this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2026
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I've encountered this sort of point before, you'll likely find many examples right on Lemmy. Does the US "not have culture"? Does it have lots of different cultures? Has it just been so good at spreading culture that everything feels American?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8ljRgcJNM

Post picture is something that feels uniquely US, for better or worse

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[โ€“] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 5 points 13 hours ago

Well, of course it does. Every nation will have some kind of culture that's different from others, to some degree.

And, like any nation of decent size, it has a ton of subcultures too. From regional on down to even parts of cities. Just like Parisian culture is a variant of French, and differs from the culture in Arles.

The key to the U.S.in terms of culture is that it's very mingled and variable compared to smaller places (be it geographically or population). Southern culture, Eastern seaboard culture, low country culture, beach culture, and then something like Charleston (SC) and Myrtle Beach cultures; they all overlap. Where they overlap, you get very hyper local cultures.

And, you'll run into people that partake in multiple cultures, exhibiting baldness behaviors and language patterns that may be mingled, or switched between.

Every nation has culture because culture is just a fancy word for what people do habitually.

Even if you switch usage over to the "cultured" society, that is the same thing, just snobby. It's saying "we did things this way because our in-group has the habit, and we're better than you".

Definitely not a monoculture, but there's a few things that sharply contrast when compared to other countries. The biggest one I've noticed is strong individualism that sometimes manifests as rights and sometimes manifests as bootstraps. Another is using courts instead of regulating corporations (which they then avoid by binding arbitration etc) as well as a general litigiousness. Colonialism in definitely not unique to the US.

Some things that I think are unique to Usonions but not universal among them: mormons and evangelicals (though they're spreading), football, car culture (to the extent that it shapes laws, city planning, social life, employment, etc.).

I'm sure there's more but that's what's off the top of my head.