So yeah, I went on this amazing trip to the Dominican Republic for the past week and a half, and I just got back to the states. It wasn't a touristy thing; I did it through the Boy Scouts, doing volunteer work with el Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps) and staying with Dominican Scout families. I saw real poverty at some families, and at other homes I had a servant do my laundry. But no matter what I did, where I went, or with whom I spoke, I always noticed one thing; they're always freaking happy.
Seriously. Not once did I see any kind of upset feeling last for more that maybe ten minutes with any Dominican. And they had plenty to be upset about: frequent blackouts, lack of accessibility to clean water, and lets not forget the driving! People down there cut each other off every opportunity they get! It's ridiculous.
But they never cared. Coming back to the States, I have realized just how much it is our own fault that we're so freaking miserable all the time. There are so many opportunities for us to be pissed off when we could just as easily laugh and shrug it off (take the terrible driving for example). I'm just so inexplicably pissed to have to come back to the United States just to see people at the store who don't say "Hi, how are you!" like they do down in the DR.
Can somebody give me a patriotic pep-talk of sorts? Please?
I'm going to agree with bluesoul here. I may be an American, but it's true, we ***** and moan about everything, and usually for no good reason. I'm sure being in America affords people different advantages than the Dominican Republic, or any country, so if those are the advantages you want, you just have to put up with the annoyances of idiocy and self-righteousness. On the same note, every other country affords different advantages than America (or any other country), and they, too, will have their flaws.
Now, you were only in the Dominican Republic for a relatively short time, so there are many more internal flaws of which you did not become aware, I'm sure. Living in a country shows many more issues than just watching or visiting it does.
By the way, I, too, am a Boy Scout, and it's cool to see others on the forums. I never had the opportunity to go on such a trip, but it sounds like it would have been awesome. -Jack
Agreed, of course. We, as a people have grown so accustomed to easily-accessible luxury that the scale of kvetching we roll into in the absence thereof is pretty astonishing.
And it's also great to see fellow boy scouts on the forums here. You know? I learned to play Magic at a boy scout summer camp, the the guys at our monthly campouts were most of my playgroup. And you know something else? I think that every single member of our playgroup made Eagle.
The average lion is approximately 190 cm long and 60 cm wide = 11400 cm2 = 0.00000114 km2
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Agreed, of course. We, as a people have grown so accustomed to easily-accessible luxury that the scale of kvetching we roll into in the absence thereof is pretty astonishing.
That pretty much nails it. The reason people in the DR and other poverty/disease/war-stricken areas find their lives bearable/enjoyable is because in most cases it's the only life they've ever known. It's hard to pine over something you've never experienced and don't even know you're lacking.
Also: I, too, was once a Boy Scout, though our troop was kind of disorganized and I never bothered to make it past Tenderfoot
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"...because without beer, things do not seem to go as well."
America fits that special nitch where we ***** about everything and challenge everything we see, whether right or wrong. While not the most glorious position it is a necessary position. So if you are an American, for the love of God, please find something to ***** about so that we can all live in a better world.
Americans have a "woe is me" complex unparalleled anywhere else on the planet. All that standing on the pedestal can tire you out, you know.
Sounds like you had a rather enlightening experience.
Yeah, I'm going to second this.
I've had a similar experience myself, when I was staying with a friend of mine in England for three weeks not long ago. Being out and about with everyone in Central London and there's no whinging, *****ing or moaning, having nothing to pluck your nerves to and fro, etc. People in shoppes were sociable, friendly, etc, whereas in the US you're lucky if they recognise the fact you exist.
Only three weeks of my life I didn't ***** about something every day. Since getting back in June? I notice I am on about something near every day, with idiot drivers being THE biggest thing to grate my nerves.
It's the hectic lifestyle and culture of the States that does it. Always on the go, etc -- it is no wonder we're always uptight and whinging about the most trivial of things.
Now if only I had the money to relocate to England, I'd be a very happy camper.
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I don't have any hard numbers on this, but I'm targeted more often than a black guy driving a beat-up sedan with a broken tail-light and no license plate, and Cy's well aware of that.
The word opposite of patriotism is treason and you get tossed into jail for that. Now for my patriotic pep talk: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. Anyways, it's not like an American could ever be happy in Latin America. Once you have warm water, toilets, and air conditioning, you can never go back.
But they never cared. Coming back to the States, I have realized just how much it is our own fault that we're so freaking miserable all the time. There are so many opportunities for us to be pissed off when we could just as easily laugh and shrug it off (take the terrible driving for example). I'm just so inexplicably pissed to have to come back to the United States just to see people at the store who don't say "Hi, how are you!" like they do down in the DR.
Can somebody give me a patriotic pep-talk of sorts? Please?
Practice what you preach. If someone doesn't say 'hi' to you, laugh, shrug it off and be happy.
The word opposite of patriotism is treason and you get tossed into jail for that. Now for my patriotic pep talk: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. Anyways, it's not like an American could ever be happy in Latin America. Once you have warm water, toilets, and air conditioning, you can never go back.
Open-minded much? There's more to life than air conditioning, you know: I think the fact that so many people in America are so miserable speaks volumes about the relative merits of our lifestyle.
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Open-minded much? There's more to life than air conditioning, you know: I think the fact that so many people in America are so miserable speaks volumes about the relative merits of our lifestyle.
Don't feed the troll!
Quote from iRebel »
It's the hectic lifestyle and culture of the States that does it. Always on the go, etc -- it is no wonder we're always uptight and whinging about the most trivial of things.
But isn't this basically true of nearly every heavily industrialized country? When personal accountability and self-sufficiency replace civic accountability and groupthink, life gets more hectic because people spend more time and energy doing and buying things for themselves that they could otherwise have shared with or borrowed from a neighbor. (Whether you trust your neighbors with your babysitting or your power tools is yet another question...)
One might say there are places with too many freedoms, too many choices. Hard to imagine, but I think it comes at a heavy price. Freedom of choice means intense competition, and chronic competitive behavior and insecurity permeate the lives of people making them anxious, irritable, and *****y. Your company can't survive on simply providing a quality product to a steady market; it must compete with a company halfway across the globe, that makes, among 115000 other things, a cheaper and more appealing version of your product (not necessarily better) AND has brand name recognition.
Not that living in Gaza or Baghdad or Guatemala City or Gorazde is strictly better, by any means You can say that at least you have the choice and the money to follow up that choice. And the Dominican Republic has had its share of brutality and misery to get where it is today; its neighbor Haiti took a different route and is taking its brutality and misery in a different form.
Quote from Dr. Dee »
Also, you might want to remember that places such as Europe and the USA can afford air conditioning, warm water, toilets, cars, computers and expensive clothing because places such as Latin America, Africa or Asia exist.
By and large, very true. Also, we can afford these things at the EXPENSE of those other places. Some of these luxuries that contribute to or symbolize our economic standard of living, are emulated in the developing world, whether they're appropriate for that geopolitical climate or not.
It's deeper than that. Capitalism on its own wouldn't perpetuate what currently exists as the dogma of the American. Its much more so the unrealistic materialistic and status-seeking attitudes which Americans are surrounded by. Its really self perpetuating.
Its not a matter of like it or leave it, its a matter of fix it. We have the means to do so. The first step is to adopt the attitude which you would like to see perpetuated. I have actually tried to do the same over the last few years out of volition. Just be a generally nice person, and more so analyze what you have by its own merit and be satisfied. Really analyze why you want something, and always default to "don't" if you don't have an actual necessity, and when deprived, actively take a more mature approach to it.
Driving, attitudes, they're all perpetuated by the same core values. Americans see everything as competition. This isn't a neccessity of capatilism, as some have alluded to, as, having been to capitalist Europe, it is obviously an example of corralation not indicating causation. More so it is the seeing fellow humans as enemies, by default, instead of allies. There are multitudenous reasons for this, stemming from abuses by corporations and media, for the most part, I would speculate.
The other attitude is that of both apathy and insignificance within the context of our society, which is not only reflected in what you have said, but the lack of voter turn out, etc. One person is almost undoubtedly insignificant, but if you dislike something, the chances that you are actually one person are astronomically low considering the similarities everyone shares with themselves.
Another issue is us seeing ourselves as different, which we aren't, not on a national and not on a racial or really any other arbitrary level. We see our selves as different, and therefore use that to justify and excuse our actions. That is in error. We should actively seek to prevent this. This attitude is cosmopolitanism, as has been said, but I wouldn't say it is antithetical to nationalism by necessity.
We need to, as a culture, move past these petty hierarchies which prevent our progression, in this case Nationalism. There are other hierarchies which prevent our progression as well, I would argue, including structured religion (do not take this as Christian-bashing, quite the opposite, but more hierarchy-bashing), racism (or any other arbitrary class-division, including race, sex, ethnicity, etc.), etc.
Therefore the problem is two-fold, and it is a serious problem it effects our physical and mental health and inhibits positive human progression on a social, economic, and political level, but I think it is hardly out of our reach to repair, and it start with every one of us taking a stand and adopting a better attitude, if you haven't already, in regards to the original post. Happiness, peace, and prosperity are only out of reach because we don't extent our hands.
The word opposite of patriotism is treason and you get tossed into jail for that. Now for my patriotic pep talk: LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT. Anyways, it's not like an American could ever be happy in Latin America. Once you have warm water, toilets, and air conditioning, you can never go back.
Believe it or not, many people in the Dominican Republic have warm water. And toilets, and air conditioning.
What are you guys on about? I've been to other countries; they're nice, but there is still traffic in some of them. There are still people stressed out, people still have a sense of ennui. I think one of the defining characteristics of Americanism is the propensity to romanticize life in the ostensibly more advanced European countries.
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Originally Posted by Highroller
Compared to what? I think compared to chocolate ice cream, women, unicorns, and kung fu, the state pretty much sucks.
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Seriously. Not once did I see any kind of upset feeling last for more that maybe ten minutes with any Dominican. And they had plenty to be upset about: frequent blackouts, lack of accessibility to clean water, and lets not forget the driving! People down there cut each other off every opportunity they get! It's ridiculous.
But they never cared. Coming back to the States, I have realized just how much it is our own fault that we're so freaking miserable all the time. There are so many opportunities for us to be pissed off when we could just as easily laugh and shrug it off (take the terrible driving for example). I'm just so inexplicably pissed to have to come back to the United States just to see people at the store who don't say "Hi, how are you!" like they do down in the DR.
Can somebody give me a patriotic pep-talk of sorts? Please?
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Move.
Americans have a "woe is me" complex unparalleled anywhere else on the planet. All that standing on the pedestal can tire you out, you know.
Sounds like you had a rather enlightening experience.
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Now, you were only in the Dominican Republic for a relatively short time, so there are many more internal flaws of which you did not become aware, I'm sure. Living in a country shows many more issues than just watching or visiting it does.
By the way, I, too, am a Boy Scout, and it's cool to see others on the forums. I never had the opportunity to go on such a trip, but it sounds like it would have been awesome. -Jack
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And it's also great to see fellow boy scouts on the forums here. You know? I learned to play Magic at a boy scout summer camp, the the guys at our monthly campouts were most of my playgroup. And you know something else? I think that every single member of our playgroup made Eagle.
Suddenly, I feel really special.
Magnificent Quote of the day:
Also: I, too, was once a Boy Scout, though our troop was kind of disorganized and I never bothered to make it past Tenderfoot That pretty much nails it. The reason people in the DR and other poverty/disease/war-stricken areas find their lives bearable/enjoyable is because in most cases it's the only life they've ever known. It's hard to pine over something you've never experienced and don't even know you're lacking.
Yeah, I'm going to second this.
I've had a similar experience myself, when I was staying with a friend of mine in England for three weeks not long ago. Being out and about with everyone in Central London and there's no whinging, *****ing or moaning, having nothing to pluck your nerves to and fro, etc. People in shoppes were sociable, friendly, etc, whereas in the US you're lucky if they recognise the fact you exist.
Only three weeks of my life I didn't ***** about something every day. Since getting back in June? I notice I am on about something near every day, with idiot drivers being THE biggest thing to grate my nerves.
It's the hectic lifestyle and culture of the States that does it. Always on the go, etc -- it is no wonder we're always uptight and whinging about the most trivial of things.
Now if only I had the money to relocate to England, I'd be a very happy camper.
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Not to mention, we do put ourselves on a pedestal. It gives us both a high opinion and a very high expectation of ourselves.
Opposite of patriot = traitor.
Although, I think you're looking for iconoclast.
Or whiner.
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Practice what you preach. If someone doesn't say 'hi' to you, laugh, shrug it off and be happy.
Open-minded much? There's more to life than air conditioning, you know: I think the fact that so many people in America are so miserable speaks volumes about the relative merits of our lifestyle.
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Taysir the Infinite
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Don't feed the troll!
But isn't this basically true of nearly every heavily industrialized country? When personal accountability and self-sufficiency replace civic accountability and groupthink, life gets more hectic because people spend more time and energy doing and buying things for themselves that they could otherwise have shared with or borrowed from a neighbor. (Whether you trust your neighbors with your babysitting or your power tools is yet another question...)
One might say there are places with too many freedoms, too many choices. Hard to imagine, but I think it comes at a heavy price. Freedom of choice means intense competition, and chronic competitive behavior and insecurity permeate the lives of people making them anxious, irritable, and *****y. Your company can't survive on simply providing a quality product to a steady market; it must compete with a company halfway across the globe, that makes, among 115000 other things, a cheaper and more appealing version of your product (not necessarily better) AND has brand name recognition.
Not that living in Gaza or Baghdad or Guatemala City or Gorazde is strictly better, by any means You can say that at least you have the choice and the money to follow up that choice. And the Dominican Republic has had its share of brutality and misery to get where it is today; its neighbor Haiti took a different route and is taking its brutality and misery in a different form.
By and large, very true. Also, we can afford these things at the EXPENSE of those other places. Some of these luxuries that contribute to or symbolize our economic standard of living, are emulated in the developing world, whether they're appropriate for that geopolitical climate or not.
Its not a matter of like it or leave it, its a matter of fix it. We have the means to do so. The first step is to adopt the attitude which you would like to see perpetuated. I have actually tried to do the same over the last few years out of volition. Just be a generally nice person, and more so analyze what you have by its own merit and be satisfied. Really analyze why you want something, and always default to "don't" if you don't have an actual necessity, and when deprived, actively take a more mature approach to it.
Driving, attitudes, they're all perpetuated by the same core values. Americans see everything as competition. This isn't a neccessity of capatilism, as some have alluded to, as, having been to capitalist Europe, it is obviously an example of corralation not indicating causation. More so it is the seeing fellow humans as enemies, by default, instead of allies. There are multitudenous reasons for this, stemming from abuses by corporations and media, for the most part, I would speculate.
The other attitude is that of both apathy and insignificance within the context of our society, which is not only reflected in what you have said, but the lack of voter turn out, etc. One person is almost undoubtedly insignificant, but if you dislike something, the chances that you are actually one person are astronomically low considering the similarities everyone shares with themselves.
Another issue is us seeing ourselves as different, which we aren't, not on a national and not on a racial or really any other arbitrary level. We see our selves as different, and therefore use that to justify and excuse our actions. That is in error. We should actively seek to prevent this. This attitude is cosmopolitanism, as has been said, but I wouldn't say it is antithetical to nationalism by necessity.
We need to, as a culture, move past these petty hierarchies which prevent our progression, in this case Nationalism. There are other hierarchies which prevent our progression as well, I would argue, including structured religion (do not take this as Christian-bashing, quite the opposite, but more hierarchy-bashing), racism (or any other arbitrary class-division, including race, sex, ethnicity, etc.), etc.
Therefore the problem is two-fold, and it is a serious problem it effects our physical and mental health and inhibits positive human progression on a social, economic, and political level, but I think it is hardly out of our reach to repair, and it start with every one of us taking a stand and adopting a better attitude, if you haven't already, in regards to the original post. Happiness, peace, and prosperity are only out of reach because we don't extent our hands.
While that's not exactly the opposite of patriotism, that's what I was getting at.
Heh, you caught me. I guess that's what happens when you grow up in this country.
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