Culture
written by David Anderson limited rights reserved ViewItaly.blogspot.com
I have been having difficulty learning the rules of the game since I have returned to the US. Raffaella is so happy here that it is not appropriate to discuss my feelings. I have been extremely disappointed since I returned. Everything I remember, everything that made me, myself is no longer here. Everything is sooooo…. superficial. A simple example, today you can buy an advertisement that will play on the SuperBowl.
How stupid have we become? It is an advertisement, they want to sell us something, are we going to pay to see it. Well I guess we already do, we buy cable programs and not only do we pay 50$ a month but we also have to submit to 7 minutes of programming and 5 minutes of advertising. I will not go into the numbnuts in the political sphere including the comedians who are supposed to help us see the world for what it is through satire who have been corrupted by their own opinions.
Italy is a great place to visit and a great place to live. Taxes are high (taxes are less than the US), it is difficult to find a good job (unemployment is about 9% but if you are willing to work at the conditions of Walmart or Target you can find a job all day long in black), governmental employees (Eliotte Spitzer among others) use their position to advance their career, JUST LIKE THE STATES, and yet it is a marvelous place to live. You can still find quality, things made to last years, it is not that they are better, simply 2000 years of culture have helped to learn that it is not just “What have you done for me lately?” but that today is such a short period in the scheme of things.
America has been great because the individual has the opportunity to break out of the social class to which he was born. My perception of today in the US is that we no longer appreciate our freedom, our privacy, our individualism. We allow politicians to shout without making reasonable arguments, we allow private corporations to control every aspect of our life, we allow the government to arrest individuals because they are unwilling to show identification (you know the good ole boy standing on the side of the road, not terrorist, not anything just a good ole farm boy). We are more than this, it is not the President or the political parties, they are all corrupt, as in every corner of the world but we as individuals no longer value what makes us great, that is our individualism and our understanding that my right to swing my fist ends where your nose begins.
I apologize for the rant.
Labels: culture
posted by Travel Italy at 5:47 PM
5 Comments:
What you're describing here is exactly how I feel when I return from a trip to Europe. I question everything: values, lifetyle, priorities, culture, people, the list is endless.
Whilst mindful of the myriad of problems abroad, I cannot help but hold countries in high esteem that value "living" over working.
7:28 PM
This is interesting. I lived in America for a long time and then came back to Thailand. When I compare the two I feel that America is a great place but it is declining due to many of the things you mentioned. I feel that Thailand is a better place to live, at least for me. But things change all the time and I have wondered where might be another good place to live if Thailand gets bad. So Italy? Do I need to learn Italian?
4:52 AM
Appearently Blogger has had another of its "good days" losing several comments including some of my responses. Just wanted to let you know that I did not delete anyting.
David
9:07 AM
Ladies, Thank you for your thoughts. It may seem that I am distraught with the state of things here in the US, but I am simply expressing what may be a unique perspective regarding the changes that are ocurring. Most things are cyclical and when you live in an area you may not see the subtle changes that happen and over time become significant modifications to life style. I think that European culture may be less susceptible to these changes because of their long history.
I hope that my thoughts will help others to think about where we are in a different way and allow others to see things from an outsider's viewpoint. Thanks again for commenting.
David
9:13 AM
Hi David,
It hasn't occurred to me that there might be a significant cultural/values shift going on in the U.S., and if so it is probably happening in other Western democracies as well such as Canada where I live. By the way, I did respond to your recent e-mail by indicating that Seasons Under The Sun would be pleased to publish the article you described, and hopefully you received that e-mail at your yahoo account. I have found some interesting sites that will accept submitted links to your articles after a quick sign-up process. They get voted on and ranked by readers rather than the traditional editorial process, and can generate a fair bit of traffic even if your article is not a hit. If you are unaware of these sites and interested in the idea I can provide you the names.
Beau
8:22 PM
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