Perversely, individualism may have a greater role in shaping America’s future than its past. Technology offers abundant opportunities for avoiding social contact. Television and the internet enable us to bring the doings of the world into our homes, rather than having to go out and find out about them. Video games and iPods offer personalized, one-on-one entertainment. Even activities that are still communal are often arranged in such a way as to prohibit social contact. We go to the movies but sit in darkness, every seat facing in one direction. We work in cubicles, partitions screening us from our neighbors. Drive-through restaurants, drugstores and banks allow us to conduct our daily business without the tediousness of having to leave our own personal space. Even education, with the burgeoning popularity of home schooling and web-based college courses, is becoming insular.
Whether this bodes well for the future of social reserve is hard to say. Americans may become even shyer when meeting people, or avoid doing so altogether. Or this increasing isolation may tip the scales in the other direction, so that the need for human companionship pushes individuals to seek closer contact. With social conventions the way they currently are, to reach out like this may require more ruggedness than Americans have heretofore shown.
Article comments
1 - Glen Boyd
Welcome to Blogcritics Doc'. By the way, Can I call you Doc? I've followed your comments mostly in the politics section for awhile, and i'm quite pleased to see you've joined us in an official capacity.
This was an excellent article. Reading it, kind of reminded of how a lot of us guys may have acted as teenagers more than as adults though. Particularly the part about who guys would sprawl themselves across an entire bus seat, rather than sit next to each other. That was more the MO of a kid than an adult I would think.
Anyway, congrats on a good first effort and welcome aboard.
-Glen
2 - Dr Dreadful
Thanks, Glen, for your kind words.
I should perhaps mention that I haven't found the bus-sprawling to be a uniquely American phenomenon. I saw it a lot when I lived in England, largely because I rode the bus a lot more then.
You're right that it is something you see young people do more. Probably because they tend to be more uninhibited in their public behavior, and therefore more conspicuous on buses.
3 - Silver Surfer
Of course, all these social issues could be solved by the simple expedient of putting a Union Jack in the corner of the flag instead of those stars, and then we go from there.
That at least would make them feel they belong somewhere (where, though, well that's a matter of conjecture isn't it. I mean, where do Aussies belong, and Kiwis, all the way down the bottom of the planet?).
Good stuff, Doc ... glad you put virtual pen to virtual paper.
4 - Christopher Rose
Welcome aboard, Doc. Wanna hug?
5 - SFC SKI
This article should be titled "satire" shouldn't it? I don't have any idea of the writer's background, but it seems to me that he has impressions of Americans, but doesn't actually know Americans very well.
I could make snapshot assessments of Brits, Arabs, Germans, and Frenchmen simlar to these based on my travels as well as residence abroad, and they'd be just as general and incorrect as those offered in the article above.
Anyway, welcome to Blogcritics.
6 - STM
I dunno, SFC SKI, it seems to mirror my non-American impressions of America and Americans. Nowhere, though, does he say he doesn't like them, which is probably telling. He's married to one as well.
7 - Dr Dreadful
STM is correct. I didn't set out to make an individual character assessment of every American: just some general observations of what American culture is like.
As for its accuracy, Sarge, well, do you go around holding your buddies' hands in public? Kissing them? How close do you stand to someone when you're talking to them?
Thought so!
8 - gonzo marx
heyas Doc..glad ta see ya shot thi son eup for all to peruse...
/golfclap
now, my thought as to why many Americans are a bit stand offish in many ways with each other (especially us blokes) has a bit to do with our armed history...
back in the day, most men were armed..this forced the "distance" and what passes for good manners among us...becoming engrained in our culture to the point that most have no clue where it came from ...
kind of like those kid games that every child knows, but no one remembers ever learning...
just a Thought, and welcome to BC!
Excelsior?
9 - troll
so...what do you think of Sharapova's chances next week at the open
10 - Dr Dreadful
Pretty good. All she needs to do is win more sets than she loses.
Nice change of subject... :-D
11 - Dr Dreadful
Thanks gonz - dead-on apt video, as usual. Interesting theory about the arms... but Brits are standoffish too. As I hinted in the article when I mentioned the Victorians, perhaps you got it from us.
I used to work with David Bowie's cousin. Cool, huh?
12 - duane
Fresno. Hehe. I think the city's motto is something like, "Hey, it's not that bad. .... No, really."
Is that true?
Well, it's not that bad. Did you know that a full 65% of the adult residents of Fresno have graduated high school? There's something to be proud of right there.
Take some consolation in the fact that you can still make fun of Modesto.
Always enjoy yer contributions, Dr. D. Carry on, but please maintain a respectful distance.
Also, possibly apropos of your article, that members of the canine family interpret a direct look in the eye as a sign of aggression or as a display of dominance.
13 - STM
Australians are a bit stand-offish too. Some country people will fix you with a very steely glare, and then answer after about 10 seconds. I reckon it comes from hearing what has to be said, thinking about it carefully, and not opening your gob until you're absolutely certain that you only say whatever needs to be said.
And, ah, even if you're really pissed (pom/aussie/kiwi meaning: drunk) don't try to hug an Aussie bloke in the pub :)
14 - bliffle
I think this is a fascinating subject with so many facets that it's difficult to know what to address.
For example, the typical american father/husband is a sort of Designated Warrior of the family, destined to go out in an unfriendly world and wrest sustenance from that world and defend the home against the criminals that would loot the home. He can have no friends because that would be weakness. He must rely on contracts enforced by dispassionate courts and judges.
After WW2 the Japanese rebuilt their culture with the Samurai Businessman, a synthesis of the traditional Samurai Warrior and their perception of the modern american businessman. This lonely warrior became the overworked overstressed Salaryman of modern Japan, worn out, betrayed by his employer and finally despised by his own family. No hero, after all.
We should learn from the examples before us.
15 - Dr Dreadful
Take some consolation in the fact that you can still make fun of Modesto.
Actually, duane, it's Bakersfield (the armpit of California) we like to make fun of. (Modesto would be like kicking a girl. :-) ) I know they do the same to us - my brother-in-law is from Bakersfield.
It's a very unhealthy rivalry, as you can take it from me that both places are shitholes!
16 - duane
Taking on Bakersfield, huh? Does the name Buck Owens mean anything to you? You've got a tough row to hoe. But then, those undergound gardens are impressive.
17 - Dr Dreadful
Taking on Bakersfield, huh? Does the name Buck Owens mean anything to you?
Only as the name of an exit off Highway 99 when driving - as fast as possible - through Bakersfield...