Why are americans obsessed with careers, status and money?

[Think Different]

Quotes:

"A very large percentage of Americans truly believe that God personally hand-picked America to lead the world militarily, morally, and spiritually"

I saw an interview with Jimmy Carter by Bill Maher, and the former president said the exact same thing. I was in shock that someone so high profile, a former president, would admit this. But the political climate in America is poisoned. I can't watch the news or read blog comments with liberals and right wingers slinging mud at each other.

"I work for a German company, and many Germans here always complain how as soon as they serve your food at a restaurant they give you the bill. Apparently, in Germany, dinners are longer."

I used to live in the Bay Area rat race and the waiters/bus boys would try to take your plate before you even finished, while you were still eating. I don't know if you've noticed, but most American meals are quick. Even when you see family out to dinner, they finish quickly and go. In the Bay Area, people would wolf down their food at restaurants. It was actually unsightly to see.

"Our once great pioneering spirit has devolved into a country full of "every man for himself" or "everyman is an island unto himself". We no longer have a single unifying goal or philosophy to guide and unite us"

Unfortunately, everyone's is trying to "make it to the top", and they're their own. When I was in Australia, I got more of the feeling, "we're in this together", but I never get feeling that back in America. Here it feels like it's every man, woman, child for themselves.

Yeah I hate that about waiters! They are always trying to take your food when it's only half finished. It makes me afraid to even get up and go to the bathroom, else I may come back to find that my meal has been taken away. I've chewed out a number of waiters over this. I love embarassing them and leaving them no tip. Bunch of dumbasses.

Another thing I hate about waiters/waitresses in the US is that they are constantly pushing more food/desserts/alcohol on you, and interrupting your conversations. Even the lowliest greasy spoon with crappy food has these people coming up with the fake smile "how is everything?" crap. Just leave me the hell alone! A couple of times I even told them to stop interrupting my conversations and that if they do it again, they get no tip. Or, if I need them, I'll let them know. It's this sort of thing that convinces me that for all its touted greatness, the American service industry is low class and tedious.

[mattyman]

"Mattyman, so you mean people in the UK don't usually ask "What do you do?" when they first meet you? If so, that's awesome!"

The UK is certainly not the most laidback of European ccountries by any means. It's certainly NOT an alternative to the USA. Don't get me wrong, careers are a major part of people's worth over here as in the states. Society is also VERY comsumerist and materialist, in pretty much the same way people on this site describe the USA. I wouldn't say that people here don't ask 'what do you do' upon first meeting them though.

The difference though is that having a well-paid job is not seen as something absolutely essential; i.e. guys without jobs or in low-paying jobs are not necessarily seen as zero value by women, however, there is a fair share of women who WILL ask 'what do you do' fairly early on in the conversation. On the UK version of eharmony for-instance, there doesn't seem to be any advice articles that mention or hint that you are out of luck if you don't have a good job and/or that you should give. However, you still get your fair share of gold-diggers that judge you by your bank balance and possessions. You're more likely to find girls in pubs that use guys for free drinks though, this is a common and often complained-about phenomenon. I've had this happen to me before and seen this happen tons of times to my friends.

Women that require guys to be rich, well-paid, driving fast cars etc. are still largely seen as shallow. In some circles, it's just as bad as america in this respect, but not universally.

[Think Different]

Piggybacking on the previous discussion, here's an excellent article about "religiosity" in America. Worth the read.

http://www.slate.com/id/2278923/

[djfourmoney]

Quotes:

"A very large percentage of Americans truly believe that God personally hand-picked America to lead the world militarily, morally, and spiritually"

I saw an interview with Jimmy Carter by Bill Maher, and the former president said the exact same thing. I was in shock that someone so high profile, a former president, would admit this. But the political climate in America is poisoned. I can't watch the news or read blog comments with liberals and right wingers slinging mud at each other.

"I work for a German company, and many Germans here always complain how as soon as they serve your food at a restaurant they give you the bill. Apparently, in Germany, dinners are longer."

I used to live in the Bay Area rat race and the waiters/bus boys would try to take your plate before you even finished, while you were still eating. I don't know if you've noticed, but most American meals are quick. Even when you see family out to dinner, they finish quickly and go. In the Bay Area, people would wolf down their food at restaurants. It was actually unsightly to see.

"Our once great pioneering spirit has devolved into a country full of "every man for himself" or "everyman is an island unto himself". We no longer have a single unifying goal or philosophy to guide and unite us"

Unfortunately, everyone's is trying to "make it to the top", and they're their own. When I was in Australia, I got more of the feeling, "we're in this together", but I never get feeling that back in America. Here it feels like it's every man, woman, child for themselves.

That's called American Exceptionalism - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism

[djfourmoney]

"Mattyman, so you mean people in the UK don't usually ask "What do you do?" when they first meet you? If so, that's awesome!"

The UK is certainly not the most laidback of European ccountries by any means. It's certainly NOT an alternative to the USA. Don't get me wrong, careers are a major part of people's worth over here as in the states. Society is also VERY comsumerist and materialist, in pretty much the same way people on this site describe the USA. I wouldn't say that people here don't ask 'what do you do' upon first meeting them though.

The difference though is that having a well-paid job is not seen as something absolutely essential; i.e. guys without jobs or in low-paying jobs are not necessarily seen as zero value by women, however, there is a fair share of women who WILL ask 'what do you do' fairly early on in the conversation. On the UK version of eharmony for-instance, there doesn't seem to be any advice articles that mention or hint that you are out of luck if you don't have a good job and/or that you should give. However, you still get your fair share of gold-diggers that judge you by your bank balance and possessions. You're more likely to find girls in pubs that use guys for free drinks though, this is a common and often complained-about phenomenon. I've had this happen to me before and seen this happen tons of times to my friends.

Women that require guys to be rich, well-paid, driving fast cars etc. are still largely seen as shallow. In some circles, it's just as bad as america in this respect, but not universally.

The problem with woman in the UK desiring rich men is much of the wealth in the UK is tied up in monarchy (ie: old money) if you're lucky enough to catch the eye of a nobleman's son or the Prince himself, then chances are you can live a fair-tale lifestyle. However that doesn't happen often enough so most women "settle" for normal men in Britain. I'd say another thing is that homes in the UK are generally much smaller than in the US, so wealth is not always based on the size of your home, but more location. Those strains of race remain in the UK, its not nearly as bad as the United States, as I stated before, Interracial Marriage between Black Men and White Women is 27% while in the US its 4%, but could be as much as 6.6% when the 2010 Census data is released.

I would also agree that Gold Diggers are treated more harshly in UK society.

[momopi]

I'd say another thing is that homes in the UK are generally much smaller than in the US, so wealth is not always based on the size of your home, but more location. Those strains of race remain in the UK, its not nearly as bad as the United States, as I stated before, Interracial Marriage between Black Men and White Women is 27% while in the US its 4%, but could be as much as 6.6% when the 2010 Census data is released.

HGTV has a new series called House Hunters International. American home buyers/renters get a sticker shock:
http://www.hgtv.com/house-hunters-inter ... index.html

Americans reading Craiglist listings for London might think "hey that looks cheap":
http://london.craigslist.co.uk/apa/

...until they realize the rent is "per week" and not "per month"!