quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Would a Canadian who'd travelled to other places in Canada also be able to claim that he had no need to travel abroad because the diversity of Canadian culture was so great, that every part of his land was like visiting another country?
Would an Englishman be able to claim there was no need to travel abraod if he'd been to Scotland?
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quote:Originally posted by rooster: Culturally, there is still an American thread that holds all states together. There is an otherness to non-US places I've visited that isn't present when I'm still in the country whether it be New York, Texas, Florida, Hawaii, Alabama or any of the other states.
The culture in Alaska (at least the part I stayed in) is totally different then anything I experienced in any part of the US. The same could be said of the times I've spent amongst the Amish in Lancaster, PA. Different culture.
The Amish are a subculture.
It's not the same like being in a place where the entire structure is different from home. I always notice the little things: going to the grocery store and dealing w/an entirely different food labeling system (not to mention measuring system and everyone walking on the left side of the aisle). Watching commercials on TV that show boobs! Not having the same Thursday TV schedule.
Even in Alaska they watch Heroes on Monday and Gray's Anatomy on Thursday.
ETA: and Palin, the damn governor, was pretty fucking Midwestern!
quote:Originally posted by rooster: The Amish are a subculture.
heh. I dare you to say that to their face. You'll get a pitchfork in the arse no doubt. They consider your kind to be a subculture. A hell-bound one at that.
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Would a Canadian who'd travelled to other places in Canada also be able to claim that he had no need to travel abroad because the diversity of Canadian culture was so great, that every part of his land was like visiting another country?
Would an Englishman be able to claim there was no need to travel abraod if he'd been to Scotland?
No. But he might feel there's no longer any need for him to see America.
Ralph I just don't get what you're trying to say here. You've never travelled abroad, to a place where people speak different languages, have a massively different cultural history, etc etc. So why are you trying to speak with authority on the subject?
If you're going to say that [something A] is just like [something B] then surely you should be speaking from the position of knowing what [something B] is like in the first place, no?
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quote:Originally posted by rooster: The Amish are a subculture.
heh. I dare you to say that to their face. You'll get a pitchfork in the arse no doubt. They consider your kind to be a subculture. A hell-bound one at that.
remembers the Amish fondly
I'd happily say it to their faces, but I'm sure my forked tongue and devil-speech would render my words unintelligible.
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quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: Would a Canadian who'd travelled to other places in Canada also be able to claim that he had no need to travel abroad because the diversity of Canadian culture was so great, that every part of his land was like visiting another country?
Would an Englishman be able to claim there was no need to travel abraod if he'd been to Scotland?
No - it would be an absurd claim to make. But I'm asking you whether or not you think the same is true of Canada.
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To get all petty and sociological and accurate for a moment, the Amish aren't a subculture at all; they're more of a parallel culture.
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It's all a question of comparative perspective, isn't it. On one hand, you could argue the differences between Texas and New Jersey (even in just their choice of pollutants: petroleum and, um, petroleum refining, respectively), or the language differences (um...), or the currency differences (again, um...), or the differences in their systems of local government (flagrant good-ol'-boy corruption and mob-influenced corruption, respectively). They're not identical, but no two places are. You can even find differences between different parts of Massachusetts if you want to (just ask South Shore folks about Western Mass., for example).
And there's a flip side to the myopia: the same people who will argue that their town is so different than some other town 15 miles away are usually the ones who would look at France and Belgium and find very little difference between the two, just filled with Europeans who talk funny and eat snails. And probably wouldn't be able to find either on a map.
Rooster's perspective comes in large part from spending a lot of her youth island-hopping with her parents around the south pacific. Things are really different there. But that's another area of the world most Americans don't think about unless they're watching Survivor.
-------------------- Give 'em .0139 fathoms and they'll take 80 chains. Posts: 3201
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mart thinks he's so clever. One time at a meet he was smoking and I went out the join him. We could see the tmoers through the window in the pub. He goes 'look at this....just watch them...' and started laughing, really hard, pointing and laughing at them.
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quote:Originally posted by mart: To get all petty and sociological and accurate for a moment, the Amish aren't a subculture at all; they're more of a parallel culture.
google reveals plenty of academic journal articles identifying the Amish as a subculture, but they must be wrong too.
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quote:Originally posted by mart: Oh well, no, it's me that's wrong, then.
Not so clever now, am I.
maybe, or you might just need to take it up with the Journal of Multicultural Nursing & Health, for example, which could allow you to combine twisted Amish sexual fantasies w/those involving naughty nurses.
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quote:Originally posted by froopyscot: You can even find differences between different parts of Massachusetts if you want to (just ask South Shore folks about Western Mass., for example).
and what exactly would the South Shore folks say about us in the western part of the state? hmmm?
eta: for those of you who don't know, the eastern part of my state gets its fresh water supply from the Quabbin Reservoir, which is just a few miles from my front door.
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: I find it comforting that ralph has never and will never leave his home country.
Which just goes to show you that you really need to work on your reading comprehension skills. I suppose the combination of alcohol and comics may have contributed to your problem. I've left my home country before.Posts: 7436
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