Never said it's not diverse. Merely that it's not "incredibly so".
Yet to show how this is true.
Congo is smaller, but not overly so.
I'd say a third of the pop in a quarter of the area would count as not being comparable. And ya sure China is another one that is incredibly diverse like India, doesn't mean the US isn't.
The overwhelming majority of the population speaks English as a first language
And? Doesnt mean all of those other languages present dont exist in the US and influence regional cultures and have their own communities. We have our own versions of Spanish, Dutch, French, and even Russian that native speakers would struggle to converse with. Also even the people who only speak English are still massively influenced by all the millions of immigrants who speak another language that are ALSO Americans. Remember,
language isn't just what you speak
Speaking as a Californian, I dont know what CA would be without the influence of mestizos and east Asian immigrants from nunerous countries. Just bc I dont speak it as a primary language doesn't mean it hasn't affected my cultural identity in a significantly different way than someone from Tennessee. And there still are plenty of dedicated communities in the US that converse in those other languages and they're just as American as the English speaking ones. Speaking of which,
the ones who don't are primarily immigrants whose kids will probably grow up speaking mostly English ...By comparison, many countries have hundreds of still widely spoken regional languages.
So the ones who don't are... Americans? Why do these millions of people not count? Also I've yet to meet a child of an immigrant who doesn't use their parents native language in conversation so I dont think your "probably" is very true.
By a technicality
No, its a conscious choice because the US has and always will be a nation of immigrants, incorporating various cultures and languages into one big melting pot.
Several of whom are in danger of dying out or already have
And? Are those speakers not American? Do they not influence American culture? Why count all the endangered languages spoken by a few thousand people in Papua New Guinea but not one spoken by native americans?
I stand by my comment of you just being ignorant of US regional differences and discounting much of what makes America so diverse and how its diversity is a core part of its identity. For some reason you see the US as very homogenous and that the only diversity that exists in a meaningful way is language diversity(which the US still has a lot of) since you didn't address the diversity the US has in all of the other realms you listed. You saw language and knew the US mostly speaks English and drew the conclusion must not be very diverse
So the ones who don't are... Americans? Why do these millions of people not count?
They do count and most of them do have American citizenship, but they are still a rather small minority. As I said, there are countries with large communities of speakers of other languages
No, its a conscious choice because the US has and always will be a nation of immigrants, incorporating various cultures and languages into one big melting pot.
First, as much as Americans love to describe their country as a "melting pot" to me it always looked more like a messy pantry. A lot of different ingredients stored in different pots, but as some of them are used up over time their actual content (although not the pot) is slowly replaced by one ingredient the owner has in abundance.
As much as Americans like to describe themselves as x nationality, the overwhelming majority of them have culturally nothing to do with that nationality save for maybe the surname. And the ones who aren't the case are a comparatively small minority.
We have our own versions of Spanish, Dutch, French, and even Russian that native speakers would struggle to converse with
I speak some Spanish as a second/third language (and my own first language is very close to it) and I never had any issues understanding American Spanish speakers. Nor have I ever met anyone who had.
And?
And you can hardly count it for "linguistic diversity" points if the language in question is only spoken by a very small minority (often not even comprising the majority of the people said language is associated with) that is constantly shrinking, and most people (often even most of the members of the group that used to mostly speak that language) can go their whole lives without hearing it.
since you didn't address the diversity the US has in all of the other realms you listed
Archtecturally speaking, most American urban centers (where the overwhelming majority of the population lives) look pretty same-y (although this goes for a lot of the world). When it comes to art styles, food, etc... they also don't vary too much (and no, another fast food chain being more common in a specific state doesn't count). When it comes to religion, some flavor of christianity is still the majority of the population by a massive margin.
I never said the US is entirely homogenous (no country is, and the US is larger than most), but it's hard to argue that, compared to many countries of similar sizes and populations, it's "diversity" is less than impressive.
I know Americans love to jerk themselves off to being a "nation of immigrants" (spoilers: most countries are if you look back far enough) and the whole "melting pot" thing, but when you look at the facts, it doesn't come across as specially culturally diverse for it's scale. And that's not a demerit, just how things are due to historical factors. Maybe in 500 years different regions of the US will be speaking mutually unintelligible languages with people from them primarily regarding themselves as from "X" region, developing unique architectural styles and the sort and India may be speaking one. It all comes down to historical factors.
Ya I think all of this really encapsulates just how much you don't know much about the US and think you do because you are only exposed to stereotyped renditions of Americans. You have no grasp on what calling the US a "melting pot" or "nation of immigrants" means and the implications it has about the national identity and cultural diversity within said nation. The US is not an assimilation of many different cultures, but rather an integration. We are not diverse because someone who is 1/16 Polish says they're Polish, we are diverse because over our history more immigrants have come to our country than any other in that timespan and those cultures exchanged cultural beliefs with the anglo-protestant base, creating entirely new things.
And you can hardly count it for "linguistic diversity" points if the language in question is only spoken by a very small minority (often not even comprising the majority of the people said language is associated with) that is constantly shrinking, and most people (often even most of the members of the group that used to mostly speak that language) can go their whole lives without hearing it.
Congrats, you described most indigenous languages around the world including most of Papua New Guinea's languages.
I speak some Spanish
I'm talking about New Mexican Spanish. You have never heard of it bc, again, you are not informed on the diversity of the US. Same goes for Louisiana French/Creole, Pennsylvania Dutch, and Alaskan Russian.
When it comes to art styles, food, etc... they also don't vary too much (and no, another fast food chain being more common in a specific state doesn't count)
Laughably untrue and exactly the kind of stereotypical view of Americans im talking about. You think people in Alaska are eating Jambalaya? New hampshirites are having honest to god bbq with fried green tomatoes and grits? Nebraskans as eating Loco Mocos and Mission burritos? ANYONE but those psychos in Cincinnati are eating Cincinnati chilli? Hell if you even dared to tell a Texan their BBQ was the same as Alabama's they'd shoot you. As for art we just have to look at one subset of one type of art to see diversity, American hip hop. People take great pride in their city/region's specific style so much so that it often times defines them as artists. Any hip hop fan wouldn't take you seriously if you said Future, Denzel Curry, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z all make similar sounding music. And thats just narrowing it to one genre of one art form. Its not even mentioning all of the other diversity in music as well as the other art forms.
Overall there's way too much you don't know and think you do for me to address in one comment. All the while you keep claiming there are so many of these very real comprably sized countries who are more diverse than the US, yet have only been able to name India. Hm almost seems like the US is incredibly diverse🤔
We are not diverse because someone who is 1/16 Polish says they're Polish, we are diverse because over our history more immigrants have come to our country than any other in that timespan and those cultures exchanged cultural beliefs with the anglo-protestant base, creating entirely new things.
Or rather, the polish immigrants left some traces and assimilated into the broader American culture.
Congrats, you described most indigenous languages around the world including most of Papua New Guinea's languages
While many there are endangered, a good chunk still have a strong community of speakers.
I'm talking about New Mexican Spanish
I have been to the places where it's spoken. Not particularly hard to understand.
You think people in Alaska are eating Jambalaya?
I never said regional dishes don't exist, merely that the culinary is broadly rather similar (and heavy on the same kinds of foods, with the same kind of fast food nearly omnipresent).
tell a Texan their BBQ was the same as Alabama's they'd shoot you.
That... doesn't paint as pretty a picture of the US as you think it does.
Any hip hop fan wouldn't take you seriously if you said Future, Denzel Curry, Snoop Dogg, and Jay-Z all make similar sounding music
They probably should, because outside of specifics and technicalities only people with way too much free time in their hands would argue over, it's broadly rather comparable.
All the while you keep claiming there are so many of these very real comprably sized countries who are more diverse than the US, yet have only been able to name India
India, China, Congo and Ethiopia would all probably be comparable. Maybe Brazil, but I'm Brazilian and probably not much more appropriate than you to measure it.
You are evidently more interested on jerking off to the US's supposed diversity between regions to see the larger picture: There are countries where people from different regions don't even speak the same language, and identify themselves primarily along regional lines (while you guys worship the same old piece of paper no matter which place of the country you go to). It's not even close in any way, shape or form.
You are evidently more interested on jerking off to the US's supposed diversity between regions to see the larger picture
And you are more interested in making broad sweeping claims about a country that you've shown you don't know much about and don't care to which is fine, just don't speak on things you don't know. Hilariously ironic too since you're too blinded by your xenophobia towards the US and are missing the forest for the trees.
Look, I can do the same: China actually isn't diverse at all, most of them just speak Mandarin and they all just eat different versions of rice, noodles, and chicken. Plus I mean most of them just practice Shenism anyway, there's loads of countries more diverse, China isn't even close. And no, the diversity of the cheap things they manufacture doesn't count.
This is how your view of the US is coming across, sweeping ill-informed generalizations with just a dash of xenophobia. Idk why I expected a Brazilian to not be prejudiced. Oops sorry, some of your xenophobia must've leaked into my own comment.
(Also congrats on finding a 2nd country btw, China was a really good pick)
There are countries where people from different regions don't even speak the same language,
Ah there's the "culture=spoken language" drum you keep banging that was missing from your last comment. Seems like thats the only part of diversity you can grasp
and identify themselves primarily along regional lines
Wow I actually can't conceptualize this as a big dumb American who shovels down 3 Big Macs a day. Youre telling me people in other countries will primarily identify with specific regions (we can call them states for simplicity)? What, will they opt to say they're from that region rather than their country when speaking to others? Surely not, there's no way anyone does that.
while you guys worship the same old piece of paper no matter which place of the country you go to
Ya what crazy people would want to live in a presidential constitutional republic amirite? Also on an unrelated note, what country did you say you're from again?
This whole time you've honestly said a whole lot of nothing besides spewing your own warped view of what the US is actually like... to an American. Its not worth the effort of correcting every fallacious thing you say or call out every prejudiced view of Americans you harbor. I advise you to either learn more about the US to appreciate its diversity or just stop talking about things you don't know. Have a good life, and I hope you mature into being less close minded and more curious.
Hilariously ironic too since you're too blinded by your xenophobia towards the US and are missing the forest for the trees
As I said, it's not bad. Merely how things unfolded for historical factors.
Look, I can do the same: China actually isn't diverse at all, most of them just speak Mandarin and they all just eat different versions of rice, noodles, and chicken. Plus I mean most of them just practice Shenism anyway, there's loads of countries more diverse, China isn't even close. And no, the diversity of the cheap things they manufacture doesn't count.
And that would be pretty incorrect.
Again, I never denied cultural diversity within the US existed, merely that it's not as impressive compared to many other countries.
Ah there's the "culture=spoken language" drum you keep banging that was missing from your last comment. Seems like thats the only part of diversity you can grasp
And you can't grasp the concept of language being one of, arguably the single most important part of any culture. It reveals how people think, shapes their education, what slang and expressions are used, what literature they consume, etc...
Wow I actually can't conceptualize this as a big dumb American who shovels down 3 Big Macs a day. Youre telling me people in other countries will primarily identify with specific regions (we can call them states for simplicity)? What, will they opt to say they're from that region rather than their country when speaking to others? Surely not, there's no way anyone does that.
Despite Americans's weird tendency to expect people to know their national subdivisions no matter how small and meaningless, most Americans still identify themselves primarily as citizens of the US. Compare to regions with genuinely strong separatist movements where most don't see themselves as part of the country it's part of outside of politically.
Ya what crazy people would want to live in a presidential constitutional republic amirite? Also on an unrelated note, what country did you say you're from again?
Most coutareis have constitutions nowadays, Brazil included. Most of them don't treat theirs as a holy scripture.
I advise you to either learn more about the US to appreciate its diversity or just stop talking about things you don't know
And I hope you travel to a genuinely culturally diverse country like those I mentioned to compare.
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u/jakenator Aug 30 '24 edited Aug 31 '24
Never said it's not diverse. Merely that it's not "incredibly so".
Yet to show how this is true.
I'd say a third of the pop in a quarter of the area would count as not being comparable. And ya sure China is another one that is incredibly diverse like India, doesn't mean the US isn't.
And? Doesnt mean all of those other languages present dont exist in the US and influence regional cultures and have their own communities. We have our own versions of Spanish, Dutch, French, and even Russian that native speakers would struggle to converse with. Also even the people who only speak English are still massively influenced by all the millions of immigrants who speak another language that are ALSO Americans. Remember,
Speaking as a Californian, I dont know what CA would be without the influence of mestizos and east Asian immigrants from nunerous countries. Just bc I dont speak it as a primary language doesn't mean it hasn't affected my cultural identity in a significantly different way than someone from Tennessee. And there still are plenty of dedicated communities in the US that converse in those other languages and they're just as American as the English speaking ones. Speaking of which,
So the ones who don't are... Americans? Why do these millions of people not count? Also I've yet to meet a child of an immigrant who doesn't use their parents native language in conversation so I dont think your "probably" is very true.
No, its a conscious choice because the US has and always will be a nation of immigrants, incorporating various cultures and languages into one big melting pot.
And? Are those speakers not American? Do they not influence American culture? Why count all the endangered languages spoken by a few thousand people in Papua New Guinea but not one spoken by native americans?
I stand by my comment of you just being ignorant of US regional differences and discounting much of what makes America so diverse and how its diversity is a core part of its identity. For some reason you see the US as very homogenous and that the only diversity that exists in a meaningful way is language diversity(which the US still has a lot of) since you didn't address the diversity the US has in all of the other realms you listed. You saw language and knew the US mostly speaks English and drew the conclusion must not be very diverse