The general decline in standards today

[Feraud]

outside America it's called 'Americanisation'.

It is a true and very cringe inducing term.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It is a true and very cringe inducing term.

And if it's any consolation, there are plenty of Americans who repudiate what it represents. No matter what the Internet says.

 

[herringbonekid]

Lizzie and Feraud,

i'm equally embarrassed by any country (my own) that adopts the bombastic 'woo hoo, is everybody having a good time !!!' approach to practically any event.
it's all symptomatic of the infantilisation of adulthood... which would be top of my list of topics for this thread.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

outside America it's called 'Americanisation'.

Though it's not really a one-way street because, for example, reality shows were a staple of Japanese television for some thirty or forty years but then the concept spread to Europe and eventually America. However, the full noxiousness wasn't completely realised until the American versions were regurgitated back to the rest of the world. And as you know, American television isn't particularly known for its originality as we copied many of our hit TV shows from British ones.

 

[vintageTink]

Ugh, H&M. Ugly clothes that are the exact same thing as everyone else is wearing. I prefer to make my own if possible.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

H&M: From the same folks that brought you Ikea.

 

[vintageTink]

Argh! IKEA!

The Japanese TV shows are...interesting. A few years ago there was a group that took a real Japanese show and dubbed over it. It was called MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. It was pretty funny.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Yes, the Japanese invented Extremification.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

At the risk of getting in to politics, the Tea Party movement had very little about change and more about maintaining a certain majour political party's status quo. A long-time member of this majour political party with his maverick longshot "Tea Party" Presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 did more to bring to bring people to the voting booth and cast their ballot for this majour political party than the more obvious campaigning by said majour party. People that more than likely would have sat out the 2008 elections got excited about the "Tea Party" and were conned in to believing that they could actually bring about change by continuing to support this majour political party and its candidates. "It just takes time!" we've been told, and have been told since 1856.

'The risk'..?? you have and are delving into politics..which are banned here for good reason. Some may disagree with you and very much want to add their 2 cents(me included) ...leading to just what this forum is trying to avoid. We've been there..done that ..and it wasn't pretty.
HD

 

[vintageTink]

Yes, the Japanese invented Extremification.

I never understood why people would compete in obstacle courses. I don't know that they won anything. Most just got knocked into mud.

 

[Pinhead]

The Japanese TV shows are...interesting. A few years ago there was a group that took a real Japanese show and dubbed over it. It was called MXC: Most Extreme Elimination Challenge. It was pretty funny.

I remember seeing an interview with the guys that produced that show. They said they found boxes full of the original shows in some studio and bought them for a song. They had no idea what the characters were saying and they just "partook of some substances" and got very silly with it. Sure enough, some network people saw it and bought it. He said the money was secondary because they were having so much fun making them.

I never understood why people would compete in obstacle courses. I don't know that they won anything. Most just got knocked into mud.

Because they probably "partook a bit" and had a lot of fun. Just like the many years I spent skydiving. Fun, danger and adrenaline was the only reason. (OK, maybe girls, also.)

 

[vintageTink]

The show invigorated the interest in the original cast members as well. Their acting careers were stimulated and they gave interviews saying they were enjoying the newfound popularity. Strange!

I've always wanted to skydive. Haven't done so.

 

[jamespowers]

Ok now, lets quit with the fast food is cheaper than eating right trash. I have fought this for years. People are so easily duped by fools on TV who have no idea what food costs and the nutrition involved. I mean really, if it was so cheap then how the heck would fast food places make money themselves?! It isn't:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-harlan-md/health-food-prices_b_862770.html If the doctor doesn't convince you then I can't help you.

 

[jamespowers]

it's all symptomatic of the infantilisation of adulthood... which would be top of my list of topics for this thread.

Man, you have hit it on the head. No matter what country it is, there are fools who have no idea how to act in a given situation. Adults walk around dressed like their rat kids and act just like them too. :doh: You can't expect them to teach their rat kids how to act when they have no idea themselves.:doh:

 

[vintageTink]

Ok now, lets quit with the fast food is cheaper than eating right trash. I have fought this for years. People are so easily duped by fools on TV who have no idea what food costs and the nutrition involved. I mean really, if it was so cheap then how the heck would fast food places make money themselves?! It isn't:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-harlan-md/health-food-prices_b_862770.html If the doctor doesn't convince you then I can't help you.

I think it depends on what you eat and where you buy groceries.
A Whopper is cheaper than organic vegan soy burgers from Whole Foods. Not to mention better for you.

 

[jamespowers]

I think it depends on what you eat and where you buy groceries.
A Whopper is cheaper than organic vegan soy burgers from Whole Foods. Not to mention better for you.

In that case, you are right. Fake food like that costs a lot of money---go figure. :doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think it depends on what you eat and where you buy groceries.
A Whopper is cheaper than organic vegan soy burgers from Whole Foods. Not to mention better for you.

It also depends on the neighborhood -- there are areas where you'll be hard pressed to actually find an affordable grocery store, but fast-food joints are everywhere. There's a working-class neighborhood in Boston that was up in arms recently because Whole Foods came along and bought out a local market that had served the area for decades -- and replaced it with its usual carrot-stick-up-the-backside high-end/high-priced approach. They didn't care a bit that the locals couldn't afford to shop there, or that they'd displaced the only store in the neighborhood where they *could* afford to shop. All they cared about was pleasing the preening gentrifiers who are steadily pushing out those locals.

 

[jamespowers]

It also depends on the neighborhood -- there are areas where you'll be hard pressed to actually find an affordable grocery store, but fast-food joints are everywhere. There's a working-class neighborhood in Boston that was up in arms recently because Whole Foods came along and bought out a local market that had served the area for decades -- and replaced it with its usual carrot-stick-up-the-backside high-end/high-priced approach. They didn't care a bit that the locals couldn't afford to shop there, or that they'd displaced the only store in the neighborhood where they *could* afford to shop. All they cared about was pleasing the preening gentrifiers who are steadily pushing out those locals.

From a marketing standpoint, that makes no sense. You move a store into an areas where the demographics won't support it?! Sounds ridiculous but then again, we are talking about Hippie Foods. :doh: The Hippies here can't get a Trader Joe's because TJ says the demographics won't support it. Good!

 

[CharleneC]

From a marketing standpoint, that makes no sense. !

Yes, the tale is apocryphal.

 

[Virginia Creeper]

The show invigorated the interest in the original cast members as well. Their acting careers were stimulated and they gave interviews saying they were enjoying the newfound popularity. Strange!

I've always wanted to skydive. Haven't done so.

I loved MXC. It always left me with a profound gratitude that I wasn't the one eating mud.