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But sometimes what was practical becomes part of the culture and is kept hanging around far longer than it is actually practical to do so (or kept as a whole when really only part of it is beneficial).
Sure, but even in that case, if you trace the power relations in the society, you'll find cultural inertia is tied pretty heavily with an established ruling class who employs traditional obligation and behavior as a tool of control.
Personally, I'd argue that the best culture is the culture that wins.
In order to win a culture needs to 1) survive, 2) spread and, 3) improve. It's not much different from any other organism which needs to survive, reproduce, and be in a good position for the future.
By these criteria I'd say that Western culture is doing pretty well. We've got the surviving, we're infecting into most other cultures and taking over, and we generally are the culture that's leading the way. Arabic culture seems to be doing decently at surviving, but I hardly see it spreading much or adapting to new situations as well as western culture. America is a 'consumer culture', yet we manage to consume every other culture.
However, I would argue that modern American culture is inferior to earlier American culture. Looking at American culture in the past, we're just not as good. We have a worse work ethic than previously, and so are getting in a tougher and tougher spot every year as trade deficits increase. We aren't spreading ourselves nearly as well as we have in the past, what with abandoning the ideals behind manifest destiny and rate of population increase has dropped off significantly. We also live in an unsustainable manner without draining foreign sources, which does not bode well for survivability.
Edit: I'd be much happier with old time values of working hard, having lots of children, fighting in a war to expand annex territory, and living in a self sufficient manner. I imagine that America is so well off because these were our cultural values for so long.
Personally, I'd argue that the best culture is the culture that wins.
In order to win a culture needs to 1) survive, 2) spread and, 3) improve. It's not much different from any other organism which needs to survive, reproduce, and be in a good position for the future.
By these criteria I'd say that Western culture is doing pretty well. We've got the surviving, we're infecting into most other cultures and taking over, and we generally are the culture that's leading the way. Arabic culture seems to be doing decently at surviving, but I hardly see it spreading much or adapting to new situations as well as western culture. America is a 'consumer culture', yet we manage to consume every other culture.
However, I would argue that modern American culture is inferior to earlier American culture. Looking at American culture in the past, we're just not as good. We have a worse work ethic than previously, and so are getting in a tougher and tougher spot every year as trade deficits increase. We aren't spreading ourselves nearly as well as we have in the past, what with abandoning the ideals behind manifest destiny and rate of population increase has dropped off significantly. We also live in an unsustainable manner without draining foreign sources, which does not bode well for survivability.
Man what?
How do you "consume" another culture? Modern America lives in an unsustainable manner that doesn't drain foreign sources? Manifest destiny was a good thing? We should be increasing our rate of population growth...?!
Worse work ethic? You do realize that every generation of every society in the history of the world has complained about how previous generations were better than the current one, yes?
How do you "consume" another culture? Modern America lives in an unsustainable manner that doesn't drain foreign sources? Manifest destiny was a good thing? We should be increasing our rate of population growth...?!
Worse work ethic? You do realize that every generation of every society in the history of the world has complained about how previous generations were better than the current one, yes?
How do you "consume" another culture? Modern America lives in an unsustainable manner that doesn't drain foreign sources? Manifest destiny was a good thing? We should be increasing our rate of population growth...?!
Worse work ethic? You do realize that every generation of every society in the history of the world has complained about how previous generations were better than the current one, yes?
I think it's fairly inarguable that we consume other cultures. One of the biggest complaints in the middle east is that America and Isreal is exporting its culture and destroying their culture. America's second biggest export is cultsure (movies, music, videogames, computer programs).
As for the other points, I'll do further research to back them up. They are mostly just tenant that I hold, that a culture should work to make itself as survivable as possible.
How do you "consume" another culture? Modern America lives in an unsustainable manner that doesn't drain foreign sources? Manifest destiny was a good thing? We should be increasing our rate of population growth...?!
Worse work ethic? You do realize that every generation of every society in the history of the world has complained about how previous generations were better than the current one, yes?
I think it's fairly inarguable that we consume other cultures.
But...how? What unit of culture is consumed? Books, movies, TV shows, poems, speeches, legends can all be copied indefinitely. I can read a book once, then twice, then a third time, without making that book less available. It takes effort to destroy a culture- you have to destroy its artifacts, kill all its people, burn all of its writings, wait until its memory dies out. This is practically impossible in the age of cheap, unlimited data storage. Though admittedly there are thousands of languages and edge cultures on the verge of effective extinction today- but this is not the same thing you're talking about.
One of the biggest complaints in the middle east is that America and Isreal is exporting its culture and destroying their culture. America's second biggest export is cultsure (movies, music, videogames, computer programs).
Yes, but when a Pakistani man watches an American movie, he doesn't become any less Pakistani. The complaint is that their culture is changing in response to memes brought in from abroad. The only thing being destroyed is the "unchanged" culture. But this only matters to, frankly, fools- culture is constantly in flux. Just because American movies are available to Pakistanis doesn't mean a Pakistani poem is any less available to Pakistanis. Am I less an American because I've spent time abroad? Am I now some marginal percentage Chinese because I spent a percentage of my life in China?
As for the other points, I'll do further research to back them up. They are mostly just tenant that I hold, that a culture should work to make itself as survivable as possible.
I think by "culture" you mean "society" here, and just note that having a lot of children is not necessarily conducive to survival- you can very easily outstrip your sustainable population.
A hypothetical culture that practices honor killings is a fucked up and definitively worse culture than, ceteris paribus, one that does not.
WHOA. What? Why? Because the ideals don't match yours? Is it so hard to imagine in such a civilization that someone innocent would gladly die for their family's honor? That they would fight for the right to do so?
you might want to look up what honor killings are.
While you are at it, look up suicide rates in the west compared to the middle east.
whoops.
This is irrelevant when discussing quality of culture/life... Middle Eastern countries view suicide much harsher and differently than we do here
I think he was implying that honor killings do not involve someone killing themselves over a sense of dishonor.
Actually, its difficult to separate honour killing and suicide rates in countries where the legal system is now cracking down on the practice. In those places, instead of your male family members dragging you outside and stoning you, they hand you a gun and tell you you've got a choice between doing it yourself and having someone do it for you. A lot of girls opt for the DIY job. The more you know :?
Western Culture is all about the individual, and catering to the individual's desires. Who doesn't want to be all up in dat?
Well, because of this many individuals are raised being told that they can do whatever they want to do and many can often feel guilty if they don't accomplish goals that in theory they could have accomplished even if it was highly unlikely. This is not helping with the increased depression more and more people are finding themselves with these days.
In regards to the thread: From a strictly anthropological view, no culture is better than another. So.... yeah.
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
Western Culture is all about the individual, and catering to the individual's desires. Who doesn't want to be all up in dat?
Well, because of this many individuals are raised being told that they can do whatever they want to do and many can often feel guilty if they don't accomplish goals that in theory they could have accomplished even if it was highly unlikely.
Which in turn can help to facilitate self-loathing, anti-social behavior, school shootings and the like. And it's also somewhat of a contradiction to say that we're entirely individualist. We're all for individual expression, yes, as long as it's the kind we're comfortable with. Otherwise, it's "unnatural" and/or "unpatriotic".
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
Middle Eastern Arab cultures are fucking ridiculous and should be treated as such.
Bill O'Reilly.
Just sayin'.
he isnt an anchor though just an editorial guy. one of his tactics is to call newpapers left wing by citing editorials. anyone with intelligence knows editorial = opinion.
this is an anchor doing an interview. but i dont think even BR would laugh at an assassination. i guess.
I think the best way to judge a culture is to rank it based on the net effect on "Happiness" for the entire world.
Now Happiness is just the word I chose.. but it can also mean positive emotion versus negative emotion..
Perhaps it could also mean, standard of living or enlightenment.. or any of those things that make people's lives "good".
Whatever that is.
Having said that.. I don't know that Western culture IS the best culture, because it tends to exploit a lot of people.
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
Middle Eastern Arab cultures are fucking ridiculous and should be treated as such.
How is it part of the Arab culture if she got fired over it?
I'm sure I can find a few Americans saying stupid shit in front of a television camera as well, by the way.
Go see Borat
Borat is British, but I think Don Imus did the same thing this anchor did, disrespecting someone who did not deserve as such. That says nothing about the culture. It just proves that there are stupid people in every culture who don't understand what's appropriate.
Borat is British, but I think Don Imus did the same thing this anchor did, disrespecting someone who did not deserve as such. That says nothing about the culture. It just proves that there are stupid people in every culture who don't understand what's appropriate.
Borat is British, but his shtick was getting Americans to say/agree to stupid, racist, misogynistic ideas on screen.
Plus, re: Imus, the stupidity of a person in a culture becomes a reflection of that culture when a sufficiently large segment of that culture supports the "stupid person's" view(s).
Rephrased in actual English: Imus wasn't fired immediately, it took a public outcry and the threat of advertisers pulling their ads (which itself didn't occur overnight) for his radio station to can him. That shows that there's a significant segment of American culture which values and supports Don Imus's kind of sexism and racism---even if they/he don't represent all of American culture.
Also remember though that Borat was actively trying to get americans to say these things, and we never see the failed attempts(Although sometimes I have seen a few people manage to handle the Ali G. Show pretty well despite the host's attempts to make them screw up.)
I imagine it can easily lead to sterotyping by the less educated of the europeans. Also, the same thing could be easily done by a american(though of course that would only prove to some people that america is being an isolationist)
Also remember though that Borat was actively trying to get americans to say these things, and we never see the failed attempts(Although sometimes I have seen a few people manage to handle the Ali G. Show pretty well despite the host's attempts to make them screw up.)
I imagine it can easily lead to sterotyping by the less educated of the europeans. Also, the same thing could be easily done by a american(though of course that would only prove to some people that america is being an isolationist)
You know that part during the Rodeo when he gets at least 50 others to sing along?
No, I really believe there are racists in every society.
Also remember though that Borat was actively trying to get americans to say these things, and we never see the failed attempts(Although sometimes I have seen a few people manage to handle the Ali G. Show pretty well despite the host's attempts to make them screw up.)
I imagine it can easily lead to sterotyping by the less educated of the europeans. Also, the same thing could be easily done by a american(though of course that would only prove to some people that america is being an isolationist)
You know that part during the Rodeo when he gets at least 50 others to sing along?
No, I really believe there are racists in every society.
Yes, which is what I was saying. He could do it some european country and have just as large amount of people do it.
Actually, its difficult to separate honour killing and suicide rates in countries where the legal system is now cracking down on the practice. In those places, instead of your male family members dragging you outside and stoning you, they hand you a gun and tell you you've got a choice between doing it yourself and having someone do it for you. A lot of girls opt for the DIY job. The more you know :?
It may just be me, but it seems unwise to hand someone a loaded gun and tell them to kill themselves; they may forget which direction to point the barrel in. (Yes, yes, if she does that she'll be arrested and killed, and she probably has a whole bunch of cultural weight on her that makes her feel like she has to kill herself, and anyhow they probably just give her a rope with a noose in it, I'm just pointing out the oddness in that mental image :P)
Corlis on
But I don't mind, as long as there's a bed beneath the stars that shine,
I'll be fine, just give me a minute, a man's got a limit, I can't get a life if my heart's not in it.
Well, not too long ago Arab culture was vastly superior to anything anyone in europe could muster. Music, art, just about every branch of reasoning and understanding was miles ahead of dark age europe. In that way Arab culture was actually better. It was far more advanced in almost every respect and more developed, not just 'different.'
Now though, I'd have to argue that Arab culture is simply not good. It's not just the executions of homosexuals, or as I heard on the news, the fact that several leaders are threatening female reporters with beheading if they don't dress appropriately, and so on. Currently the culture of several (not all) nations in the middle east is simply not conducive to societal advancement of any kind. Maybe it's more the domination of fundamentalism, but whatever the case, the area is mired in centuries old conflicts and backward, fundamentalist ideas.
When you get down to which is better: Japan vs. USA or whatnot, it gets trickier. They're more different than anything else.
Well, not too long ago Arab culture was vastly superior to anything anyone in europe could muster. Music, art, just about every branch of reasoning and understanding was miles ahead of dark age europe. In that way Arab culture was actually better. It was far more advanced in almost every respect and more developed, not just 'different.'
Now though, I'd have to argue that Arab culture is simply not good. It's not just the executions of homosexuals, or as I heard on the news, the fact that several leaders are threatening female reporters with beheading if they don't dress appropriately, and so on. Currently the culture of several (not all) nations in the middle east is simply not conducive to societal advancement of any kind. Maybe it's more the domination of fundamentalism, but whatever the case, the area is mired in centuries old conflicts and backward, fundamentalist ideas.
But I think that Arab culture was where it was because of it's economic situation, being the gateway between the west and east and building a trading empire around that, and that economic growth made it open to ideas from around the world, making them the most "advanced" culture for a long while.
Now, the Arab economy has been in stagnation, and as a result the culture stagnated. But when you look at cases such as the UAE, with a boisterous capital city in Dubai and a booming economy fueled by oil, they are increasingly looking forward and becoming a "modern" culture, dropping the vestiges of their backwards former ways. They have no qualms working with western companies and bringing in western professionals, such as with the Burj Dubai, what will be the tallest building in the world, being designed by Chicago's SOM (my personal dream job). The reverse can be seen in the United States, where the most economically depressed regions are becoming more culturally backward, and we see evangelism and close-mindedness spreading at an alarming pace.
The rest of the Arab world could quite easily follow the pattern of the UAE and other oil-rich nations like Azerbaijan and invest their oil money into their economies and build for the future when the oil money is gone, but until they do that fundamentalism and extremism will still dominate the Arab world.
Well, not too long ago Arab culture was vastly superior to anything anyone in europe could muster. Music, art, just about every branch of reasoning and understanding was miles ahead of dark age europe. In that way Arab culture was actually better. It was far more advanced in almost every respect and more developed, not just 'different.'
Now though, I'd have to argue that Arab culture is simply not good. It's not just the executions of homosexuals, or as I heard on the news, the fact that several leaders are threatening female reporters with beheading if they don't dress appropriately, and so on. Currently the culture of several (not all) nations in the middle east is simply not conducive to societal advancement of any kind. Maybe it's more the domination of fundamentalism, but whatever the case, the area is mired in centuries old conflicts and backward, fundamentalist ideas.
But I think that Arab culture was where it was because of it's economic situation, being the gateway between the west and east and building a trading empire around that, and that economic growth made it open to ideas from around the world, making them the most "advanced" culture for a long while.
Now, the Arab economy has been in stagnation, and as a result the culture stagnated. But when you look at cases such as the UAE, with a boisterous capital city in Dubai and a booming economy fueled by oil, they are increasingly looking forward and becoming a "modern" culture, dropping the vestiges of their backwards former ways. They have no qualms working with western companies and bringing in western professionals, such as with the Burj Dubai, what will be the tallest building in the world, being designed by Chicago's SOM (my personal dream job). The reverse can be seen in the United States, where the most economically depressed regions are becoming more culturally backward, and we see evangelism and close-mindedness spreading at an alarming pace.
The rest of the Arab world could quite easily follow the pattern of the UAE and other oil-rich nations like Azerbaijan and invest their oil money into their economies and build for the future when the oil money is gone, but until they do that fundamentalism and extremism will still dominate the Arab world.
That's definately related, but even when money is present it's still a culture of suppression. Iran is reasonably developed but it still strikes me as an huge cultural basket case. The oil rich nations bring in outside professionals because, as I understand it, their education focuses on religion and not much else.
But yeah, the potential for both an economic and cultural powerhouse is there with that much money. It wouldn't be that hard to turn that sort of capital into advanced research, higher learning, etc.
ALSO! Does a 'better' culture mean a more dominate one? A reaccuring theme in history is when a militarly superior society conquers a culturally superior society. The cultural society is defeated, but eventually the conquerers are subsumed into the conquered because their weak culture is completely overwhelmed by the more advanced culture of whomever they conquered.
USA's culture is undeniably dominate, so does that mean it's better?
But I think that Arab culture was where it was because of it's economic situation, being the gateway between the west and east and building a trading empire around that, and that economic growth made it open to ideas from around the world, making them the most "advanced" culture for a long while.
Now, the Arab economy has been in stagnation, and as a result the culture stagnated. But when you look at cases such as the UAE, with a boisterous capital city in Dubai and a booming economy fueled by oil, they are increasingly looking forward and becoming a "modern" culture, dropping the vestiges of their backwards former ways. They have no qualms working with western companies and bringing in western professionals, such as with the Burj Dubai, what will be the tallest building in the world, being designed by Chicago's SOM (my personal dream job). The reverse can be seen in the United States, where the most economically depressed regions are becoming more culturally backward, and we see evangelism and close-mindedness spreading at an alarming pace.
The rest of the Arab world could quite easily follow the pattern of the UAE and other oil-rich nations like Azerbaijan and invest their oil money into their economies and build for the future when the oil money is gone, but until they do that fundamentalism and extremism will still dominate the Arab world.
Sure, they want the wealth they see in Singapore, but when it comes to human rights, they're far away from Western standards~ http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=mideast&c=uae
Posts
Sure, but even in that case, if you trace the power relations in the society, you'll find cultural inertia is tied pretty heavily with an established ruling class who employs traditional obligation and behavior as a tool of control.
In order to win a culture needs to 1) survive, 2) spread and, 3) improve. It's not much different from any other organism which needs to survive, reproduce, and be in a good position for the future.
By these criteria I'd say that Western culture is doing pretty well. We've got the surviving, we're infecting into most other cultures and taking over, and we generally are the culture that's leading the way. Arabic culture seems to be doing decently at surviving, but I hardly see it spreading much or adapting to new situations as well as western culture. America is a 'consumer culture', yet we manage to consume every other culture.
However, I would argue that modern American culture is inferior to earlier American culture. Looking at American culture in the past, we're just not as good. We have a worse work ethic than previously, and so are getting in a tougher and tougher spot every year as trade deficits increase. We aren't spreading ourselves nearly as well as we have in the past, what with abandoning the ideals behind manifest destiny and rate of population increase has dropped off significantly. We also live in an unsustainable manner without draining foreign sources, which does not bode well for survivability.
Edit: I'd be much happier with old time values of working hard, having lots of children, fighting in a war to expand annex territory, and living in a self sufficient manner. I imagine that America is so well off because these were our cultural values for so long.
Man what?
How do you "consume" another culture? Modern America lives in an unsustainable manner that doesn't drain foreign sources? Manifest destiny was a good thing? We should be increasing our rate of population growth...?!
Worse work ethic? You do realize that every generation of every society in the history of the world has complained about how previous generations were better than the current one, yes?
Word.
I think it's fairly inarguable that we consume other cultures. One of the biggest complaints in the middle east is that America and Isreal is exporting its culture and destroying their culture. America's second biggest export is cultsure (movies, music, videogames, computer programs).
As for the other points, I'll do further research to back them up. They are mostly just tenant that I hold, that a culture should work to make itself as survivable as possible.
But...how? What unit of culture is consumed? Books, movies, TV shows, poems, speeches, legends can all be copied indefinitely. I can read a book once, then twice, then a third time, without making that book less available. It takes effort to destroy a culture- you have to destroy its artifacts, kill all its people, burn all of its writings, wait until its memory dies out. This is practically impossible in the age of cheap, unlimited data storage. Though admittedly there are thousands of languages and edge cultures on the verge of effective extinction today- but this is not the same thing you're talking about.
Yes, but when a Pakistani man watches an American movie, he doesn't become any less Pakistani. The complaint is that their culture is changing in response to memes brought in from abroad. The only thing being destroyed is the "unchanged" culture. But this only matters to, frankly, fools- culture is constantly in flux. Just because American movies are available to Pakistanis doesn't mean a Pakistani poem is any less available to Pakistanis. Am I less an American because I've spent time abroad? Am I now some marginal percentage Chinese because I spent a percentage of my life in China?
I think by "culture" you mean "society" here, and just note that having a lot of children is not necessarily conducive to survival- you can very easily outstrip your sustainable population.
Actually, its difficult to separate honour killing and suicide rates in countries where the legal system is now cracking down on the practice. In those places, instead of your male family members dragging you outside and stoning you, they hand you a gun and tell you you've got a choice between doing it yourself and having someone do it for you. A lot of girls opt for the DIY job. The more you know :?
In regards to the thread: From a strictly anthropological view, no culture is better than another. So.... yeah.
"BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A Lebanese television anchor's comments and laughter regarding the assassination of Lebanese anti-Syrian parliamentarian Walid Eido have caused a furor and resulted in her firing.
"So, why did it take them so long to kill him?" the anchor asked a colleague on live television Wednesday, the same day as Eido's death. She begins laughing, and the colleague joins in. "
etc etc http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/06/14/lebanon.anchor/index.html
Middle Eastern Arab cultures are fucking ridiculous and should be treated as such.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Which in turn can help to facilitate self-loathing, anti-social behavior, school shootings and the like. And it's also somewhat of a contradiction to say that we're entirely individualist. We're all for individual expression, yes, as long as it's the kind we're comfortable with. Otherwise, it's "unnatural" and/or "unpatriotic".
Bill O'Reilly.
Just sayin'.
he isnt an anchor though just an editorial guy. one of his tactics is to call newpapers left wing by citing editorials. anyone with intelligence knows editorial = opinion.
this is an anchor doing an interview. but i dont think even BR would laugh at an assassination. i guess.
PokeCode: 3952 3495 1748
Now Happiness is just the word I chose.. but it can also mean positive emotion versus negative emotion..
Perhaps it could also mean, standard of living or enlightenment.. or any of those things that make people's lives "good".
Whatever that is.
Having said that.. I don't know that Western culture IS the best culture, because it tends to exploit a lot of people.
I'm sure I can find a few Americans saying stupid shit in front of a television camera as well, by the way.
Borat is British, but I think Don Imus did the same thing this anchor did, disrespecting someone who did not deserve as such. That says nothing about the culture. It just proves that there are stupid people in every culture who don't understand what's appropriate.
Borat is British, but his shtick was getting Americans to say/agree to stupid, racist, misogynistic ideas on screen.
Plus, re: Imus, the stupidity of a person in a culture becomes a reflection of that culture when a sufficiently large segment of that culture supports the "stupid person's" view(s).
Rephrased in actual English: Imus wasn't fired immediately, it took a public outcry and the threat of advertisers pulling their ads (which itself didn't occur overnight) for his radio station to can him. That shows that there's a significant segment of American culture which values and supports Don Imus's kind of sexism and racism---even if they/he don't represent all of American culture.
I imagine it can easily lead to sterotyping by the less educated of the europeans. Also, the same thing could be easily done by a american(though of course that would only prove to some people that america is being an isolationist)
No, I really believe there are racists in every society.
I'll be fine, just give me a minute, a man's got a limit, I can't get a life if my heart's not in it.
Now though, I'd have to argue that Arab culture is simply not good. It's not just the executions of homosexuals, or as I heard on the news, the fact that several leaders are threatening female reporters with beheading if they don't dress appropriately, and so on. Currently the culture of several (not all) nations in the middle east is simply not conducive to societal advancement of any kind. Maybe it's more the domination of fundamentalism, but whatever the case, the area is mired in centuries old conflicts and backward, fundamentalist ideas.
When you get down to which is better: Japan vs. USA or whatnot, it gets trickier. They're more different than anything else.
The US.
Japanease culture spawned Anime. That's reason enough to nuke them. Fucking Pokemon.
suprise! pokemon makes up like 1% of all anime! and everyone agrees its shitty anime!
And I'm rather sure shryke wasn't being serious.
Pokemon is just the tip of the Iceberg. There's so much more to blame them for.
Well .... no. Not serious at all. I still stand by my Anti-Anime rhetoric. Damn large-eyed, swirly-backgrounded bastards!
also how is being stoned treating you?
Google is your friend:
"A word filter for the image board 4chan.org that replaces the word wapanese."
Please tell me you know what wapanese is.
But we have PIRATES...
And Greeks and Romans, who are more badass than any samurai or ninja could be. Vikings could kill any ninja.
But I think that Arab culture was where it was because of it's economic situation, being the gateway between the west and east and building a trading empire around that, and that economic growth made it open to ideas from around the world, making them the most "advanced" culture for a long while.
Now, the Arab economy has been in stagnation, and as a result the culture stagnated. But when you look at cases such as the UAE, with a boisterous capital city in Dubai and a booming economy fueled by oil, they are increasingly looking forward and becoming a "modern" culture, dropping the vestiges of their backwards former ways. They have no qualms working with western companies and bringing in western professionals, such as with the Burj Dubai, what will be the tallest building in the world, being designed by Chicago's SOM (my personal dream job). The reverse can be seen in the United States, where the most economically depressed regions are becoming more culturally backward, and we see evangelism and close-mindedness spreading at an alarming pace.
The rest of the Arab world could quite easily follow the pattern of the UAE and other oil-rich nations like Azerbaijan and invest their oil money into their economies and build for the future when the oil money is gone, but until they do that fundamentalism and extremism will still dominate the Arab world.
Word. Vikings were pirates before it was cool. Did the Japanese ever make their boats look like dragons?
And that could be pre or post rape. Good old Vikings.
europeans had pirates well before america did. well, the pirates we think about when we say pirates anyway. yarrr!
Avast! Getting off-topic we be...
That's definately related, but even when money is present it's still a culture of suppression. Iran is reasonably developed but it still strikes me as an huge cultural basket case. The oil rich nations bring in outside professionals because, as I understand it, their education focuses on religion and not much else.
But yeah, the potential for both an economic and cultural powerhouse is there with that much money. It wouldn't be that hard to turn that sort of capital into advanced research, higher learning, etc.
ALSO! Does a 'better' culture mean a more dominate one? A reaccuring theme in history is when a militarly superior society conquers a culturally superior society. The cultural society is defeated, but eventually the conquerers are subsumed into the conquered because their weak culture is completely overwhelmed by the more advanced culture of whomever they conquered.
USA's culture is undeniably dominate, so does that mean it's better?
You might personally be interested in: http://www.hrw.org/photos/2006/uae1106/