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I generally find the US culture to be high on bombast and hyperbole, and lacking finesse and nuances - everything seems to be right in your face and over your head with hammer to make sure that everybody gets it. Americans also tend to be louder and more obnoxious in public places than most other nationalities. Therefore, this cultural regression to adolescence seems to be yet another manifestation of the US silliness and arrogance - which I (and most foreigners) find highly annoying.
Wojtek
^^^^^ CB: You are probably right. Your generalization about Americans has been made since I can remember. It is corroborated by such themes as "The Ugly American". But the ugliest part of American chauvinism is in things like 100 plus military bases around the world. If we were just louder and ruder than average without the militarism, it would be "sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you."
WILLIAM J. LEDERER AND EUGENE BURDICK The Ugly American The multi-million-copy bestseller that coined the phrase for tragic American blunders abroad.
First published in 1958, The Ugly American became a runaway national bestseller for its slashing exposé of American arrogance, incompetence, and corruption in Southeast Asia. Based on fact, the book's eye-opening stories and sketches drew a devastating picture of how the United States was losing the struggle with Communism in Asia. Combining gripping storytelling with an urgent call to action, the book prompted President Eisenhower to launch a study of our military aid program that led the way to much-needed reform.
"Powerful and absorbing. . . . Should be required reading in Washington."—Kirkus Reviews
"Not only important but consistently entertaining. . . . The attack on American policy in Asia this book makes is clothed in sharp characterizations, frequently humorous incident, and perceptive descriptions of the countries and people where the action occurs."-Robert Trumbull, former chief correspondent for the New York Times in China and Southeast Asia
"Seldom has a deadly warning been more entertainingly or convincingly given."—Washington Star
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- William J. Lederer is the author of The Mirages of Marriage (with Don D. Jackson) and other books. Eugene Burdick's other books include Fail-Safe.