Does it? Do you have evidence for this, or it’s just sort of a common sense sort of thing. Like illegal Mexicans have an unusually high number of rapists?
That would be a “common sense” claim that (a) makes no sense, and (b) is clearly contradicted by empirical evidence.
So, no, not like that at all.
But do I have peer-reviewed empirical proof of a correlation between nationalistic hatred and jingoistic bumper stickers? No.
2 Likes
Alright.
Just as long you remember 11/11, stupid movie but also my birthday… gifts accepted.
1 Like
There’s no words for that other than how did anybody ever think that was a good idea? But, still not offended.
Maybe my bar for being truly offended is really high. I draw a wide line between tasteless and offensive.
1 Like
Knock knock!
Who’s there?
September 11.
September 11 who?
YOU SAID YOU’D NEVER FORGET!
10 Likes
Here in Austria we use that kind of rhetoric almost exclusively for the Holocaust.
It’s a good thing to always remember the wrong you have done, lest it gets repeated one day.
But if other people do bad things to you, you should forget sooner or later. It’s also called “forgiving”. It’s OK not to forgive something, but vowing to never forgive is way too un-Christian for me. And I say that as an atheist.
And I thought again about why this tribute display and the people upset about it confuse me so much…
It’s not just that American patriotism is incomprehensible to people of my cultural background, it is also that many things about American culture often look like Disneyworld or Coke commercials to Europeans.
I mean, if someone built a theme park with a live-size Noah’s Ark in Austria, the Christians would complain about that kitschy, commercialized mockery of their beliefs, and the atheists would pay to visit it.
So I’m left with a vague feeling that people care more about the “patriotic” memory of 9/11 than I would consider appropriate, but that they are probably more tolerant about tribute displays made from Coke cartons than I would be for things that I care about. Which leaves me pretty clueless and completely reliant on what the Americans here tell me.
12 Likes
As an American, I’d say you have a perfect grasp of our culture.
I don’t think I could have explained it better.
5 Likes
3 Likes
You DO realize a disturbingly large number of Americans will see your post, and NOT realize
you are joking. You know that, right?
@Modusoperandi has been posting here for a long time… we understand them perfectly, I think, so it’s all good.
6 Likes
Remember ME, remember ME!!1!
Whatever poor soul did this, I would be would assume that he did it with every bit or respect that a worker that is a wage slave at Walmart could muster. Honestly, it’s way more impressive of a design than Walmart or Coke deserves. You could acknowledge a tragedy, you can ignore a tragedy, or you can make a mockery of a tragedy and my opinion is that it probably teeters towards the first more. It’s not like that set up is going to sell more coke or bringing more people to Walmart.
I get most of the qualitative differences, but here there are two cultural differences I’m aware of that work in opposite ways for the case in question. And I have no way of telling which of those two cultural differences is “stronger”. So usually I know American culture well enough to make educated guesses about what would be considered appropriate in America and what wouldn’t. In this case, I’d have to accept anything from “This is totally inappropriate and people should be fired for it” to “Of course some Tea Partyers will get upset, normal people just won’t care” to “This is an entirely appropriate memorial display; how nice of the Coca Cola Company and Walmart to show that they care”.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
