An American Culture?
Apr 27, 2019 17:32:10 #
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail.
Our culture is sliced up into many pieces or factions; so much so that the common elements are very few. Consider the following slices and dices among many:
Rich Man/ Poor Man
Democrat/Republican
Democrat/Conservative
Democrat/Progressive
Liberal/Conservative
Liberal/Progressive
Republican/Conservative
Republican/Progressive
Democratic/Libertarian
Republican/Libertarian
Radical Right/Radical Left
Educated/Uneducated
White collar/Blue Collar
Religion I/Religion II/Etc.
Religious/Non-Religious
Christian/Atheist
Christian/Non-Christian
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-Patriot
Elite/Non-Elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural Snob/Cultural Boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/ Elite Citizen
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Ordinary Citizen/ Entrepreneurial
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation, which is becoming more and more obvious every day!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Past/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Fluent in English/Not Fluent in English
Born American/Immigrant/Illegal Immigrant
Upstanding Citizen/Criminal
And all shades in between, with many gradations and combinations!
It is little wonder that we continuously have serious conflicts, clashes in beliefs, and ultimately nasty invective between opposing views, particularly when beliefs run so strongly, often challenging deeply held religious, emotional, inherited or reasoned beliefs! Many times the opposition uses unfair tactics to shut the citizen up and denigrate him, hoping to send him away.
We are a multicultural hodge-podge living our separate very uniquely human lives, and many, many different lifestyles, but held together socially by at least eight or so very strong beliefs and common goals:
The value of strength in numbers;
the rule of law;
the joys of our freedoms;
The economic system;
the best place to raise our children;
the opportunities for betterment,
a compelling work ethic, and in,
the love of this country. (There are more reasons, of course…)
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if there must be such factions, it is a real blessing to have so many factions that their opinions and strengths tend to cancel each other out!
How many discussions or arguments between two people have been completely biased by their opposing factional belief systems, preventing any mutual understandings? For that matter, do we know all of the factions and ideologies our adversaries hold close? Most likely not!
The remarkable thing is that this federated, democratic, republican form of national government, with its written Constitution as the Law of the Land, has successfully held together for nearly 240 years, despite many sweeping ideological differences along the way. The differences have persisted to this day and have again become a serious divisive force in the nation.
It is time for those who believe in America, its Constitution, its common laws and its founding principles to stand up and fight for them!
Our culture is sliced up into many pieces or factions; so much so that the common elements are very few. Consider the following slices and dices among many:
Rich Man/ Poor Man
Democrat/Republican
Democrat/Conservative
Democrat/Progressive
Liberal/Conservative
Liberal/Progressive
Republican/Conservative
Republican/Progressive
Democratic/Libertarian
Republican/Libertarian
Radical Right/Radical Left
Educated/Uneducated
White collar/Blue Collar
Religion I/Religion II/Etc.
Religious/Non-Religious
Christian/Atheist
Christian/Non-Christian
Truth Teller/Habitual Liar
Patriot/Non-Patriot
Elite/Non-Elite
Givers/Takers
Ethical/Unethical
Moral/Immoral
Cultural Snob/Cultural Boor
Pro-America/Anti-America
Intelligent/Unintelligent
Strong/Weak
Military Experience/No Military Experience
Pride in Birth Area 1/Pride in Area 2,3...n
Ordinary Citizen/ Elite Citizen
Ordinary Citizen/Politician
Ordinary Citizen/Congressman
Ordinary Citizen/ Entrepreneurial
Leader/Follower
Statist/Federalist
Federated Republican/Collectivist, or Humanist, or Socialist or Communist (who adopted the term "Progressive" to disguise their affiliation, which is becoming more and more obvious every day!)
Management/Workers
Business Man/Others
Citizen Today/Citizen Past/Citizen Tomorrow
Lawyer/Citizen
Fluent in English/Not Fluent in English
Born American/Immigrant/Illegal Immigrant
Upstanding Citizen/Criminal
And all shades in between, with many gradations and combinations!
It is little wonder that we continuously have serious conflicts, clashes in beliefs, and ultimately nasty invective between opposing views, particularly when beliefs run so strongly, often challenging deeply held religious, emotional, inherited or reasoned beliefs! Many times the opposition uses unfair tactics to shut the citizen up and denigrate him, hoping to send him away.
We are a multicultural hodge-podge living our separate very uniquely human lives, and many, many different lifestyles, but held together socially by at least eight or so very strong beliefs and common goals:
The value of strength in numbers;
the rule of law;
the joys of our freedoms;
The economic system;
the best place to raise our children;
the opportunities for betterment,
a compelling work ethic, and in,
the love of this country. (There are more reasons, of course…)
All of our diverse cultural components contribute to a peculiar synthesis one might call an “American Culture,” but if examined closely, it quickly dissolves into some or even all of its constituent or factional parts, and even harkens back to quite different historical origins and allegiances. I suppose that if there must be such factions, it is a real blessing to have so many factions that their opinions and strengths tend to cancel each other out!
How many discussions or arguments between two people have been completely biased by their opposing factional belief systems, preventing any mutual understandings? For that matter, do we know all of the factions and ideologies our adversaries hold close? Most likely not!
The remarkable thing is that this federated, democratic, republican form of national government, with its written Constitution as the Law of the Land, has successfully held together for nearly 240 years, despite many sweeping ideological differences along the way. The differences have persisted to this day and have again become a serious divisive force in the nation.
It is time for those who believe in America, its Constitution, its common laws and its founding principles to stand up and fight for them!
Apr 27, 2019 18:28:59 #
Peewee
Loc: San Antonio, TX
Manning345 wrote:
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail. br br Our... (show quote)
Amen! I just say they're trying to Balkanize us but you said it better. It's the old house divided against itself can't stand for very long, idea. Seems to be working most of the time but I sense the tide is turning.
Apr 27, 2019 19:20:03 #
Manning345 wrote:
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail. br br Our... (show quote)
EXCELLENT essay
all true Apr 27, 2019 21:09:48 #
Manning345 wrote:
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail. br br Our... (show quote)
Amen! God Bless America.
Apr 27, 2019 23:50:36 #
Apr 28, 2019 08:10:25 #
Manning345 wrote:
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail. br br Our... (show quote)
It's interesting that your picture is a blind man.
Apr 28, 2019 11:47:09 #
Manning345 wrote:
Multiple Cultures and Factions Prevail. br br Our... (show quote)
Excellent post, Manning345. I was somewhat reminded of the Federalist Papers, specifically #10.
Apr 28, 2019 11:48:11 #
Apr 28, 2019 15:17:03 #
Apr 28, 2019 15:34:36 #
Sew_What wrote:
It's interesting that your picture is a blind man.
What interested me is how you came up with the idea that this picture is of a blind man.
While I am in no way blind, you are either trying for a put-down of me, or you are familiar with the picture. I do not know the real person there, perhaps you do. Which is it?
Apr 28, 2019 15:36:03 #
Apr 28, 2019 15:37:50 #
Apr 28, 2019 15:39:06 #
The Critical Critic wrote:
Excellent post, Manning345. I was somewhat reminded of the Federalist Papers, specifically #10.
I thank you for that comment! I will reread the FP
Apr 28, 2019 15:49:02 #
Manning345 wrote:
What interested me is how you came up with the idea that this picture is of a blind man.
While I am in no way blind, you are either trying for a put-down of me, or you are familiar with the picture. I do not know the real person there, perhaps you do. Which is it?
While I am in no way blind, you are either trying for a put-down of me, or you are familiar with the picture. I do not know the real person there, perhaps you do. Which is it?
I guess you don't know who the singer is: It is Andrea Bocelli
Apr 28, 2019 16:14:26 #
Sew_What wrote:
I guess you don't know who the singer is: It is Andrea Bocelli
Never occurred to me. I picked it for its slight resemblance to me out of a file of hundreds.
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