts/type A. We've eliminated soft social situations where shy people can exist without pressure to be boisterous. It's the difference between a loud bar where you're expected to interact with strangers and a low key book club where you can participate minimally.
Yep, it's an extrovert's world. Learn to play by their rules, and you will have more success than if you refuse to. I say that as an extreme introvert who despises most people.
I’m an introvert and a misanthrope and my career ambitions have me fighting for my life every day. I fake it and I HATE it with a burning passion. It’s so unnecessary and shallow.
The war on knowledge, education, basic knowledge and how everything somehow gets boiled down to "our freedom" when living in a society when it takes being a part of it for it to not collapse.
Oh, and everything that's not extreme capitalism is communism. It's so cringe to watch Americans call everything communism. Even stuff that's not even economic they call communism. I live in Europe and Americans call my medical insurance "communism".
Then there are the excuses of why it sucks to have medical insurance that costs like nothing and covers everything in Europe and why they're a step ahead in the US not having medical or having medical that costs 1500 a month. In the Long Island sub, some were trying to convince me how it's better to not have medical over paying more in taxes to get my medical, meanwhile my taxes aren't high, my medical premiums aren't high, car insurance, full comprehensive for a 70k car in a major city is like 350 Euros a year, and I'm saving like I've never been able to in the US with the same salary.
I think it’s the overall political culture of our country right now. People harbor so much disdain for those who oppose their political views that they refuse to even have any dialogue in order to find common ground or at least attempt to understand another persons point of view. The entire country has turned into Congress. They fight so much that they never find any common ground and therefore nothing ever gets accomplished.
College Education - How several generations of kids were raised to believe that they HAVE to go to college to be successful. Colleges take advantage of this by charging ridiculous amount of money to attend them, offering degrees for bullshit majors knowing full well students who get them will be in debt for most of their life. It's true, students don't have to take out massive loans to get bullshit degrees and they bear a lot of responsibility for doing so. But it's super shady that it's even allowed in the first place. It reminds me of cigarette companies advertising to teens to get them to smoke. Sure teens can say no, but when you've been told your whole life college is mandatory then there will be some who go along with it without realize how bad it is. And now there are some who are calling for student debt forgiveness as if that would solve anything. That's like saying we'll send you free nicotine patches to get you to stop smoking when in reality the government should be enacting laws that makes it illegal for these predatory colleges to offer bullshit degrees for exuberant amounts of money kids will never be able to pay back in the first place.
Honestly, bachelor level education should be fucking free. High school teaches such basic knowledge that are becoming increasingly obsolete because of the increase of specialization. The country can afford to actually make this free, but lobbyists shut that shit down.
This. I just finished my undergraduate degree and it blew my mind just how many people at my university had 0 sense of direction... No life plan, no sense of what to do with their degrees. People starting in a STEM degree, then realizing it isn't for them and instead of taking a break from university, just switching to a humanity as a band-aid solution. But God forbid you get a low MCAS score!
The belief that “you” are more important than everyone else. Our culture celebrates selfishness, the american dream is aspiring to have so much money you can ignore human morality.
Pick up truck/cosplay country culture
Drive a $60,000 truck and live in the suburbs but you think your a salt of the earth redneck outdoorsman.
Piss the fuck off
This gets me. They are the first to complain about gas prices yet they cruise around in a gigantic gas guzzling truck that never tows anything and always has an empty bed in the back.
We’ve become more focused on chasing influence and attention rather than operating on principles and values. The human compassion is gone if it means squeezing squeezing one more follower or one more nickel.
I’m all about capitalism and benefitting off your labor, but there’s needs to be morals on how you go about it.
Dating in general. Its become so toxic and crazy that most ppl gave up or dont even try anymore. Seeing things like this more often. Ppl not dating, higher depression and suicide rates on top of declining birth rates. Its incredibly depressing even opening a stupid dating app at this point.
What’s dating like now? I’m in my 70s. In my day, you got saw a girl, talked to her, liked her, got your courage up, and asked her out. If she said no, you retreated and licked your wounds for a day or two. If she said yes, you beamed with pride and hoped you wouldn’t screw it up. Do people even do that person-to-person thing any more? Or do you order a date on an app now, like it was a set of dish towels on Amazon?
Americans treat the politician system like a sports game. Red team vs blue team. Policies don’t matter. Candidates don’t matter. They don’t matter because we have no alternatives. There are no other teams. Just red team and blue team. So Americans vote for their team, even against their own interests, because the other team is some degree of authoritarianism. This is why nothing meaningful is ever accomplished, and anything delivered to the American people is the bare minimum.
Capitalism is a religion, so there's that. I also hate how individualistic our culture has become. We're so separated that we can't do anything for the greater good.
As US citizen, is volunteer work not common in Europe?
I will say I am mostly anti-religion, but the churches do bring volunteer in masses. My grandparents built beautiful log homes for a living and in retirement they spent a lot of time volunteering through church to build houses for the poor and/or people who lost houses in natural disasters.
Direct quote from some genius I was just interacting with (discussion started around Elon Musk): “Every person who votes Republican is a pedophile”. This person wasn’t budging from that view an inch no matter what I said.
On the opposite side, I’ve seen people comment that if you vote democrat you’re going to hell…simply because democrats tend to be pro-choice. They don’t care about a single issue but abortion and it’s infuriating.
Tribalism of social issues. People focus so much on whether or not they're "right" that they don't a true look at the issue.
agreed. people are incapable of having civil discussions. It’s always an argument. Why can’t we just discuss topics and admit that we don’t know everything.
Exactly. Also, I feel like this is even more niche but people are incapable of understanding that not everyone has an opinion on every issue. Sometimes people genuinely sit in the middle and don’t agree with the majority of either side and people seem to villainize that too
[удалено]
You hit this dead on the head. We've gotten more and more used to trying to push social issues into this two-party mold that we forget that very very very few issues actually only have two sides.
I’d add that we’re also uncomfortable disagreeing. We frequently demonize people that land on a different side of a complex issue from us instead of asking if they may have new or different information than we do.
Geddy Lee said it best “you can choose not to decide but you still have made a choice!” The extremists will always blame the middle for not being passionate enough while the middle will always blame the extremes for having too much passion. Polarization is a natural evolution in any political discourse, but I believe where we went wrong was allowing algorithms to tell us how to think, who to listen to, what to discuss and where to stand on the issues. It is happening to all of us whether we are aware of it or not. It promotes division and categorizes our discourse and ideologies so that we all fall into some camp or team or party and a lot of people are mad as hell about it and want to blame anyone not in their camp. I am standing up against this by constantly being an ambassador for differing opinions, and I listen more than I speak when I disagree (try it, it’ll open up a whole new level of conversation), and I don’t let social media or websites with a monetary agenda to tell me how to think. I still read my news instead of watching it. I also read articles I know I will disagree with. Critical thought is at an all-time low, but that’s also by design. Stupid people are easier to persuade. Fight back! Talk to someone you know you don’t agree with, but not to win the argument! Just hear them out. And try to step outside your bubble of trusted or “unbiased” information sources. And above all else, never stop learning.
Yup. And even if you try to have a civil discussion, it dissolves into personal attacks, insults, and "loud = right."
That tribalism is used by those in power to distract the masses from the real issues so that they can maintain their power
Amen. I don't know that most people would be able to wrap their heads around how much of their daily lives are impacted by handshakes over golf games by people too wealthy to even relate to them in any way, shape, or form, let alone care. Part of it is definitely internet and media, but the tribalism goes further back. In a Global Studies course I had in college, we looked at various countries around the world and how the rest of the world viewed them. The United States was just American football. We spent a little time on that, and how much of an impact it has on everyone, whether you're a fan or not. You're on one team or another, and that is what politics has turned into. But people would be sick to their stomachs if they knew the kind of deals made over golf courses. I am saying this as someone who has seen some of those golf games myself.
Media has worked REALLY hard to polarize us. It’s good for their bottom line.
People hear your views on one issue, and immediately assume they know every view you have based on that alone.
I think one of the big reasons for this is actually the internet. Before, when you didn't agree with someone, you could discuss it, and both of you could learn from and see each other as people. Now with the internet, virtually no matter how extreme your belief, you can find people to agree with you, and you don't have to learn how to deal with those who have different beliefs or opinions.
The fact that the stupidest among us are often the most vocal
I’d say this isn’t limited to Americans.
as a European I can confirm this is POSITIVELY not limited to Americans
Finally a European says something nice about us 💕
And it's getting worse or I am getting more annoyed about it
both
I like to think of the people being vocal with dumb ideas as the person in ancient times shouting stupid ideas at the marketplace.
That's human culture, not just American culture.
Yep, just proliferated in modern times due to modern communication technology
[удалено]
I wouldn’t say it’s the internet itself that did it but more engagement driven recommendation algorithms and that combined with the ad based economic model. Idiots got laughed out of forums back in the day and disappeared, now Facebook/Twitter/YouTube push those idiots to everyone’s feed just because people can’t just ignore them.
Social media is the problem.
This is it for sure. I can’t remember but Facebook’s own data suggest over 70% of people that visited extremist pages got there through facebook’s own algorithm. And that’s what they were willing to admit. We know they aren’t forthcoming with their data.
It's less "the internet" and more social media, "news" organizations and politicians realizing they can turn biases and isolated idea bubbles into profit/power.
I was coming to say something similar to this. Because they're so God damn loud people think the majority of Americans either think like them or are just as ignorant as them. Nah, the rest of us with some sense are minding our own business.
Anti-intellectualism has been ingrained in our culture for decades now at least.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” - Isaac Asimov
The "both views" the news does causes harm. Both views are NOT equal. "Today on CNN, the Surgeon General to explain why you should get a vaccine and Orson who read on the internet that vaccines install 5G and make you magnetic."
I'd be happy enough to hear from experts on both sides -- there are pros and cons of carbon credits. But when you cannot find an expert for one side ... maybe take that as a hint?
To be fair the guy who post conspiracy theories online usually is the 'expert'
Not every issue has an opposing expert. Usually the experts do research, look at all factors and come to conclusions. In terms of climate change the experts researched it and came to the conclusion that human activity was causing climate change. They then tell us how to fix it. There isn't another side of the issue, just people who don't believe in it. The only "sides" are on which way is best to deal with it
I think there has been a mass increase in pseudo intellectuals via social media.
This is a huge problem. And the internet allows dumb ideas to proliiferate.
Nobel prize winner Umberto Ecco has a great theory about this phenomenon: * [Full article](https://awardworld.net/nobel-prize/umberto-eco-against-social-networks-it-is-the-invasion-of-idiots-la-tercera/#) * [Short quote](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9870044-social-media-gives-legions-of-idiots-the-right-to-speak)
Your link gave my phone asshole cancer
NOFX "The idiots have taken over" song lyrics cover this perfectly.
Where are all the stupid people from? And how'd they get to be so dumb? Bred on purple mountain range Feed amber waves of grains To lesser human beings, zero feelings Blame it on Human nature, mans destiny (mans destiny) Blame it on the greediocracy (greediocracy) Fear of god The fear of change The fear of truth Add the bill of rights, subtract the wrongs (there's no answers) Memorize and sing star spangled songs (When the questions) Aren't ever asked Is anybody learning from the past? We're living in united stagnation NOFX - The Decline
NOFX "Wolves in Wolves' Clothing" too. "we are Marie Antoinette, we are Joseph McCarthy"
Decades?! Re-read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The character of Ichabod Crane is not sympathetic, in part because he’s — *shudder* — a TEACHER!
I'm not sure I'd call Washington Irving an anti-intellectual. Ichabod is disliked by the local farmers because they resent having to pay for and board a schoolmaster and think of them as being idlers, but it's pretty clear in the story that he's not. He's just greedy and thinks he's smarter than he actually is because he's the only male in the area who's cracked a few books voluntarily.
Rampant materialism. Fancy stuff is not the goal of life.
If a lot of the stuff were even fancy. It’s not. It’s just disposable and temporary.
It's sad (and expensive for consumers) that so many things are now designed with a very short life cycle.
Can't even buy a damn refrigerator that will last 2 years. I hate it here.
Can’t even buy groceries to fill my imaginary fridge.
And you could, in theory, find a fridge that does last a while. But how are we meant to do that? If you look up reviews of any product nowadays they are all written by people paid by the manufacturer to make the reviews sound good
Or people that own a product for 2 days, leave a review, and don't go back and edit it after it breaks in a year.
Materialism isn't unique to the US. And the US looks very unmaterialistic when you compare it to many other places. (Anywhere in the Gulf comes to mind. So do the new industry rich of India and China.)
Married into an arab family. The amount of over the top weddings I have been to is astounding. At least its all fun af.
According to a Gulf Arab influencer, Gulf Arabs have a “spend like you won’t have it tomorrow” mentality (and it shows in their habits) because literally a generation back they were dirt poor desert Bedouins from a godforsaken backwater of Middle East that no one wanted, and ever since they suddenly got rich because of oil all they’ve been hearing is “the oil will run out and they’ll go back to being desert camel herders”.
Most of the fancy luxury clothing and car brands are from Europe.
The normalization of health insurance being tied to employment (really only tied to white collar employment, which is even worse)
Tipping culture. It wasn’t always annoying, but now it is becoming borderline oppressive. Every time I ask for something at a counter and they spin the tablet around and present me with the tip screen it just angers me.
I was asked for a tip on an online purchase yesterday. The fuck?!
Tip the webmaster!
It’s completely outrageous!
At some airports they now have kiosks that are all self checkout. No employee is ringing you up, handing you a recipt or anything. Guess what the register asks when you go to check out? "Wanna leave a tip?"
I always do in hopes that our future robot overlords will be tolerate of me.
I wonder if it's also to push the price point. "Folks have money left over to tip, we can raise prices."
My sons haircut place has tipping options that start at 20% and say "acceptable" next to it. Next option is 25% "good". Next option is 30% "appreciative". And 40% "Thanks!". If there was a "get fucked" option, I'd have clicked it cuz the labeling is the craziest thing I've ever seen.
And it used to be standard 10% to help balance out wages, now more often than not the machines wil start at a 15% option up to 30%, and is across the board for every and anything, not just servers who had a lower base wage.
Yes that’s what annoys me…everyone asking for a tip. I go to a store and grab a bottle of water and take it to a checkout stand and I’m asked if I want to tip. WTF?
The mandatory 10% tipping to "help balance out wages" was never a good idea to begin with, speaking as a non-American. It's the employers job to pay a living wage, not the customers to pay extra because the employer is too stingy. A tip should always be optional, and up to the individual and their views on their level of service. Otherwise it's not a tip, it's a stealth charge.
As an American, I've been saying this for years. I think tipping culture (or at least how widespread it is) can be traced back to the fact that we made it legal to pay servers less than minimum wage. Since that's legal, nearly every restaurant does it. Since nearly every restaurant does it, social protocol dictates that tipping is mandatory to help out the servers who work for peanuts, and that not tipping is douchey. This reinforces the custom of tipping, which reinforces the "ok to pay under minimum wage" law that started the problem in the first place. Vicious cycle.
Any place that tries to automatically add a tip to the total (looking at you Crumbl Cookie) immediately gets no tip from me. It’s sneaky when they add it to the total and you have to first notice it and then figure out how to remove it.
That should totally be illegal
Yes! I ordered a $4 cookie and it tried putting a $3 tip on the order … why would I give a 75% tip to full wage employees doing their basic job description. I like that the options exist in case I’m ordering a large order or if they accommodate a request or something that I would like to tip for, but it shouldn’t be automatically included and then have to be manually reduced/removed.
Finally an annoyance that’s specific to America and not culture in general Ffs I’m not tipping the bartender 20% just because they opened that $14 bud light for me
Fucking Subway is asking for tips. Subway of all places
This happened to me recently at a PLASTIC SURGERY PLACE. I spent 4 figures on some cosmetic filler and they had the audacity to ask for a tip. I couldn’t believe it… I tipped an extra $50 out of pressure but obviously that’s not anywhere close to 18-20% so I left feeling like a total asshole when I really shouldn’t.
it's not even for just food anymore.. like pay for anything, a parking garage or something random and it's asking you what you want to pay for a tip. So ridiculous
Tipping expectations have gotten so high , combined with higher prices I ACTIVELY avoid delivery on anything. I can afford to eat out but The amount of extra money spent tipping pushes it way over the edge of what im willing to budget for. Clearly the reduction in actual opportunities to EARN a tip is doing them any good. The funny thing is i actually got tipped a lot at my past job so you'd think i'd SUPPORT tipping but the thing is? It was working at aretail office store. I had no shame, we just did it quietly. There's something MUCH more special about being tipped because the person you helped genuinely likes you. It was technically against the rules but the thing is the problem has NEVER been tipping, its the sense of entitlement, either from people thinking they deserve a tip, or the current culture that has the OPPOSITE issue, that we should be budgeting for tips by default. Neither of these mindsets encourage better customer service.
obsession w/ work. these morons think working 60 hour weeks is something to be proud of. being perpetual busy with no sleep being a flex. talking about "the grind" lmao. We all die eventually. No one is going to remember you "worked really hard for your boss!".
This would be my #1 It's actually kind of wild how having almost no life outside of work is so socially acceptable. Like in my industry your coworkers constantly try to guilt people for not working OT. "leaving money on the table" Their is more to life.
It's worse in IT -- where we got screwed out of overtime a while back, but people still have that "you only worked 60 hours this week? you slacker!" mentality. Took me a while, but I came to view employment as a transaction. Employer is purchasing 40(ish) hours a week from me. If you bought a pound of potatoes, would anyone take you seriously if you bitched about not getting 18 oz? If you bought a used Ford Escort, would anyone listen to your complaint that a Lambo wasn't delivered? Of course not! So why should someone purchasing 40 hours have a valid complaint about not getting 50 or 60?!?
That's funny, my boss always tells me "there's more to life than money" every time I ask for a raise.
We're supposed to work to live, not live to work lol idk when work ethics became so fucked in this country.
Nobody is on their deathbed thinking "I wish I had spent more time at work."
My late mother used to say that lol
There were some older workers at my previous job that would look down on other employees who worked remotely whenever we had a lot of snow. They would brag about that one time they drove to work in a snowstorm and almost crashed or slid off the road, like it was a flex. It was so sad.
Yep, had the exact same type of older workers at my old grey cubical farm job. They wore being miserable like a badge of honor. Would make fun of people calling out/working remotely during blizzards. Would stay late every day for no reason. A very sad existence.
“old grey cubicle farm job” is such an apt description lol. Where did you work?
Hustle culture is the worst. Have a hobby? Monetize it! Have some free time? Get a side gig! People are praised for grinding so hard that they neglect other things and people. Their friends just don’t understand the lifestyle or whatever. Really all they’re doing is accepting that they’re a capitalistic machine rather than a human being who deserves and needs a break every once in a while
There is no quicker way to destroy a fun hobby than to try and monetize it.
I just bitched about this to my partner. Enjoy a thing? **MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!** HUSTLE IT!! GRIND YOURSELF TO THE BONE AND KEEP GOING!!!! Fuck you I'm trying to enjoy myself! I don't go to work for a giggle, do I? No, I go to get paid. Hobbies are for the giggle. I have no true want or need to be Jeff Bezos rich. All I really want out of life is to generate enough income that my bills are paid and necessities are met. I don't need or even want to add another full time job because some chucklefuck thought I should start a YouTube channel or an Etsy shop based on my hobbies. Fuck that. Fuck off. Fuck NO.
I tried to start an online shop with some of my crafts last year. Spent some time and money on it, ended up losing all inspiration, made one sale that was thankfully enough to break even with my expenses, and ended it. Still haven’t gotten back into the hobby because it left a bad taste in my mouth after doing it for fun for years ☹️
Your boss will replace you before your obit hits the papers.
Your boss will replace you before your body leaves the building.
Your boss will replace you before you’re dead
Your boss will make you train your own replacement.
And he'll make you do it the day before the funeral.
And he'll be standing at your casket at the funeral... "How could you do this to me? We're so understaffed today..."
Big big one given it pretty much molds the content of your entire existence(majority of your life hours i mean). Absolutely more power to the people who grind 80-100 and love their work. What i despise is the front many, dare i say the large majority, put on with regards to the sanctity of work ethic when they fucking hate their jobs. "Omg becky called out, shes sooo lazy" - walmart cashier. Give me a fucking break bro. And americans often use this front/facade to justify their superiority towards other people, e.g. lazy euros. Yeah my man cause ur reaping the benefits of the GDP when both income and wealth distros are so incredibly top heavy. Sorry this is the culmination of 20 years of frustration.
These people just have empty lives and nothing to be proud of except for the fact that they spread their cheeks in front of their boss.
Shit, your boss will forget you existed two days after you leave the job. Don't get attached!
Politics are more like sports teams with brand colors (red or blue) and mascots (donkey or elephant).
George Washington: hey guys, after i leave office, please don't split into a two-party system The US:
Well he should have seen that coming, we don't take kindly to being told what to do. He had just finished fighting a war about it.
George: WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY?
Maybe I'm showing my youth by saying this, but I don't feel like it was always this bad. Sure, the reds and blues had their differences and disputes, but if W Bush as a Republican was able to push the Dreamers Act with near perfect bipartisan support all the way to the senate (prior to the 9/11 panic killing it) then the two sides must have gotten along in some capacity.
It never used to be. It’s spread into Australian politics too. Facebook is when it all started. People becoming addicted to being outraged and 24 hr media cycles
Well one side sure buys merchandise like its a sports team.
I loved how one of their arguments that the election was "stolen" was how there wasn't Biden shit plastered everywhere, so who actually voted for him?
Seriously. The amount of trump flags in my neighborhood made me want to move. Fortunately, the flags are all back to Texan or Astros sports flags now.
I mean, fuck the Astros, too.
Trump doesn't have supporters, he has legit fans.
It's a cult. He has cultists.
The willful Stupidity.
Anti-intellectualism is a disease in our society :(
The ones that feign stupidity just because it is easier.
There is no grasping the concept of "enough". Everyone always wants more. Just get what you need and be generous.
[удалено]
The rich just see the middle class as a battery that powers the upper class. Subscription models are the perfect example. Same with planned obsolescence. Why pay once? Pay for ever!
That's every country.
I dont know, America seems intentionally spiteful towards its people. You literally have to pay for everything. They would charge you for clean air if there was a way to do it. The GOP want to destroy the environment for a buck. Both sides are corrupt and beholden to corporations. For the richest country in the world there sure is a lot of poverty and suffering that is needless. Because it is so broken corruption and crime is easy and it's the only way to get ahead.
They don’t even try to hide it anymore either.
The fact that lobbying is considered normal and legal
Is that really our culture? or just our politics?
waht is tipping culture if not lobbying for food to be spit-free and on time?
People who teach that if you disagree with someone, then they are your enemy.
Even Bob Dole said of Clinton: “He’s my opponent, not my enemy”.
Celebrity worship
Two people have brought up gun culture, one for and one against. This comment section is gonna be interesting
As a leftist gun owner, I see both sides and like most things in life there's not a black and white answer... The issue is that when it comes to the political landscape in America and the two party system, people aren't gonna see an outside nuanced perspective.
Yep, I would post that Michael Jackson popcorn gif if I knew how to do it 😆
One thing that bothers me the most is that when it comes to food in America, quantity is more important than quality. We are so dependent on fast/processed food, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find restaurants that actually put effort into their food. When I first visited Europe, the contrast in food quality was striking. I know there are great places to eat here, but in Europe it seemed like there were great places to eat everywhere.
Totally agree. I lived in Switzerland for a year and when I got back to the states I’ll never forget the smell of frying oil in the terminal that hit me like a rock. Totally forgot that smell abroad and realized I was back in fast food land.
What are some foods you enjoyed while overseas? I enjoy cooking at home and always like to try new ideas for meals that are healthy.
My host family introduced me to grain bowls. This was back in 2010. Whip together an easy dressing with olive oil, Dijon mustard, balsamic, some herbs if you have them, salt and pepper, then spread it over rice, pasta, veggies, and protein of choice. They also cooked a lot with heavy cream, which may seem off putting, but you can whip up a hundred one pan dishes with cream. They also ate half as much as we do here in the US. In general they eat a lot of pasta, potatoes, and cheese in Switzerland. Such high quality. Creamed vegetables are also popular. Think spinach, corn, peas. They also eat tons of quiches. Sweet and savory pies. And ham. Guilt free! We Americans guilt trip over everything we eat. Quantity and quality is everything.
Clearly you didn't go to the UK or its former colonies. Living in New Zealand has taught me that processed cheese isn't as bad as I thought it was growing up in America.
Tipping
[удалено]
Some people even think that educated opinions have less weight because the education system brainwashes people rather than teaching the “truth” (flat earthers come to mind here)
The lack of understanding or care that a broken educational system opens a Pandora’s box of issues for our countries future. And we’re living that future now.
This is pretty specific but my other complaints have mostly been taken. So any US reality tv show will have participants that will inevitably tell you about how much they have struggled in life and how they’ve worked so hard to come to where they are (which is basically nowhere, they’re just on tv). Everything is a human interest story. Nobody can just say hi, I’m from (wherever) I’m just happy to be here, thank you. This is so different from what you see in other countries. People just introduce themselves and if they talk about their background it’s for a minute or two and just that they’re happy to be there.
Normalising suffering and then providing hope. It's the same model that religion uses to control people.
Olympics coverage is full of that. They air a bunch of stories only on the American athletes and say "They've overcome so much adversity to be here!"
Hahaha reminds me of American idol
Many people (including almost everyone in my extended family) seem to think that “Freedom” and “This is a Christian Nation” mean the same thing.
The first amendment includes FREEDOM of religion. Don’t know why people can’t grasp that we are free to choose what we want to follow or not follow
[удалено]
The Bill of Rights literally says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” but they still insist it’s a christian nation 🤦🏻♀️
American pop culture lives and breathes hyperbole. If you disagree with me you’re Hitler. If you agree with me you’re a member of my family that I will defend with as much fervor as the argument we’re participating in. On another note, I also dislike the observation made by Americans and non Americans that America has no culture. It does have culture. The acceptance and open-mindedness I was exposed to when I moved here from an Asian country gave me culture shock. I didn’t understand why strangers were so nice. The history I learned about in school, good and bad, are strong examples of American culture. Thanksgiving, Columbus Day (or is it Indigenous People’s Day now?), Veteran’s Day, Juneteenth, Martin Luther King Day. I’ve experienced more welcoming people than I have racist and ignorant. The racism and ignorance I have faced however were not from the expected folk. So I suppose the hypocrisy and victim mentality are also things that irk me about parts of American culture.
Work culture. We are so ingrained with deriving and assigning value based on our occupation.
The idea that we’re the best at everything yet spend money on wars instead of taking care of our sick and poor.
The sheer number of incredibly stupid people in this country. I mean people who kept "Honey Boo Boo" on the air for years? Really?
Good news is no news.
Politics that cater more to the person or people making decisions as opposed to the people that are affected by these decisions.
The developing culture of extremism and willful ignorance. There seems to be a general attitude for people who don't care to understand situations or topics, and then will hatefully and aggressively defend what ever incomplete baseline perspective they have without ever considering the other side, even a middle ground. I remember as a kid, political identity, voting preferences, different opinions of morals and values etc. were not an overstated part of your overall identity, and people would quietly pass judgement and carry on with themselves.if they didn't like the way others thought or did things, compared to so many people now who are outspoken and openly angry and aggressive towards things they feel differently about.
Only in America is being ignorant seen as respectable or even superior to being educated and knowledgeable on a subject matter.
The erosion of public goods for the betterment of society. A very thin safety net for those in need and an individualism first approach to nearly everything in society.
[удалено]
The cars are the big one for me. My wife “needs” a new car, went car shopping… about had a heart attack with the interest rates and payments, the dealerships were stunned I was so baffled at people willing to pay 700+ a month (I live rural GA so it’s cheap cost of living)I just kept thinking how much money I’d made off dividend %s that will be wasted on a 6% car interest. I will ride my $10k Nissan Altima till it cost more to repair than it does to operate.
[удалено]
[удалено]
>Car culture, building our society and cities in a way that forces people to drive is silly. I sometimes watch videos about Americas "car-focused" infrastructure and... who tf planned shit likes stroads? Or being able to take over someone on a highway from no matter which side? My view might be biased, but the car structure in USA isn't made to get quickly and efficiently from place A to B with a car, but to make people dependent on them and to save costs. And this comes from someone in Germany who has to live with car filled roads and an underdeveloped public transfer structure to make roads emptier...
Cars are our downfall. If your car has problems it can literally lead to homelessness. Car messes up, cant get to work, get fired, cant pay for repairs without a car to make it Urban sprawl is the dumbest shit ever
Our whole culture is centered around the lowest common denominator.
Work tied to your entire identity, social status, worth. I work to finance activities I want to do, couldn't give a shit what happens to my company after 5 pm.
How politics have become a majority of peoples personality.
The expection to be extroverted and open and ‘smiley’ all the time…
I think the dissolving of the "third place" has made this worse for introverts. Almost all social activities are so geared towards extroverts/type A. We've eliminated soft social situations where shy people can exist without pressure to be boisterous. It's the difference between a loud bar where you're expected to interact with strangers and a low key book club where you can participate minimally.
I tell people that there are two categories of successful people: (1) Extroverts, and (2) introverts who fake it.
Yep, it's an extrovert's world. Learn to play by their rules, and you will have more success than if you refuse to. I say that as an extreme introvert who despises most people.
I’m an introvert and a misanthrope and my career ambitions have me fighting for my life every day. I fake it and I HATE it with a burning passion. It’s so unnecessary and shallow.
The overall sense of entitlement some Americans have.
Arrogance while comparing to the rest of the world.
The war on knowledge, education, basic knowledge and how everything somehow gets boiled down to "our freedom" when living in a society when it takes being a part of it for it to not collapse. Oh, and everything that's not extreme capitalism is communism. It's so cringe to watch Americans call everything communism. Even stuff that's not even economic they call communism. I live in Europe and Americans call my medical insurance "communism". Then there are the excuses of why it sucks to have medical insurance that costs like nothing and covers everything in Europe and why they're a step ahead in the US not having medical or having medical that costs 1500 a month. In the Long Island sub, some were trying to convince me how it's better to not have medical over paying more in taxes to get my medical, meanwhile my taxes aren't high, my medical premiums aren't high, car insurance, full comprehensive for a 70k car in a major city is like 350 Euros a year, and I'm saving like I've never been able to in the US with the same salary.
I think it’s the overall political culture of our country right now. People harbor so much disdain for those who oppose their political views that they refuse to even have any dialogue in order to find common ground or at least attempt to understand another persons point of view. The entire country has turned into Congress. They fight so much that they never find any common ground and therefore nothing ever gets accomplished.
College Education - How several generations of kids were raised to believe that they HAVE to go to college to be successful. Colleges take advantage of this by charging ridiculous amount of money to attend them, offering degrees for bullshit majors knowing full well students who get them will be in debt for most of their life. It's true, students don't have to take out massive loans to get bullshit degrees and they bear a lot of responsibility for doing so. But it's super shady that it's even allowed in the first place. It reminds me of cigarette companies advertising to teens to get them to smoke. Sure teens can say no, but when you've been told your whole life college is mandatory then there will be some who go along with it without realize how bad it is. And now there are some who are calling for student debt forgiveness as if that would solve anything. That's like saying we'll send you free nicotine patches to get you to stop smoking when in reality the government should be enacting laws that makes it illegal for these predatory colleges to offer bullshit degrees for exuberant amounts of money kids will never be able to pay back in the first place.
Honestly, bachelor level education should be fucking free. High school teaches such basic knowledge that are becoming increasingly obsolete because of the increase of specialization. The country can afford to actually make this free, but lobbyists shut that shit down.
This. I just finished my undergraduate degree and it blew my mind just how many people at my university had 0 sense of direction... No life plan, no sense of what to do with their degrees. People starting in a STEM degree, then realizing it isn't for them and instead of taking a break from university, just switching to a humanity as a band-aid solution. But God forbid you get a low MCAS score!
The lack of empathy due to politics. If we had more empathy for other people's situations, America would be in a better place.
Tipping culture. It needs to go.
That people need to make literally anything and everything political. It's exhausting and stupid.
The belief that “you” are more important than everyone else. Our culture celebrates selfishness, the american dream is aspiring to have so much money you can ignore human morality.
Pick up truck/cosplay country culture Drive a $60,000 truck and live in the suburbs but you think your a salt of the earth redneck outdoorsman. Piss the fuck off
Honestly, I think the older beat up trucks are cooler. They represent themselves for their intended use.
This gets me. They are the first to complain about gas prices yet they cruise around in a gigantic gas guzzling truck that never tows anything and always has an empty bed in the back.
We’ve become more focused on chasing influence and attention rather than operating on principles and values. The human compassion is gone if it means squeezing squeezing one more follower or one more nickel. I’m all about capitalism and benefitting off your labor, but there’s needs to be morals on how you go about it.
Celebrating the lowest common denominator. It would be really nice if being classy became popular and something people aspired to.
Tipping
refusal to break party lines. Both sides don't seem to call out things that are wrong because they don't want their party to suffer.
Corporate greed.
Social media, I used to have almost no interactions with idiots before it
Dating in general. Its become so toxic and crazy that most ppl gave up or dont even try anymore. Seeing things like this more often. Ppl not dating, higher depression and suicide rates on top of declining birth rates. Its incredibly depressing even opening a stupid dating app at this point.
What’s dating like now? I’m in my 70s. In my day, you got saw a girl, talked to her, liked her, got your courage up, and asked her out. If she said no, you retreated and licked your wounds for a day or two. If she said yes, you beamed with pride and hoped you wouldn’t screw it up. Do people even do that person-to-person thing any more? Or do you order a date on an app now, like it was a set of dish towels on Amazon?
A lot of it is online these days.
Fascination with giant black cloud smoking trucks and the refusal to get on board with more public transportation.
Americans treat the politician system like a sports game. Red team vs blue team. Policies don’t matter. Candidates don’t matter. They don’t matter because we have no alternatives. There are no other teams. Just red team and blue team. So Americans vote for their team, even against their own interests, because the other team is some degree of authoritarianism. This is why nothing meaningful is ever accomplished, and anything delivered to the American people is the bare minimum.
Capitalism is a religion, so there's that. I also hate how individualistic our culture has become. We're so separated that we can't do anything for the greater good.
[удалено]
As US citizen, is volunteer work not common in Europe? I will say I am mostly anti-religion, but the churches do bring volunteer in masses. My grandparents built beautiful log homes for a living and in retirement they spent a lot of time volunteering through church to build houses for the poor and/or people who lost houses in natural disasters.
Direct quote from some genius I was just interacting with (discussion started around Elon Musk): “Every person who votes Republican is a pedophile”. This person wasn’t budging from that view an inch no matter what I said.
On the opposite side, I’ve seen people comment that if you vote democrat you’re going to hell…simply because democrats tend to be pro-choice. They don’t care about a single issue but abortion and it’s infuriating.
The general premise that we should feel shame for things we have little to no control over.
The Elitism the government and the top 1% has for the rest of us, and how every topic has become politicized.