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Your opinion on Coke's version of America The Beautiful? [W:1014]

Do You like this version of "America The Beautiful?"

  • Total voters
    104
opendebate said:
Exactly why not?
The commercial was not making the suggestion that we abandon the core principles that this country promises to represent and serve. It's reminding us what those fundamental promises are. That people no matter what their faith or ethnicity are welcome here and will be provided equal opportunity and be judged by their deeds not their color or their faith or their language.

It is also not making the suggestion that we abandon english as our primary language, it has nothing to do with the language we speak or teach. It is about the diversity that makes us strong and makes America unique.
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Funny thing for a progressive to say. ->UVM History Review vol. 6 Dec. 1994: Lund
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
That is my point, we are and always have been a land of many tribes. I think its better to have a land of many tribes where most people could care less about tribalism myself. That is my thing, I don't care how many cultures we have. I just get worried when people start getting tribal about it.
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I think we were much more unified in the past than we are today. At the very least, it can be said that the dominant culture was still strong enough not to face serious threat from any potential challengers.

This seems to be changing. I anticipate that this reality will ultimately cause far more problems than it will bring benefits to our society as a whole.
 
Republic Now! said:
No one is implying it.
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O yes people are, I quoted the former Congressman Allen West, I've linked another source with other folks who feel that way, and Apache right here feels that way as well. I guess they technically aren't implying it since they are shouting it from the rooftops so to speak.
 
Gathomas88 said:
The immigrants of the 19th Century faced far more discrimination and prejudice than any today. They assimilated just fine, precisely because they didn't really have any other choice.

Today's culture, by way of contrast, encourages "multiculturalism" instead. As a consequence of that, many minority groups are opting not to assimilate, but rather remain distinct from the main body of our society.

As I have already stated, this is problematic for a variety of reasons; most of which center around the fact that this philosophy leads individuals to identify more with their ethnicity than with their nation, or culture of their nation, as a whole.



This is our tribe's land. Why on earth wouldn't we expect them to conform to our standards if they want to live here? :lol:

Surely, you agree that a single, more or less unified, tribe is better than a loose confederation of different tribes jealously vying against one another for power and privilege?
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Good lord would you evolve already.
 
Wiseone said:
Problem is that you'd have a hell of a time writing any law that would define how much of a person's culture they could practice without first throwing out the Constitution first. And hell what if it isn't even their culture but just a culture they want to practice? For example I've spent a lot of time studying Chinese, studying abroad in China, I've got a lot of experience and appreciation for that culture and language. However I'm still white American who grew up as a military brat and have no family connection to Chinese culture whatsoever but what I wanted to practice that culture, move myself to Chinatown, eat, work, and live like the other folks living there?

Why shouldn't I be allowed to?
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Beyond maybe setting English as our nation's "official language," I'm not proposing that any kind of legislation should be put in place.

I was simply stating the reasons why the commercial's ideological lean made me uncomfortable. The idea that American culture "does not matter" is dangerous.
 
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I loved the commercial and strongly hope America never has one culture. We will be a very boring country if we do.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Almost every country preserves its historical landmarks, there is nothing uniquely American about that.
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Who said anything about "uniquely?" No country has completely unique traits. When we look at societies that have existed, a lot did not care about preserving history. Just look at the bronze statues from ancient Greece. Well, actually, you can't, because societies melted them down.

In a way, historical preservation of landmarks is impractical and irrational, but it's important to us.

Certain parts of the country have a distinct culture, but unlike most countries we don't have a national culture.For example, culturally the upper midwest is so different than the deep south that they may as well be different countries. How much culture does Wyoming have in common with Massachusetts? The Pacific Northwest culturally has far more in common with Canada than it does with say, Arkansas or Tennessee.
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Most countries have regional variances. There is still an overall culture.


That said, while we don't have a national culture, we do have something of a national character.
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I'm not sure why you are making a distinction but alright.

For example, and this is subjective of course, but I think the most American in terms of character / persona president we have ever had is Teddy Roosevelt.
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Theodore Roosevelt? How sad for us.

While he didn't embody a national culture, he did embody what I think most of the world sees as the American character more than any other president we have had.
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How other people see us is their business.

I think what defines America more than anything else is our diversity and our land / wilderness more than anything else.
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Dirt with plants on it is definitely not uniquely American.
 
I thought it was a boring commercial and super corny commercial. It's supposed to be the Super Bowl, not the Lame Bowl. :roll: Except this year, it really was the Lame Bowl.
 
Wiseone said:
O yes people are, I quoted the former Congressman Allen West, I've linked another source with other folks who feel that way, and Apache right here feels that way as well. I guess they technically aren't implying it since they are shouting it from the rooftops so to speak.
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No, you implied a lot of BS from his quote. He never said any of the things you stated in your post. You may want to review your own inclinations before accusing others of using straw man arguments.
 
Gathomas88 said:
And proud of it. :mrgreen:

I kill **** and get things done, damnit! Nothing wrong with that. :lol:
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Lesson number one :mrgreen::

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Amandi said:
I loved the commercial and strongly hope America never has one culture. We will be a very boring country if we do.
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America would be the first to do it.

Of course, random languages is not the vanguard preventing this.
 
Gathomas88 said:
I think I read into it exactly what was meant; "we're all Americans, we simply speak different languages, and have different cultures."

Again, that's fine. What I object to is the notion that this is a desirable thing in and of itself. Assimilation, and the unity it creates, should be the goal, not "multiculturalism," and the ethnic factionalism in which it always inevitably results.

I don't think the ad itself was overly political. I was simply uncomfortable with its premise.
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'Assimilation'? Really?
I live in a multicultural society and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I go to the city (Vancouver) I could easily hear four or five languages on one half-hour transit trip downtown. The thought of 'assimilation' and 'unity' brings to mind a drab, uniform society that I wouldn't like much.
 
Grand Mal said:
'Assimilation'? Really?
I live in a multicultural society and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I go to the city (Vancouver) I could easily hear four or five languages on one half-hour transit trip downtown. The thought of 'assimilation' and 'unity' brings to mind a drab, uniform society that I wouldn't like much.
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borg-in-alcove.jpg
 
Grand Mal said:
'Assimilation'? Really?
I live in a multicultural society and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I go to the city (Vancouver) I could easily hear four or five languages on one half-hour transit trip downtown. The thought of 'assimilation' and 'unity' brings to mind a drab, uniform society that I wouldn't like much.
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Well, for purposes of communication, people should at least be familiar with the "native" language of the country in which they live. It only helps them and everyone else too. Communication issues can actually be dangerous in certain situations, such as on construction sites or other dangerous jobs. If you tell someone "look out" because you dropped a hammer off of a high place, and the person couldn't understand you, that person would be hurt, and there are even much worse case scenarios too.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Beyond maybe setting English as our nation's "official language," I'm not proposing that any kind of legislation should be put in place.

I was simply stating the reasons why the commercial's ideological lean made me uncomfortable. The idea that American culture "does not matter" is dangerous.
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If you see that idea in the commercial you're still reading way too far into it

Republic Now! said:
No, you implied a lot of BS from his quote. He never said any of the things you stated in your post. You may want to review your own inclinations before accusing others of using straw man arguments.
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Who's "he" I mentioned a lot of males in my post. If you're talking about Apache we can ask him directly if he thinks that its wrong for people to not speak English or behave in what he considers an unamerican way. But I hope you aren't expecting anything more than the most bat **** crazy answer outta that guy. We should also ask if he considers non-Englishs speech to be protected like English speech under the 1st amendment.
 
DiAnna said:
...........
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Yes, I am. I love that song, grew up loving it, and to hear it suddenly sung in unrecognizable gobble-d-gook just for the sake of an ideological agenda offended me to the core.
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What ideological agenda is that? It seems to me to be consistent with the ideology this country was founded on. What is it again that is inscribed on the statue of liberty?

I love the "we are the world" songs; I love Mexican music, I love hearing it in their language, despite my own Spanish being sadly deficient; I grew up surrounded by Mexican culture, and the children of that culture were my playmates and my friends; I love the diversity of this country, and the various cultures.
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This sounds a little condescending. Also, this song does not belong to YOU. It belongs to anyone who calls themselves American, hyphenated or not.

I do not love having the songs of this country, the ones that have given me pleasant tingles since childhood, ravaged to where I can no longer even understand the words. I felt the same way when I heard the opening of a sports event preceded by the Star Spangled Banner sung in Spanish. It was incredibly rude, pathetically transparent, and yes, I ****ing hate it
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I think the inclusiveness of other languages in that song represents what is at the very foundation of this country. It is not suggesting that America become something something, it is showing us how we are walking the walk and living the promise of equality and the peaceful coexistence of people from different cultures. The idea that they can live in a way that maintains a respect for their personal history amongst people who have very different histories and do so in peace because we all agree on the fundamental idea of tolerance and freedom is pretty damn awesome and very much in keeping with what we as a nation claim to be about.
 
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Superfly said:
I thought it was beautiful.

Good grief, people. We are all descendants from immigrants. :roll:
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Corny. When I'm watching the SuperBowl, I want to be entertained, not bored to death.
 
ChrisL said:
Lesson number one :mrgreen::

images
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Pff... That sounds like a lot of work. :lol:

Grand Mal said:
'Assimilation'? Really?
I live in a multicultural society and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I go to the city (Vancouver) I could easily hear four or five languages on one half-hour transit trip downtown. The thought of 'assimilation' and 'unity' brings to mind a drab, uniform society that I wouldn't like much.
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When was the last time you saw a Trayvon Martin style media circus over an Irish guy killing an Italian or Pollock?

Assimilation has its benefits.
 
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I mean, who cares, really...
It is a commercial.
I don't remember anywhere seeing that the American language is English.
 
It was a lovely commercial, and it's amazing that people would be offended by it. Some people gotta have a bitchfit over nothing I guess.

America the Beautiful is my favorite American song.
 
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