The USA is not necessarily a reflection of the world

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

1 minute ago, Vanessa Amethyst said:

7 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I'm not sure these two realms can be separated so easily. For example, we have a discussion going on atm about racist, paramilitary clothes and paraphernalia for sale in SL, an attempt is being made to determine if this is acceptable. We have to know something about real life occurrences to judge the matter accurately.

shure they can these things only bother you if you let them, while on the grid let go of the real world for a while and RELAX

This brings up the question whether SL is only a game, a kind of escape from real life, or whether it's an extension of real life (more of a platform as opposed to only roleplay).

It's both, depending on the person. But you are saying only your preference is the correct one and that I should "relax" into your preference.

[Sprout Evergarden]

1 minute ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

This brings up the question whether SL is only a game, a kind of escape from real life, or whether it's an extension of real life (more of a platform as opposed to only roleplay).

It's both, depending on the person. But you are saying only your preference is the correct one and that I should "relax" into your preference.

Wow ... Just ... Wow 

[Theresa Tennyson]

3 hours ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Your country doesn't even have an actual real name, the "United States of America" is just a description of what it is and where it is on the planet. 😜

Articles of Confederation, Article I: "The Stile of this confederacy shall be, 'The United States of America.' "

https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/articles-of-confederation

I believe someone else was mentioning people from outside the United States of America chiming in about issues regarding it?

Edited July 9, 2022 by Theresa Tennyson

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

6 hours ago, Jules Catlyn said:

Whether it be subjects like LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, the way different social groups treat each other, these all differ a lot around the globe.

I understand that Americans can be very vocal about their opinions, but i also see them turn a blind eye on how things work in the rest of the world. 

I am always interested in how other countries view such matters and would welcome your perspectives.

Do you think the intensity of what's happening in the US might be affecting your perspective of feeling dominated by the US? It is intense, and many are disturbed over recent developments that could be catastrophic for human rights! This could cause much suffering in the future (already are, actually), and people are upset.

I can imagine your experience in another country where LGBTQ+ rights, abortion laws, and racial issues, might pale in comparison as you aren't being threatened! I'm always happy to learn about the differences though, if only you'd speak.

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

19 minutes ago, Vanessa Amethyst said:

because being honest all I saw in that thread was a Call out that is against the rules of this forum

The reason for a "call out" has to be taken into consideration. Not all "call outs" are against the rules.

[Arielle Popstar]

3 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

The reason for a "call out" has to be taken into consideration. Not all "call outs" are against the rules.

Can you point out the relevant rules on the ambiguity of "call outs", or is it left to the discretion of those in control of thread closures?

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

5 minutes ago, Arielle Popstar said:

10 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

The reason for a "call out" has to be taken into consideration. Not all "call outs" are against the rules.

Can you point out the relevant rules on the ambiguity of "call outs", or is it left to the discretion of those in control of thread closures?

I believe this is LL's call, once they have all the information.

[Lindal Kidd]

1 hour ago, Brightstar7777 said:

...a whole lot of stuff...

Um...so you're saying that global climate change is due to...Rupert Murdoch?

If so, I'm pretty darn impressed. I didn't like the fellow very much before, but if he can do that...!

[Coffee Pancake]

4 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Um...so you're saying that global climate change is due to...Rupert Murdoch?

If so, I'm pretty darn impressed. I didn't like the fellow very much before, but if he can do that...!

He has tremendous reach and influence, everything from mass media to back stage access to our political classes. It's not his fault the world is burning, but he's done a wonderful job muddying the waters and stalling our response to climate change ...

Keep the peasants fighting each other.

[Rowan Amore]

49 minutes ago, Vanessa Amethyst said:

 all I saw in that thread was a Call out that is against the rules of this forum

If that were the case, and since the thread has been open for almost 24 hours AND a mod already made an appearance, the thread would have been locked/deleted.  I'm sure reports were made almost from the start which was well within LL business hours.   

[Sparkle Bunny]

1 hour ago, SarahKB7 Koskinen said:

Wales is not and has never been a country

Maybe don't go around saying that in front of Welsh people unless you want to define what you mean by a 'country' and how it differs from a 'nation.'

(That's going to take a few paragraphs which nobody's going to read, so yeah, maybe just don't.)

Do English-speaking citizens of the rest of the world know enough about US culture and politics to be able to follow and participate in discussions about them? Generally, yes. Do US citizens know enough about the culture and politics of the rest of the world to be able to follow and participate in discussions about them? Generally, no. Hence the bias the OP is seeing.

I too used to get frustrated about the failure of most Americans to grasp there was a world beyond their borders -- I used to have the same frustration with Londoners, for the record -- but there are good reasons for it (education and mainstream media, mostly) and complaining doesn't change anything, so these days I just let it be what it is.

[Lindal Kidd]

2 minutes ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

the failure of most Americans to grasp there was a world beyond their borders

I've been to our borders. There's nothing out there but ocean, as far as you can see.

The rest of you are all just electrons in a simulation.

[Brightstar7777]

35 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Um...so you're saying that global climate change is due to...Rupert Murdoch?

If so, I'm pretty darn impressed. I didn't like the fellow very much before, but if he can do that...!

No, of course he can't, but he's just an individual part of a larger system of such change in the world, layered atop of things, out of touch, a little lost, and out of reach behind its own walls.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Brightstar7777

[Coffee Pancake]

1 minute ago, Lindal Kidd said:

The rest of you are all just electrons in a simulation.

That's exactly what electrons in a simulation would say!

 

[Love Zhaoying]

Regarding the title of the Original Post: 

I thought the USA was a "Melting Pot" of people from all over the world, and in that respect, shouldn't the USA exactly "reflect the world"?

 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Coffee Pancake said:

4 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

The rest of you are all just electrons in a simulation.

That's exactly what electrons in a simulation would say!

 

I thought that we are all brains in jars!

[Love Zhaoying]

1 hour ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I should "relax" into your preference.

Oh, my. Oh, my.

I sincerely hope it's more like "Relax" by "Frankie Goes to Hollywood", and not like "when something is inevitable, relax and enjoy it".

[Solar Legion]

Oh would you look at that! A political topic, posted on the weekend so it'll last a bit!

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

29 minutes ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

Do English-speaking citizens of the rest of the world know enough about US culture and politics to be able to follow and participate in discussions about them? Generally, yes. Do US citizens know enough about the culture and politics of the rest of the world to be able to follow and participate in discussions about them? Generally, no. Hence the bias the OP is seeing.

I too used to get frustrated about the failure of most Americans to grasp there was a world beyond their borders -- I used to have the same frustration with Londoners, for the record -- but there are good reasons for it (education and mainstream media, mostly) and complaining doesn't change anything, so these days I just let it be what it is.

I have no data to back up my opinion, but like you I feel that the US is less aware of countries outside its borders in general. But why is this so?  Why do people in other countries like American movies so much, and tend to emulate American music? What made America a kind of default country one should look toward, pay most attention to?

Me, personally, I have my foreign movie channels that annoys a few friends because they don't like to read their movies   

If we take evidence from this forum only though, it seems it's mostly those from other countries who do not understand the horrific political climate in the US of late, as evidenced in the thread about white supremacist content being sold in SL.  So I feel it is us in America who are mainly misunderstood, at least on this forum.

* Or are the ones on the other thread not seeming to understand US issues simply more vocal about it, and tending toward conservatism(c).  Little c.  While most of you from other countries who know what's going in the US are standing back in silence?

Edited July 9, 2022 by Kiera Clutterbuck

[diamond Marchant]

To me, one of the best things about Second Life is that we are from all over the planet. I like to hear what's going on in other places. Have at it 🙂

About the name, I just call it 'Merica, as in "cause 'Merica"

[Theresa Tennyson]

33 minutes ago, Sparkle Bunny said:

Do English-speaking citizens of the rest of the world know enough about US culture and politics to be able to follow and participate in discussions about them? Generally, yes.

Or at least they think they do...

[Brightstar7777]

31 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Or at least they think they do...

They probably have a more consistent view of things than US citizens in aggregate given as the history, identity, and meaning of this country (or is it a nation) is taught differently by different states (or commonwealths) with vast differences, one might even say mutually-exclusive regional ideas, about what our collective ethos is or ought to be.

Edited July 9, 2022 by Brightstar7777

[Sparkle Bunny]

20 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

* Or are the ones on the other thread not seeming to understand US issues simply more vocal about it, and tending toward conservatism(c).

From the way those specific posters have behaved on other threads, I really don't think the problem is lack of understanding what's going on in the US. They understand just fine, and they're cool with it. The rest of us have gone quiet because there's no point trying to reason with them and the option of punching them is not available.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

52 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I've been to our borders. There's nothing out there but ocean, as far as you can see.

The rest of you are all just electrons in a simulation.

/me glares at Lindal

[Lindal Kidd]

3 minutes ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

What made America a kind of default country one should look toward, pay most attention to?

That's an excellent question!

In all of history, there's always been one place that everyone "looked toward" as the center of civilization, the example that others aspired to. Ur, Egypt, Greece, Rome...later, France, then England. (The East has its own history and its own shining examples through the centuries. India, Arabia, China...)

In the first century of its history, the USA was not that "default country". Some Americans still looked to Europe as the center, and copied or imported their furniture, artwork, architecture, religion, and attitudes from there. But others, maybe most, had a sort of brash, youthful independence that ignored the past and went its own way.  The natural resources available, plus limited government and taxation, allowed for a remarkably expanding economy and prosperity. Not for all, and not evenly distributed, to be sure, but overall, its wealth and influence in the world expanded enormously, and with explosive speed in historical terms. 

This growth continued in the first decades of the 20th century, despite the setback of the Great Depression. The world saw this, and although the USA was not one of the major players on the world stage, many began to see it as a "sleeping giant", and certainly to envy its rapid increase in wealth and to aspire to creating systems that would enable their own progress.

World War II left the US with a larger industrial capacity than ever, practically the only major world economy which hadn't been destroyed by the war, plus an intact and powerful military. Although the USSR provided strong opposition for the next fifty years, these advantages led to the USA becoming what's been termed a "hyperpower", a superpower that's bigger than the other superpowers.

So...perhaps in the sweep of history, it's just America's turn to be at the top.  But it seems to me that we are not destined to remain there for long. External factors, and internal divisions, seem likely to send the USA into the sunset of history.  Being an American, I hope I am wrong about that. But I am worried for my country.