Its always hard to get the both of both worlds-but I agree, striving for balance is something that seems very important to me as well, even though it can be hard to find or maintain.
I think the core principle should always be that of respecting others-seeking enough empathy to allow them space or intimacy as needed. Its rather hard for many people to do- true empathy as a commodity seems in short supply.
US culture has a role to play perhaps-as does western culture in general. US culture is just a particular expression of a cultural shift that began with the enlightenment and industrialisation. The American angle has both its strengths and weaknesses-I think that too much emphasis is placed on the pursuit of happiness (perhaps a hang over of the Puritan work ethic)-when happiness cannot be sought in wealth or material goods-its something that finds you instead-and often at the times when material things are most distant. And of course the American media is very influential in how we all see ourselves.
At its heart America also has a genuine love of its dreams-and many of those are noble ones that a more cynical Europeans take on things tends to loose sight of.
A lot of violence and lack of social empathy probably comes from urbanisation as much as anything else. The rise of that, and industrialisation, is actually a British invention and export-its just that many other nations now do it better than we do, and so have more intense issues over it right now, but of course I agree we have problems as well. Its never a good idea to lay blame for things at other peoples doorsteps when we can do better looking at own because any solution to a problem is nearly always a localised one, unique to the culture experiencing it.
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I think the core principle should always be that of respecting others-seeking enough empathy to allow them space or intimacy as needed. Its rather hard for many people to do- true empathy as a commodity seems in short supply.
US culture has a role to play perhaps-as does western culture in general. US culture is just a particular expression of a cultural shift that began with the enlightenment and industrialisation. The American angle has both its strengths and weaknesses-I think that too much emphasis is placed on the pursuit of happiness (perhaps a hang over of the Puritan work ethic)-when happiness cannot be sought in wealth or material goods-its something that finds you instead-and often at the times when material things are most distant. And of course the American media is very influential in how we all see ourselves.
At its heart America also has a genuine love of its dreams-and many of those are noble ones that a more cynical Europeans take on things tends to loose sight of.
A lot of violence and lack of social empathy probably comes from urbanisation as much as anything else. The rise of that, and industrialisation, is actually a British invention and export-its just that many other nations now do it better than we do, and so have more intense issues over it right now, but of course I agree we have problems as well. Its never a good idea to lay blame for things at other peoples doorsteps when we can do better looking at own because any solution to a problem is nearly always a localised one, unique to the culture experiencing it.