What do you dislike most about the culture of your country?

[Reecejackox 406]

The binge drinking culture in mine is my least favourite.

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

Having to leave a tip. What's the point of that? I seriously don't get it. You're just giving them extra money for nothing.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,713]

For me this is going to be about the good ol USA. This might get dicey. 

One of the things I hate most about "american" culture is the insane worship of the rich and famous. They are treated like gods while the rest of us are simply ants going about our day. The amount of TV shows that have been created over the years fully dedicated to worshipping celebrities is depressingly staggering. It isn't enough that they have a life of luxury that us commoners could only ever dream about hopelessly but in the US it is like the common person is meant to be a peasant worshipping the famous kings on their thrones of red carpet. 

This one I know will piss off some people but I just have to say it; One can't mention "culture" and "USA" together without bringing up the culture around war and the army. This is one that people always have to walk around eggshells on with because not supporting the military 100% at all times is apparently a blasphemes act nearly worthy of death to many people. I have tons of problems with the military of the US and how it is portrayed. I am talking about the modern era military here. Commercials and other ads are pure propaganda, portraying any and all members of the army as unsung heroes bravely charging into a war that doesn't actually exist. Most of these ads use wording like "Join the team that truly makes a difference" or something similar which is hilarious. Yeah, not teams of doctors or engineers that keep things running or teams of scientists that work every day to cure disease and help daily life. Nooooo, its the people with highly powerful guns who fly 1,000+ miles away to a totally different country that are the ones making a difference and only them. We are also supposed to have the utmost respect for anyone that joins the military at all times, never questioning it, never thinking that maybe they are fighting for a wrong cause (like say the worldwide proxy wars that the US fuels) and if someone is walking around with their army uniform on for no reason, we are supposed to just bow to their presence and treat them like saviors of humanity. Countless other jobs are dangerous too and in my opinion a tad more worthwhile to people here at home and many of those jobs don't involve killing others and I don't see those people walking around with their uniforms awaiting constant praise. War is a horrible thing and it should never be glorified, but the US does that all the time and the fact that we fund the military far more than anything else shows that in full. Now of course I am not trying to disrespect any specific person that joins the army. If that's what you truly wanna do then whatever. You do you I guess, but I will never respect how the army is portrayed and how some people think the rest of us are never allowed to criticize it whatsoever. And before anyone says something like "They are fighting to protect your worthless ass." which is something I've actually been told in the past because of me voicing my criticism; Firstly they are not protecting me by being an entire ocean away (How is them being in a totally different country across an ocean going to fix any of the massive problems here exactly?) and secondly, even if for whatever reason I wanted to join the army, I literally cannot do that. I have a shunt (as well as numerous mental problems and nervous twitches) and that automatically makes me completely disqualified from any and all military service. 

Damn that became a thing. I guess I've been meaning to rant about that one for a long time. There's other things I can bring up but that's enough for now. Take my words as what they are. Words. Words from someone who ultimately has no impact on anything whatsoever and cannot change anything at all. As this is not in the debate area I of course will not debate this at all.

[Flutterstep 47,102]

We have little to no pride in our country. Don’t get me wrong, I know how bad pride can be, it is one of the deadly sins after all, but it’s gotten to the point that we can’t even show the flag without offending someone. With this people litter, vandalize, steal and blame all of their problems on where they live. I'm one of the least patriotic people here, but even I think it's a little much. I'd rather live in the UK than a third world country.

Edited August 25, 2020 by Flutterstep

[Here No Longer 5,276]

Oh I can't stick to one thing about this country's culture that sucks. Three of the worst:

 

• The celebrity worship... I don't care about 99% of them (Well, there's a couple exceptions, namely Keanu Reeves because he's a legitimately decent human being)... I don't want to know anything about ALL of their lives, even the ones I do care about. They're people, like you and me, that happen to be famous. Let's leave it at that. None of these cults, none of these altars for the worthy, and I've particularly had about enough of Kanye West. He's a mentally unstable extremist with a massive ego bolstered by his music...
• The culture around our armed forces... I feel like it's shoved in my face so often and I'm SICK of it. They're evil organizations that quite simply don't value human life outside of their own country. If they did, they'd have rejected the calls to war for Iraq. I haven't seen a single high ranking official sick and tired of these wars. If I had I'd rescind that statement immediately. But nope. And we're supposed to worship this force for apparent evil like some sort of group of heroes fighting the evil of the world... By bombing civilians...
• The culture around the worship of our country. Oh behold the flag in all its glory. Oh I don't f***ing care when this country is in shambles and the very people who are ruining it are turning our focus towards nationalism disguised as patriotism. The rest of the world from what I know is really sick and tired about how arrogant we are about our own national pride and I frankly don't blame them. The far right is especially disgusting on this point and makes it abundantly clear they think they're better than everyone else when all they look like are a bunch of egotistical morons who failed history classes who think they know more than the teacher. I don't care about your piece of cloth. I care about the STATE OF THE PEOPLE. You can take your fascist ideology and your flag and shove it you know where, while you hypocritically hang the flag of racist traitors in front of your house.

[Twisted Cyclone 🚓 6,261]

One thing I really hate about the American culture is how politics has turned into a huge part of our lives and how being apolitical is seen as a very sinful thing. Also the crappy two party system here. I dislike both US political parties. 

[Ittoni 538]

the mediocrity. And at the same time the pride on being mediocre and ignorant and or poor. It suppose it's part of the catholic brainwashing because of course is convenient to the church and the government. Also the deeply rooted chauvinism that is taken as "part of the mexican culture", the very aggressive feminism too is not awesome, and the romanticisation of "thug life" and narcos and all that. The "latino lifestyle" is incredibly damaging and annoying, the "i'm gonna party at 3 am full volume every week in work days because that's the true latino life and no one can stop me".

[Denim&Venöm 19,238]

The U.S. has a messed up obsession with democracy. If you question it, you must be a fascist. Thing is, people are so blinded by the concept of democracy, that they don't consider whether or not any of the choices involved are any good. People always vote for the lesser of two evils, not for what they believe in. If anyone says that all the choices suck, we're told that we should be grateful to have a choice at all. Pretty sure that if both Ted Bundy and Charles Manson ran for president, people would still vote one of them into office. 

"Freedom of speech" should come with asterisks. No, the government can't censor you, but say one wrong thing and everyone who knows your name will make your life a living hell. You will be harassed and punished for your opinions. Land of the free, but that land is covered in eggshells. 

The anti-police sentiments. I will admit, the system needs some reforms. But those won't be made if the public remains hostile to law enforcement. People who could become good cops and make a difference will be dissuaded from joining a negatively viewed profession. After that you'll only get people in it for the money and the power. You get more bad cops. More negative press. Less public support. Less good cops. More bad cops. More negative press. It's a vicious cycle. And it isn't fair that good cops trying to do what's right and those who still support them are being treated like public enemy #1.

Despite being "free", America is a very prudish nation. Sure, graphic violence is okay on daytime TV, but nudity, genitalia, the act of sex, the "female presenting nipple", are too haneous to be shown?  The act of making life is too disturbing compared to depictions of taking it? And on a similar note, we've legalized smoking, weed and alcohol use, but prostitution is still illegal? 

Schools treat kids like prisoners and do nothing to prepare them for life as adults. 

This maybe a me thing, but the music sucks. 

Also, too many damn flags. 

 

[Splashee 28,566]

The fact that people here are sleeping, thinking someone else will deal with the problems. And companies take advantage of that. So many times the last year, I have lost access to real food because people let the stores buy in only junk food and candy, removing the brands in favor of low quality in house brands. And no one noticed?

[AppleButt 8,676]

This may be an everywhere thing, but the fact I can’t get away from politics cause it’s so ingrained in everyone these days bugs me. 
 

Places I go to to escape it aren’t even safe anymore cause we have people who think that because they have a right to speak about it means they have to bring it up anywhere and any time they please or they’ll die if they dont

[Megas 27,760]

Military Fetishization. All of the obsession with guns, weapons and artillary? Bloated military budget to the point we barely have money for anything else? All just reeks of Tiny-Dick syndrome

[Thuja 3,659]

The toxic nationalism in my country.  Most people dismiss us as "The US polite neighbours", thinking we don't do anything wrong.  There has been a stand off between various tribes and the government over racism.  Indigenous women are being coerced into sterilization or their children they had just given birth to will be taken from them.  The gov wasted 3 BILLION dollars on a pipeline for oil that is garbage anyways(hence the standoffs with various tribes because they're protesting about said pipeline being forced into their land or land of another rez).  Police brutality is just as bad here as in the US, etc...  But all that's being ignored and more since we're "the polite neighbours" and fellow canadians are ignoring these problems and simply saying "well, at least we're not the states!!!"...  I mean, come on, really?  Our healthcare doesn't even cover everything yet people say it's the best in the world, like???????????  Maybe compared to the states but my premier, Doug Ford has always tried privatizing healthcare and so do other premiers of other provinces.  Doesn't really help things that people vote for the conservatives, get mad at their policies, vote liberal, get mad at their policies, vote conservative, get -..........  Never ending cycle, Canada does NOT have a two party system, NDP's right there and you won't even vote for them???????  The only good thing Justin Trudeau has for himself is being moderately attractive, he's purely for status quo, he ain't gonna change or do a thing he promises he would.  Especially if it's taxing the wealthy, he'll never do that.  Sorry, this kinda turned into a rant but yeah, Canada is not a great country, we aren't just the polite neighbours north of the States and I wish people would stop glossing over our problems as a country.  We have a long ways to go but we need to take the first step to get there in the first place...

[Kamii 595]

Without a doubt in my mind, the worst about my country's culture is bullfighting. There is no easy way of getting rid of it given thousands of people depend on it (bull breeders, bull fighters, people who work for tv channels focused on the "sport" and so on). Although most people in the country are against its existence and hate watching it, there is still a huge crowd who pays to watch the "entertaining" torture and death of an animal whose only purpose in life is to be on the spotlight for a few minutes while it bleeds profusely.

I don't recommend you going and reading what actually happens in bullfighting arenas (to both the bulls and the horses used) but I think anyone in their right mind knows it's a horrible tradition we've somehow kept alive until today (not even COVID-19 got rid of it yet).

Some people want it to stay because it's cultural, some because it gives us money (some tourists actually pay to watch it out of curiosity and come out reeling), some because the bullfighting bulls will go extinct, etc. It's an unfortunate reality of my country and our brothers (Spain).

[King of Canterlot 9,603]

4 hours ago, Flutterstep said:

We have little to no pride in our country.

I have noticed that about European countries, you guys have little to no national pride in where your from. I've seen videos of people walking with the German flag in Germany and being asked by the police to put the flag down because it might offend some people. How absolutely dystopian and hopeless does your country have to be when your publicly shamed/not allowed to fly your own national flag in public? That's just sad  

[Kronos the Revenant 1,971]

5 hours ago, Asbel Lhant said:

Having to leave a tip. What's the point of that? I seriously don't get it. You're just giving them extra money for nothing.

It’s a practice that’s been around since the Prohibition Era, back when alcohol was banned and gangsters were very extravagant. Gangsters would slip money to the waiters, whose salaries the restaurants couldn’t afford to pay since alcohol was popular but banned, as a bribe to give them “the good stuff”, ie, alcohol. Ever since, tipping has been considered a social norm since restaurants kept the tradition of not paying their waiters proper salaries. 

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

Perhaps it isn't a cultural thing per say, yet I guess it counts though but it is this obsession with being right to the point of stupidity. Such as not actually considering other viewpoints, it annoys me as I do love science and I do love education. However education here is more of an indoctrination, here you have to have the right opinion or you are stupid and publically shamed for it.

You have children preaching to the adults because the adults have become stupid so they need to be preached to. Which would be fine if said adults wouldn't buy it and pretend that a kid indoctrinated by public schools funded by taxes by governments that increasingly want to go over your comfort zone, yet no they don't question it. What makes it sad is that people are dumb enough to actually buy into this needing to be told what to think.

Reality is that not everything you read is true and when it comes to science we generally don't speak of "facts" we speak of theories and the scientific method is to always ask questions that is how we further our advancements in science. 

Though the culture here is to pretty much accept what the nanny state tells you, not question it and be an obedient slave both physically and mentally. What also annoys me is this snobby attitude towards other cultures as we pretend to better then everyone when we are pretty much not. 

Now also there is the culture of always saying you're happy, you'll never see anyone claim to be otherwise while still having one of the worlds highest suicide rates and highest rate of anti depressants yet you know happiest place on earth right haha as if most people here don't even smile they are all pretty much suffering slaving away having "high" wages they keep a fraction of to then pay the highest costs of living. Then there is this stupid snobby attitude of believing you're better then everyone truly I hate it about this country.

Edited August 26, 2020 by Fluttershyfan94

[Sazama Ichida 2,367]

12 minutes ago, Kronos the Revenant said:

It’s a practice that’s been around since the Prohibition Era, back when alcohol was banned and gangsters were very extravagant. Gangsters would slip money to the waiters, whose salaries the restaurants couldn’t afford to pay since alcohol was popular but banned, as a bribe to give them “the good stuff”, ie, alcohol. Ever since, tipping has been considered a social norm since restaurants kept the tradition of not paying their waiters proper salaries. 

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[JonasDarkmane 19,788]

To add to what @Fluttershyfan94 said, some of which I agree with and some of which I disagree with: 

I really hate the celebration of weakness and weaklings. Instead of celebrating true strength and how a weak country is able to stand to this day, having moments of glory in its relatively short independent history such as our victory in the Cod Wars, we instead celebrate stuff like Pride and Cultural Night (Menningarnótt) where the purpose is just to get drunk and piss on the only people that are working on that day. These two events even overshadow the National Day of Iceland of 17th of June when we became a Republic. We could at least fix Cultural Night to be more about what it was supposed to be, to celebrate the birthday of Reykjavík, the Capital. 

I do not like that there is no celebration at all for our day of sovereignty and independence, the 1st of December. That day is disappearing from our collective memories. 
 

Karens. Fucking Karens. This country is rife with them, as well as simps. 

The lack of Nationalism is always a sign of great evil and moral decadence being in place. People are immensely proud of being Icelanders and will gladly wave the flag, but they will drag it through the mud by attaching disgusting imagery along with it, making it out to be more internationalist. The only Nationalism that we have is what I classify as Football Nationalism. Gotta rectify that. 

I dislike the entitlement culture here. People feel entitled to everything and I don't mean just the material, I mean entitled to certain actions or behavior from you. This has mostly to do with the Karens who feel they are entitled for you to kiss their feet while they lambast you or demand that you speak in Icelandic rather than English. It is not like the Icelandic language is the easiest one there is, it is enough that foreigners know English, that is the least they can do to show a bit of goodwill towards us rather than not being able to communicate with us at all. 

Finally, there is the lack of art. We could do with more public art to install in certain places to celebrate our unique culture and to make our city and towns a bit prettier, dress it up a bit rather than feeling like you are in some Soviet block~ 

[Flying Pencil 3,024]

So I'm going to talk about the United States of America. If there is one thing I hate is the our response to the virus pandemic, our president dismissed the situation and say that "Covid-19 will disappear in the summer, like a miracle". Well now its August and were still the epicenter of the pandemic, thousands have died and their loved ones didn't get a chance to say goodbye. All because of a president who completely underestimated the virus, and now we have the protests and wildfires in California. The president even defunded the CDC, who could've helped flatten the curve and prevent more deaths. But nope, instead, we are rotting away at our homes in quarantine as 2020 keeps getting worse. Its not just here too, Brazil and India are also suffering but I'm just talking about the USA. Their's also the economy, which has plummeted, thousands have filed for unemployment. Now I love the USA and am proud to be American, but I feel like were the laughing stock of the world. I feel embarrassed and sort of ashamed that I'm American because of our response to Covid-19.  I just hope, that when another the next pandemic arrives, we will be ready and take serious measures to prevent the spread of the next pandemic. Cause another one is coming, whether its influenza or a new coronavirus, its coming and we better be ready. If not, we'll be repeating history.

 

Sorry if this is off topic but I really needed to get that out of my system.

[Fluttershyfan94 5,742]

24 minutes ago, Freikorpist Jonas said:

Finally, there is the lack of art. We could do with more public art to install in certain places to celebrate our unique culture and to make our city and towns a bit prettier, dress it up a bit rather than feeling like you are in some Soviet block~ 

It is funny you should mention art as that reminded me of another thing perhaps a continuation of what you said in regards to our pride. Whenever we do get some public art it is always some post modernist garbage, with some kind of agenda that usually has nothing to do with our own culture. 

One such thing I can think of is there was 200 million isk flooring art stuff nobody notices or cares about celebrating what exactly absolutely nothing but a waste of money. 

You'd think we would celebrate our very distinct unique culture and our history but I really can't say we do. Though you know Karens are pretty much I'd say more then half of the population. I will still agree though we do have some pride in our nationality and flag for now..

 

[ShadOBabe 19,009]

This is hard to answer. Most of my issues with people are HUMAN faults, and thus, not contained to my culture or any other culture.

I suppose one thing that I have a beef with in modern western culture has been rising ageism and rampant contempt for older people.

Oh sure, an old person can totally be insufferable, but it’s not BECAUSE they’re old. They’re insufferable because that’s the kind of person they are. Anyone of any age can have a crappy attitude.

But from what I’ve observed, there really seems to be this creeping attitude of ostracism and dismissal of older people. This idea that they need to just shut up and let the oh-so-enlightened and sharp youngsters decide everything. That once they cross some arbitrary length of existence they become disposable.

Um, no.

As long as you’re still breathing and are cognizant of reality around you, you and your thoughts, emotions, and opinions are still worth as much as anyone else’s. Time doesn’t steal a person’s personhood from them.

[Tao 7,925]

52 minutes ago, Freikorpist Jonas said:

Karens. Fucking Karens. This country is rife with them, as well as simps. 

 

This I full agree with,  the rate of ppl like this has just seem to gone up more! Given I work in retail I see a number of them to the point of laughing....

3 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

But from what I’ve observed, there really seems to be this creeping attitude of ostracism and dismissal of older people. This idea that they need to just shut up and let the oh-so-enlightened and sharp youngsters decide everything. That once they cross some arbitrary length of existence they become disposable.

Agreed.   Our elderly need more respect but it seems now a days that is a thing of the past sadly. I have seen it done to my mom and there has been a few times she had to stop me from about slapping a bitch.....And given also my mother is native amercian,  i was raised with the culture of YOU RESPECT YOUR ELDERS!

 

Well lets see:

• Guns
• Manners seem to be dying
• Disrespect of vets (Ok my grandfathers fought in WW1 and WW2 and my little sister is in the air force.  These are ppl choosing to DIE for us! SHOW SOME FUCKING RESPECT!)
• EPA
• Trump
• Karens/Jerri's
• The whole white privilege thing is a fucking joke...
• Politics
• Enforcement of religion onto others
• Lack of Native American rights (I am part native,  my mom is native! I see how they treat my ppl and its SICK!)
• Racism 

 

 

 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,309]

The culture of hate that is still growing strong in the United States. We have to ditch that monster in the oval office.

[Vefka 1,499]

Too much conservatism. It has advantages like we don't have crazy feminism, mad protests and activists, people generally chill about joke "insults", etc. But with this we also get stereotypes rooted in our culture. If you're man, you have to be strong, look manly, be jack-of-all-trades, be brave, have a well-paid job, own house, etc. If you're woman, you have to be a good wife, obedient to your husband, be housewife, cook well, behave yourself in feminine way, have at least one kid, love children, marry before you're 25 etc. Also colored hair, piercing and other out-of-traditions things are not liked (especially on men), you can be mocked in some places

Luckily with younger generation these things slowly go away, but a lot of 30+ people still believe that this is the only right way

[Will Guide 21,362]

1 hour ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

The culture of hate that is still growing strong in the United States. We have to ditch that monster in the oval office.

Agreed.

And let's just say I do not follow anybody who uses religion to condemn anyone. Regardless of sexual orientation, gender, age, what have you, we're ALL supposed to be God's children. 

To me, God is supposed to be the god of love and peace not hate and discrimination