American Misculture

Standard vs. Metric:
The "standard" method of measurement is retarded in it's implementation of fractions and odd numbered increments.  For example: 7/8 inch, 12 inches to a foot, or even 5280 feet to a mile.  Why would we keep such a ridiculous means of measure when the rest of the world is using a simple, sensible system based on multiples of 10?  The only reason I can see is that we're just too lazy to put forth the effort to change.

Boxing vs. Martial Arts:
When compared to martial arts, boxing is just plain boring.  Depending on the specific style of martial arts, you can use all four of your limbs, elbows and knees (in Muay Thai kickboxing), grappling, submission holds, wrestling, you name it.  Then with mixed martial arts (MMA), you can use most or all of the above!  Whereas with boxing, all you see is two guys standing up and striking with their hands only (yawn!).  But when is the last time you saw a martial arts competition on American TV?  I've only seen one advertised on pay per view, being the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Competition).  I think I might have seen one or two rare kickboxing matches on ESPN.  Even in the event that they get some air time, they're seldom promoted at all.  For more of my thoughts on martial arts, click here.

American Muscle Cars vs. Import Sports Cars:
In my opinion, American car manufacturers have missed the boat.  I have nothing against muscle cars (I've owned several), but with advances in technology, increasing gas prices, and the growing popularity of imports that utilize today's technology to achieve performance and increased gas mileage, there's no reason that U.S. companies shouldn't at least offer a competitive product for the import appreciating masses.  For more, see my page on motor vehicles.

Obesity:
26 percent of Americans are obese.  Another 35 percent are overweight and continuing to gain.  As I said in the sex portion of this web site, avoiding obesity isn't easy, but it's no mystery either.  Calories - Exercise = Weight.  If you burn more calories than you eat, than you lose weight.  If you eat more calories than you burn, than you gain it.  If you don't want to exercise and you don't have a naturally high metabolism, then you just have to eat less than you burn on a daily basis of existence.  Readers Digest did a quick comparison of food portions that we serve here in America and their equivalent items overseas (called Why Size Matters).  Guess what the results were?  Our typical serving far surpasses those of other countries for many, if not all, types of food.   This includes coffee, meal combos at fast food restaurants, a simple croissant, etc.  Combine that with an inactive lifestyle (driving everywhere, watching too much TV, sitting in an office 8+ hours a day) and you get... FAT!

Education:
Why are our primary schools ranked so low in comparison to other countries?  Are our kids dumber, or maybe the schools just need more funding?  I believe neither, but perhaps it's caused by one or both of two things:  1) Too much emphasis by peers is placed on being cool through sports and partying and not enough, if any, is focused on being smart and/or getting good grades.  2) Lack of parental participation (see below).  So how do we change this?  I don't know about the peer part of the equation, but the parental part is easy: just stop focusing on monetary accomplishment and make some lifestyle sacrifices for the sake of your kids. 

Parental Participation:
Our obsession with economic status increasingly inspires both parents of children to work, leaving unconcerned strangers to raise, entertain, and educate our kids.  Then, after a hard day at work, what is it you feel like doing most?  Teaching the children and spending quality time with them?  Going over homework and/or playing outside?  Or just relaxing and spending time in front of the TV?  More than likely the answer is going to be the last choice.  So where does this leave our kids?  On their own and increasingly uninspired to exceed in school.  Lacking love, lacking attention, lacking family cohesion.

Football vs. Rugby:
Football is my favorite American team sport for many reasons, including numerous varieties of possible strategies, utilization of multiple athletic body types and skills (small and fast guys, big guys, kicking, throwing, running).  But rugby is even better, accomplishing all of this without pads and with more kicking, throwing, and running by all of the players!  But when was the last time you heard of a local rugby event or even seen one televised?

Litigious Society:
The incredibly large quantity and likelihood of success of even the most ridiculous lawsuits in this country has reached epic proportions. Everybody wants to get rich quick and every pathetic story is accompanied by claims of a victim status.  For an entertaining list of ridiculous actual lawsuits click here.

Political Correctness:
I think Neil Boortz (a talk show host) says it best by asking (very loosely paraphrased) "Where is it written that everyone has the right not to be offended?"  IT ISN'T!  In fact, it's in direct violation of the 1st Amendment, as well as, in the case of airport screeners inability to racially profile, threatening to undermine the means of assuring our citizen's safety.  So why are we so intent on enforcing these "rules of offense prevention"?

NASCAR vs. Formula 1 or Rally:
I'll admit that maybe I just don't get it.  Why do so many Americans love NASCAR?  Circle (oval, whatever) track racing is just plain boring!  Especially when you compare it to Formula One or CART racing, both of which has vehicles with higher performance, are international competitions, have much more challenging and interesting tracks, which make it more enjoyable to watch.  Rally racing is also superior, which pits cars against each other over off road tracks which twist, wind, dip, and jump through various countrysides.  Not only is NASCAR boring in comparison, but the rules annoyingly change on a regular basis and sometimes apply only to one team rather than all of them.

Vacation, or Lack Thereof:
The vacation time given to employees by their employer is usually only 2 weeks, or at the most 3 (possibly after 10-15 years of service).  Compare this to other nations which supply a months vacation, plus extensive maternity leave for the women and for the men!  One could argue that these freedoms would come at the sacrifice of productivity, which would affect the overall economy, but the countries with these greater number of allowable days off generally have good economies and high standards of living!

Unions:
I recognize that in some cases, a union can be an invaluable tool for improving the working conditions, health considerations, and salary standards of the employees at a given organization.  The original concept was an incredible blessing to the people working in manufacturing plants and other potentially health hazardous facilities.  However, this idea of unionization has gone much too far and has contributed to the downfall of our corporations' ability to successfully compete in international markets, including manufacturing and production.

Stuff Storage:
We Americans have so much stuff that we can't even contain it in our primary place of residence, which is usually more than abundant in space.  Because of this, self-storage facilities, with hundreds of units for people to keep all of their additional crap, are rapidly growing in number.  Sure, I can understand the occasional need to temporarily store possessions while in transition between residences, such as from an apartment to a house, or while waiting for your new house to be built.