@Jermofoot:
Honest question - what exactly is our culture? (Was going to pose this to someone else, but I think you are better suited to answer ;) )
Ok, so I was on my way to Wal-mart and McDonalds as I was thinking about what exactly our culture is and the irony was definitely not lost on me.
We are the everyculture. The Wal-mart of cultures. Anything you want, anywhere, and as fast as you want it. When an immigrant comes here his culture is already here but it isn’t his anymore, it’s everybody’s. We’ve absorbed every culture on the planet and can spit it back at you in no particular order in any combination that you would like. It’s where a white man can be a Muslim, speak Spanish, listen to Rap music, eat German food, create ancient Egyptian art, and drive a Japanese car. Just about everything we create is rooted in other cultures, but nothing in particular everywhere. Our Capitol has Greek columns and a Roman dome. The University of Memphis’ stadium is a pyramid made of concrete, steel, and glass. We bury our dead in mausoleums inspired by the Persian Mausoleum of Halicarnassus in Turkey. Rock and Roll was spawned from R&B which was spawned from African music brought here by the slaves. Our cities, counties, and states are named after people, places, and things from all over the world. Our most common thread is probably our language, because it’s taught in our schools, but even that isn’t ours.
Off the top of my head, the only things I can think of that can be specifically attributed to us outside of other cultural influences are basketball, the internet, and skyscrapers. That’s about it.