What are American quirks?!?

[Dan S]

An education without meaningful work to apply to is a pretty thing, but essentially useless. Ask any English major.

The "global economy" push is the root cause of poverty in the developed nations. Anytime we allow a company to "outsource", whether production or people or technology, then we eliminate jobs. When we allow, no, encourage, countries to export to us with little or no dutiage or control, while at the same time refusing to allow our goods to be imported into their country, we are destroying ourselves. When we allow entire industries to be gutted, and high-paying technical jobs to be eliminated in favor of cheap imports, we commit societal suicide.

I have an eighth-grade education, then a GED, and some tested certifications. There was a time in this Nation when you could learn a skileld trade and make a good living. You still can, but it is much harder, and there are far fewer jobs. An education alone won't help you, you have to have access to a job as well.

I believe the "poor" that people dislike are the so-called 'underclass' of society, be they of whatever color. I'm talking people who WON'T work, and there are plenty. They have many disincentives, to be sure, but bottom line, it is their choice not to work.

[Hunter Morrow]

Funky choices? Lets not b.s. We've all seen a guy with tattoos and piercing wearing designer clothes, fucking around on Ipods and buying their groceries with a food stamp card.

Why do these parasites have tattoos, MP3 players, 50 dollar shirts, hundred dollar jeans, 200 dollar shoes, fancy purses and wallets, piercings and tattoos, hair cut from a hair salon, manicures and all this garbage if they're using FOOD STAMPS?

My money goes to losers who buy their groceries so they can spend the other money they get on pure frivolity and creature comforts. Everybody using a food stamp card drove a nicer car to the grocery store than I did. I feel like a dupe every time I go shopping.

[Androosh]

An education without meaningful work to apply to is a pretty thing, but essentially useless. Ask any English major.

If raising the consciousness of an individual or community is useless, then sure.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the job issue. Though surely vocational programs, continued education and apprenticeships in the trades fall under "Education", right? Access to jobs can be blocked many different factors - be it personal or local/national/global limitations. But everyone benefits from an educated individual.

@Hunter Morrow - I used to wonder the same things while I was out and about...though I didn't necessarily enjoy the sense of superiority I was cultivating. It drove a wedge between me and the public. I just found that it is easier for me to empathize with motherfuckers, you know? It makes my day easier. Maybe I'm just a dirty hippie at this point. That reminds me - I gotta jump in the shower.

"One Love"

[Hunter Morrow]

Well, time to throw myself under the bus. I really enjoy professional wrestling but nobody ever talks about in public. Kind of strange, between WWE and TNA something like 6+ million people watch pro wrestling in a given week. I always hear people talking about the football game on Monday Night Football that 7 million people watched but I never hear them talk about the RAW that 5 million people watched.

Now, I know the reason that some people don't talk about stuff in public is that it is dorky but wrestling used to be gigantic and about the same number of people are watching it. It isn't like every Monday 5 million people play Dungeons and Dragons. I just wish it would "get out of the closet" again.

[RoryQ]

I must admit, I thought that the mainstream popularity of MMA would result in the rapid fading away of pro-wrestling. It baffles me why people would watch larger-than-life characters having 'worked' fights when they could watch larger-than-life characters having real, unscripted fights.

When I read this thread the only thing that really comes to mind is that in every country I have visited I have met people I liked and people I disliked, and usually met a fair number of people who break the national stereotype. I've met warm, funny germans. Ugly swedish women. Tee-total Irish people. Scots who were generous with their money*. Informal, spontaneous Japanese people... etc. Clearly there are movements or trends of some sort within various countries (like, the German public do appear to favour austerity as a response to the economic crisis more than those of other European countries), but if there are exceptions to every rule, then how useful are the stereotypes in our dealings with people day-to-day?

*Actually, this is a lie, sorry Gregor. Although if it's any consolation my older brother is even cheaper. He's like the queen of england, he never carries money.

[JAllen]

poor is only a term used to define someone who is trying to live and "survive" in a modern capitalist world.

[Gregor]

I must admit, I thought that the mainstream popularity of MMA would result in the rapid fading away of pro-wrestling. It baffles me why people would watch larger-than-life characters having 'worked' fights when they could watch larger-than-life characters having real, unscripted fights.

When I read this thread the only thing that really comes to mind is that in every country I have visited I have met people I liked and people I disliked, and usually met a fair number of people who break the national stereotype. I've met warm, funny germans. Ugly swedish women. Tee-total Irish people. Scots who were generous with their money*. Informal, spontaneous Japanese people... etc. Clearly there are movements or trends of some sort within various countries (like, the German public do appear to favour austerity as a response to the economic crisis more than those of other European countries), but if there are exceptions to every rule, then how useful are the stereotypes in our dealings with people day-to-day?

*Actually, this is a lie, sorry Gregor. Although if it's any consolation my older brother is even cheaper. He's like the queen of england, he never carries money.

Hahaha there are generous Scots out there honest !! Most of the Scottish people I know are wannabe Irish anyway , but thats an entirely different political conversation ...

[jade1955]

Here's a Brit one.

[jade1955]

Ok so it's a Quirke. Pretty close, though.

[Gregor]

hahaha @jade1955 just watched that fly over so many heads ...

[CultExciter]

I'm an American quirk. I'm a socialist, Nietzsche-ian, liberal, piece of pinko scum. I believe people should have certain benefits as a birth-right and that people should be taxed according to what they make. I'm a quirk in a country where the lower-middle-class believe that their hard work yet lack of compensation is ok, because the political machine and GOD-almighty will give them what they deserve, then they die.

Oh fuck it.

PS...we don't have the Quirke surname here in the States...

[Androosh]

@CultExciter - A-Fucking-Men!

[Dan S]

Politics...

This country has devolved from a Republic to a socialist shithole in the space of 40 years. As soon as the socialists have their hold consolidated, the velvet glove will be put away and the whip hand will come out. It's happening already, anyone who watched Waco burning and comforted themselves with the idea that it was "right-wing" radicals getting their due will be in for a rude-ass surprise when they find out in the middle of the night that those were just the FIRST targets.

There are no "birthrights", only those benefits you can earn or grab for yourself. IF you have a birthright, it is only a leg-up on the rest of the world as far as material goods and opportunities.

So...can't we just talk about tattoos?

[Gregor]

America socialist ? You dont have much of a welfare state to speak of and next to no public health. Your politics are controlled by lobbyists and big business . What socialism do you mean ?

[Hunter Morrow]

Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Section 8, WIC, SNAP/EBT ("food stamp cards"), public schools paid for by confiscatory taxes and on and on. Multi-trillion dollars worth of the garbage since FDR in the 1930s and the "Great Society" programs of the 1960s.

Ooh, more quirks...

Ketchup and mayo on everything

Downloading 50,000 dollars worth of records without compensating a record label or artist, and sharing them with the entire world, then being outraged when you're prosecuted for theft.

Every public school sucks, except the one you and your kids went to. Every politician is a hunk of crap, except for your local politician.

[CultExciter]

@Gregor, when you're on the outside looking in, you see everything. Let me know what you're seeing from time to time. I'll probably agree.

People who comprehend a thing to its very depths rarely stay faithful to it forever. For they have brought its depths into the light of day: and in the depths there is always much that is unpleasant to see. - Nietzsche

[Dan S]

America socialist ? You dont have much of a welfare state to speak of and next to no public health. Your politics are controlled by lobbyists and big business . What socialism do you mean ?

Our politrix are controlled by the banksters, just the same as yours are.

Tell you what, instead of my listing all the ways that socialism/collectivism have overtaken Ami society, howsabout if you give our Constitution a good study, and then brush up on our history over the last 200 years, with a special interest in social issues, and then study on the changes that ahve taken place in our Nation since, say, 1975 or so. I don't mean to be a dick, but without a good grounding in all of that, it's impossible to intelligently discuss this.

Our Nation was founded as a Republic, not a Democracy. You were free to earn and keep whatever you could. Now, everything you do and aspire to is regulated and controlled, and if you get out of line, there are more than enough alphabet-soup agencies with their own paramilitary forces to bring you to heel.

The welfare state here is mind-boggling, anyone in the entire country, contrary to popular fiction, can walk into a County hospital and get whatever care they need absolutely free if they have no insurance. Anyone.

[CultExciter]

The welfare state here is mind-boggling, anyone in the entire country, contrary to popular fiction, can walk into a County hospital and get whatever care they need absolutely free if they have no insurance. Anyone.

I would love to see some documentation on this...I'd be more than willing say I was wrong.

[Hunter Morrow]

Dan and hunter: Against the world

[Dan S]

C.E., what kind of "documentation" do you want?

County Hospitals are by definition, public. You need no insurance to use them, and if you have no money, the services are free. If you need dental care and have no money, you can go to any teaching universities clinics and get it free, or you can avail yourself of one of many free-clinics. There are numerous government entitlement programs as well that allow access to free care.

[Dan S]

National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems

HRSA - Find a Health Center - Search Page

Here's a few...the treatment may be free, or it may be based on what you can afford. But then, nothing in life is free, is it?

[CultExciter]

This is a far cry from socialized health care. I mean, jeez, god forbid the insurance companies make less money. I am with you on some things. I believe people have to hold personal responsibility for they finances, but at the end of the day, we are still a nation where the wealth divide is incredibly gapped. We are in a country where we bail out financial institutions with our tax money...and the former CEOs still live in mansions. Does that make sense?

[Dan S]

This is a far cry from socialized health care. I mean, jeez, god forbid the insurance companies make less money. I am with you on some things. I believe people have to hold personal responsibility for they finances, but at the end of the day, we are still a nation where the wealth divide is incredibly gapped. We are in a country where we bail out financial institutions with our tax money...and the former CEOs still live in mansions. Does that make sense?

No, it doesn't make any sense at all.

But that doesn't mean I can support socialized health care, either. Look, if socialized health care was so great, how come people come here from all over the world to get their health care needs met? Why would the Kanuckian Health Care Minister have his wife brought here for heart treatment?

The insurance companies, the huge corporations you talk about...guess what? These are the banksters that are running EVERYTHING. Not just health care, not just our government, but basically everything.

As for the wealth divide, yes, in many places it is incredible. In many places it is justified, in many places it is not. One of the only ways we will be able to get out of the clutches of the banksters is if we once again become a Nation that makes "things", not just financial instruments.

The only solution is another revolution.

[CultExciter]

I agree with you about the USA making "things" again. Absolutely.

I would love to hear some of our dear friends across the pond chime in about this comment: "Look, if socialized health care was so great, how come people come here from all over the world to get their health care needs met?"

Well, our last revolution was due to taxation without representation...what you are hinting at is a little closer to internal strife. Because we have people on all sides, which makes this place great, we can agree to disagree and still drink a beer together and shoot the shit about tattoos.

[Dan S]

Check this out...

The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care by David Gratzer, City Journal Summer 2007