The Real World

Post Reply New Topic

This comes up in people?s vocabulary time and time again and the phrase people use is ?The Real World.? I?m told that I?m supposed to accept the world as it is and to get into the real world. There is only one problem and that is not every part of the world is the same. Our planet consists of different countries with many different cultures. What I?ve come to find out is that most people in America do not experience the rest of the world outside of America and live amongst different cultures. Yet, I?m supposed to get into the real world when the truth is when most people in America say ?The Real World? they mean American society.

There is no universal ?real world? to conform to because of the many cultures that exist across the planet. American life is not the only life there is and when people say that life is unfair how can most people in America know this if they?ve never have experienced life outside of America. When they mean life and the real world they mean life in America and the world of America. Why do people in America act as though the American world is the real world and American life is real life? How can one make such a claim?

This is the problem right here. A lot of people in my country, the USA, seem to be Ameri-Centric meaning that America and its beliefs are not only the center of the universe but are the universe itself. The people deny any reality that does not fit their own. The American people can?t seem to accept that there are many perceptions, facets and interpretations to reality. They only perceive one reality and believe this interpretation is the absolute and objective reality without any question whatsoever. Even certain family members persists in this thinking and if one looks around empirical evidence will go against the thinking that the American life is the only life and the American way is the only valid way to go. When one goes against the paradigm and thinking of American culture then one is seen as crazy and as a lunatic.

This is why Aquakidney reacted the way he reacted.

http://whyifailedinamerica1.wordpress.c ... #comment-8

He could not accept a person who questioned the orthodoxy because the orthodoxy is objective reality to him. By questioning the orthodoxy of American culture I question reality itself and if my questions have merit to them then what does he and others have to fall back on? If I knock down his first domino then I destroy his very identity that is built upon his version of the real world. What do him and other Americans have if I logically destroy their belief system and I can demonstrate its contradictions? To them, their very identity would be destroyed. Any reality that contradicts their own reality they will deny and attempt to silence and destroy. The American people are so wrapped up in their beliefs that like in the Matrix they will fight tooth and nail to preserve this reality. Reality and truth is whatever the American culture says it is and you are to accept it without question. Remember Eurasia has always been at war with East Asia.

Americans see American life as the "real world", and many other cultures as "the third world". "The third world" means that such a culture is "dysfunctional" to a high degree, and cannot be considered the "real world". For example, an American would not consider an African bushman to be living in the "real world". Americans may also dismiss other "high tier" nations because of cultural differences.

Why Americans may believe this ...
-America is rated a tier 1 country, and most others are lower tier.
-Americans have to give foreign aid to many other nations.
-Americans have the largest military
-Americans generally are anti-Muslim, so those countries would be looked down on.
-Americans generally say they are anti-Socialist, so Europe is looked down on
-Americans say they prize "freedom" so China/Russia ("evil" communism) is looked down on.
-American movies dominate the movie industry, so it is other cultures that have to watch American life

And American-centrism ...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E[/youtube]

Maybe, but are all countries that are not tier 1 countries doing that bad? What is the criteria and who defines it?



So have other countries. What makes us special even out of the tier 1 countries?



How does having the largest military in the world in which we have to put forth a ton of resources make us so great and make us the "real world?"


What is great about this?



What is so great about this?




What is freedom? What do we mean by freedom and if one is truthfully then why do we in America have this complex social code and no deviation is allowed? Are we truthfully free? Constitutionally yes we are. Socially, we are not. We live in a conformist styled culture instead of a laid back and carefree culture.

http://whyifailedinamerica1.wordpress.c ... ompromise/
http://whyifailedinamerica1.wordpress.c ... 03/15/229/

This song is pretty catchy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIsv1YOFNys[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v4ZLwevXAI[/youtube]

I just responded to your original question about why Americans may consider their culture to be the "real world". Now you ask many philosophical questions that each could be a separate thread.

In Plato's allegory of the Cave, the prisoners see shadows flickering on the cave wall, and come to believe that the shadows are the real world. So, philosophically, what Americans may believe is great about their culture doesn't have to really exist. It is the idea that Americans have freedom, Socialism/Communism are evil ....
One just has to believe in the shadows.

Depicted: Plato's Allegory of the Cave


source, http://integral-options.blogspot.com/20 ... ation.html

I'm an American, and I love my country.

Yes, American media is skewed toward America. I would prefer it if they interspersed the typical news with news from other countries. I would like an expanded CNN World Report.

I believe, if America would tone down the militant, "caretaker," "police the world" tone, I believe it would be better off. Speak softly and wield a clever stick.

Also: national health care, at least for major chronic illnesses, should also be instituted

To what end?

Why? Why must I believe in the shadows instead of searching for and believing in the light?

You have to get used to the light, gradually, while you emerge from the darkness.

I'm Canadian but I had to QFT this. I used to be a hardcore Libertarian and American libertarians LOVE to talk about the Constitution, freedoms, etc but they never seem to be able to wrap their head around the lack of 'social' freedom. Canada isn't as bad but it is much the same. For example, I was never arrested for wearing bargain bin clothes to school but I WAS beaten up regularly for it. In the end, isn't that pretty much the same: I'm not free to dress as I see fit?

They also loved to talk about the Founding Fathers like they were Gods but seem to forget back then, you had to act a certain way, dress a certain way, talk a certain way. If not, they were treated far worse than being put in a jail cell. I can only imagine how us ASD people were treated! The "real world" doesn't just exist on a piece of paper.

http://www.wiso.uni-hamburg.de/fileadmi ... iberty.pdf