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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BMF" data-source="post: 217049" data-attributes="member: 3149">That's awesome. And true too.  I disagree that we have no culture, though. Our culture is a blend of all others. That doesn't mean we don't have one, it means the one we have is an amalgamation of all others.  Voodoo, for example, is an American creation, but it comes from old African lore.  One of the things I always find remarkable is the obvious, yet common-place blendings of our culture. Things like chinese guys wearing hip-hop clothes and eating italian food. Sights like that always make me smile.  Music, is another story. There is a lot of very talented and creative musicians in America. Unfortunately, the big music publishers have formulated sounds and tried-and true marketing tactics so they stifle the creative process, or are too afraid to take a chance on a "new" sound. The truly creative folks never get the major promotion and world-wide attention because they are often seen as "strange" or to not have broad market appeal.  Sure, there are small publishing companies that will take a chance on a new sound, and the internet makes it easier than ever for a band to get exposure, but the big businesses still have a choak-hold on the industry.   I read an article recently about the fact that there isn't very many, if any, british or eueropen bands in the top charts (I forget which charts). The article went on to say that the pop sound is so scientifically engineered (i.e. Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears (SP??), and so on) that they have learned that it is cheaper and easier to find idiots here in america to get up on stage and pretend to be artists. So, no more Spice Girls. We get Britney instead.  Really though, it is more than marketing and a blended culture.  Not only do we create the most "creative" movies, games and books (BTW, Gary is an American<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> ). but we also create the most scientific inventions. In our brief 200+ year history, we have contributed more inventions to the world than any other country. The list is endless infact, light bulbs, Franklin stoves, automobile assembly lines, the internet, the personal computer, Windows, VCRs, televison, telephones, airplanes (although some disagree), luner exploration, weapons of mass destruction (thanks to the Germans), air conditioning, stealth jets, smart bombs, cancer treatments, and on and on and on.   We do that because of the individualist, and libertarian ideals of our society. Many of which stem from British Common Law and the dreams of Jefferson, Hamelton, Franklin and others, including some europeans like Adam Smith  and Thomas Pain.   When you throw the doors wide open for people to do whatever they want (as long as  they don't infringe on other's rights) and you shelter them with peace, there is no limit to what they can do.  I think the Europeans lack the stong individualist and endless oppertunity aspects in their cultures. They tend to be more socialist and have been plagued with hundereds of years of warfare.  All that isn't to say that Europe is devoid of creativity or scientific advancement. Cloneing was first achieved in Scotland. Steam engines were invented in Europe. Tolkien was British, cars were invented in europe (IIRC), microwaves were first discovered by the british military in WWII.  There are creative people in Europe, there are just a lot more in the U.S. Population-wise, we have more people when comparing country to country, but when compared to all of europe we are slightly smaller (by about 2-6 million IIRC). Of course, some parts of Europe are still strugglenig to come into the modern era and are still fighting about religion and have unstable governments.  So if yall want to compete you have to band together and change your governemts/economies to be more like ours! <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /></blockquote>

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