We as Americans lack a certain amount of culture, we look to our pasts and see what it is our families have come from. So many Irish came here, for so many reasons, the cultural heritage barely came with it, leaving a big gaping hole in what we tend to identify ourselves with.
I like to use the analogy of the Native American Indian who was displaced and massacred, captured and forced to go to Indoctrination camps as children. Where they applied the “kill the indian, save the child” methodology, abhorrent to think of, its not far off from cultural genocide.
So, we look back and find our parents and grandparents nationalities, where they have come from, we adopt what little we know of what it means to be Irish. All thats left here is Irish bars and St Patricks Day, Boston and Chicago. Americans will happily tell you about their heritage but its not a long story to tell. We are the children of immigrants striving to find a way to make a home and anyone else to connect with for community.
American TV, film, music, fashion, food, technology food and to a lesser extent sports are so influential on the world stage they aren’t even thought of as American half the time.
Like it or not, half the world’s wearing blue jeans drinking coca cola watching Hollywood movies or posting about it on shitter while rock or rap plays in the background.
I thought that would be the point I would get called out on. I tried to phrase it around what capitalism makes, its such a short sighted cultural influence that bears very little of what we internalize. I see our American influence everywhere, but we still lack something more concrete to anchor our individual identities.
We as Americans lack a certain amount of culture, we look to our pasts and see what it is our families have come from. So many Irish came here, for so many reasons, the cultural heritage barely came with it, leaving a big gaping hole in what we tend to identify ourselves with.
I like to use the analogy of the Native American Indian who was displaced and massacred, captured and forced to go to Indoctrination camps as children. Where they applied the “kill the indian, save the child” methodology, abhorrent to think of, its not far off from cultural genocide.
So, we look back and find our parents and grandparents nationalities, where they have come from, we adopt what little we know of what it means to be Irish. All thats left here is Irish bars and St Patricks Day, Boston and Chicago. Americans will happily tell you about their heritage but its not a long story to tell. We are the children of immigrants striving to find a way to make a home and anyone else to connect with for community.
I agree with 99% of you comment but
Is just plain false.
American TV, film, music, fashion, food, technology food and to a lesser extent sports are so influential on the world stage they aren’t even thought of as American half the time.
Like it or not, half the world’s wearing blue jeans drinking coca cola watching Hollywood movies or posting about it on shitter while rock or rap plays in the background.
I thought that would be the point I would get called out on. I tried to phrase it around what capitalism makes, its such a short sighted cultural influence that bears very little of what we internalize. I see our American influence everywhere, but we still lack something more concrete to anchor our individual identities.
The term you’re looking for is “cultural history” then, and not “culture”