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reality
dear advicenators,
can u please shatter some myth about the west? yeah i mean especially u.s.a, is the life very easy outhere? is education very flexible and simple? are people here very carefree?do people care about knowing other cultures etc? is marraige just a certificate for legal sex? u get married today and divorced tomorrow?do movies reflect the real u.s.a.?
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Want to answer more questions in the Relationships category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Families?
Movies tell you nothing about the USA.
There are still devout couples here. Really, I swear. Divorce is an all-too convenient way for many to stop working at their relationship. And no, marriage isn't really a certificate for legal sex. You can have sex without getting married perfectly legally. Marriage is about committment, though many have forgotten that.
Carefree? I suppose at times it can be. It can also be horridly stressful as the economy continues to do diddly-squat, job loss is everywhere, and finding a new job is hard as all hell as giant-ass corporations continue to cut jobs as a cost-savings, or ship jobs overseas for cheaper labor, only to get burned on it later in other ways.
Many of us do like to learn about other cultures. I have pursued the knowledge of my family tree as far back as we are able to take it. Culture and ethnicity are definitely a shaping factor, and are deserving of study. That said, there are also many ignorant buffoons who know only about the small town they grew up in, and enjoy not knowing jack-shit about the world around them.
Life being easy is just a matter of perception. Yeah, as opposed to some nations, we do have it easy. But that doesn't mean we don't have to work for it. It just happens that the high-profile people who make the news are the rich and famous, so they give this false impression that they are what represents America, as opposed to those of us who live more "mundane" lives. Of course, all that crap and needing to work doesn't stop me from playing in a band in my spare time, playing with my kids, and trying to pursue my various hobbies when I can.
Our education system is in upheaval right now. I really feel qutie badly for the kids caught up in the mess. The Federal government is really helping screw things up (a la the No Child Gets Left Behind Act - a total farce). College tuition is skyrocketing, making those of us with young children fear what getting a degree is going to cost in 15 years. I graduated college only 10 years ago... and the cost of my alma mater has gone up about 40% since then - totally absurd. And yet, there are higher priced institutions...
As far as eductaion being simple? That's a matter of perspective and what the goals are in learning. Not all the schools here are the same. Some excel in some areas while they lack in others. Some schools are underfunded, understaffed, and therefore underperform. There is no simple answer to that.
Carefree? Stress abounds, either in the workplace, in schools, in society in general, in our economic outlook, in our personal finanaces, everywhere. Being carefree isn't so much handed to you, as it is an option to try to convince yourself to behave that way. Again, there are those out there who have it much worse than us, there are those living in poverty, those living under tyranny and dictatorships who purposefully suppress their people, there are those who have nearly no rights and are just cogs in a machine - so in that respect, hell, we have it great. But for anyone to think that means that they can just show up here and *boom* they have it made... well, they are fooling themselves.
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I'm assuming that you're not from a Western Culture. My parents came here from India with not that much to their name. It is true what they say though that this is the land of opportunity. My parents were incredibly educated from India and were able to make a comfortable life for our family. However, it is true what the cliche says, your life is only as good as you make it, and willing to work for it (or something like that).
Everyone is eligible to get an education when they are young. It is a shame that not everyone takes advantage of it. Of course, ther eare some public schools that aren't very good, but it is still an education if you are willing to put time into it. The nice thing is that if you can, you can choose where you live and where you go to school (yes, this is sometimes money dependent). There are so many colleges here though that most people if they wanted to, could find a college that they coudl go to.
Once again, it depends on the person if they want to learn about other cultures or not. I know a lot of my friends are interested in other cultures, but it all depends on the person.
Marriage is another story. It is sexually more liberal here than other places in the world, but compared to some areas, USA is still kind of "prudish". Some people do marry for the right reasons though- love and family. IN a way, I think a lot of Americans still want that marriage and happy life, it just sometimes doesn't work all the time.
The movies do reflect some things, but mostly it does not- because the movies are only glimpses. The only way to really appreciate American life is to be in it yourself.
Yours,
Arun (Hindu Indian American) :)
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divorce rate is 55%
education is pretty flexible until college wich is hard
life isnt easy unless you're rich
alot of people like our poor excuse for a president dont realize that not everyone thinks like us.
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