Are Americans shallow??
 

Ok, read that question...well, its hard for me to ask it like that, because I know that New Yorkers are no Americans in fact http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ies/tongue.png .. u know what I mean... well, thats my questions: As you maybe know, a lot of other countries, mostly in Europe, describe Americans as shallow human beings! -> That they (I am useing the term "they" on purpose, because this is a neutral question) are not able to have deep relationships/friendships due to their lack of deepness and caring about people. Americans are very open and directly, make you feel they really like you, make you feel special, but the next day, everything is forgotten.
Another thing of shallowness about Americans would be, your lack of global news (which is true though, but why..?) , actually only CNN shows, makes Americans to the rest of the world shallow and egoistic.
Just for the record, This is not MY personal impression of Americans! "Unfortunately" I only know New Yorkers so far, so I would like to know what you think about that Prejudice and how big the difference between New Yorkers and the rest of the US is.
The main reason I am asking is, that my experiences are totally different. I had a few very good American "New Yorker" friends, one of them was even my best friend for years, so I actually dont really understand the problem of everyone, but I hear it from here and there. So I am really interested about your own opinions... please, free your mind. Thanks for answering.

Seems pretty shallow to me to pass judgement on a whole country.

Everyone is different, but here goes:


NY is different on all accounts, not becasue we're saints, but living in such a rich and diverse enviorment makes you more aware of soicety and realtionships. That's part of the reason we we're attacked on 9/11 and not Michgan (for example), becasue the terrorists hate enlightenment. Most cities are like this as well. Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Atanta, San Fransico and others are just as enlightend.

As a whole, Americans are blinded. They are very sweet and not generally bad people. They simply have been told this and that and are naturally inclined to be more ridgid about their beliefs than Europe. It's not shallowness, it just that Americans are more security driven. Material things and money are forms of secutiry to a great majority of people. Americans are excellent people, someone just needs to educate many of them.

Europe is better educated and has seen 1000000000% more than America has. Remeber, America is a little baby compared to Europe. Europe has been in the limelight for 3,000 years. America has only been formed 228 years ago. Give us time.

Very smart assesment. The problem (IMO) is that many people feel that if we take a step off the treadmill for one second, we'll fall behind. And the sad thing is, that can be very true. Amercia has the best of the best in absolutely everything........................................ except the quality and happyness in our lives, and in that, even the ghettos of Africa and Asia beat us by a mile......Very sad.

You can preface these comments with:
Tend to be...
To a greater degree than in...
Generally...
a lot of other countries, mostly in Europe, describe Americans as shallow human beings! -> That they are not able to have deep relationships/friendships due to their lack of deepness and caring about people. Americans may be more shallow, but it may be a function of daily life. America is the one of the few industrialized countries with no legislated minimum paid days off. We average a little over 14 days off per year. In contrast, I have family in Europe that seem to get months off. Figures are cited that show how leisure time has steadily increased during the 20th century, but those figures use the Industrial Revolution as the base number. In truth, we work longer hours than farmers of the 19th century.

In short, we are too busy to stop and smell the roses. Usually, it takes some life-crisis to make people reevaluate their existence and relationships. Luckily for me, that happened a long time ago.

your lack of global news (which is true though, but why..?) This may be easy to explain. Although its dominance has somewhat lessened relative to other cultures, American media and the society it represents are still pervasive around the world. So while someone in Switzerland may view American news as one aspect of the global picture, someone in America would view it as "news around the world." It's why our government is sometimes viewed as patronizing by other countries.

We are a nation of contradictions. We are seen as a sexually driven, hedonistic society; but in truth, we are sexually repressed.

We have the farthest separation of Church and State of any government on earth, but religion seems to dominate our debates.