DO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TURN YOU INTO AN AMERICAN

As an American: Seriously, please don’t

ok well i don't

"Americanization" is a real phenomenon, and how non-Americans should be cautious of it is taught in different countries at school. It's taught in Greece and people from other countries told me their elementary or middle school teachers (using the American grades, to make it make sense to the majority on the site) talked to them about it.

It's common sense here, except for USians, so I'll analyze it a bit more for the dominant demographic here. In a globalized setting, the most dominant culture affects the others and sets the trends. The way our language works, how we think, our levels of politeness and intimacy, and our levels of respect. (flash news, they are going down 😂)

I don't want to imply that there is nothing good in the US. There are plenty of positives in the country. It's just that for the rest of the cultures online it's a constant daily fight to not forget our roots, with the degree US media and brands have permeated our lives. In Greece at least we watch more US American media than Greek media nowadays, and many of our shows are rip-offs of USian ones, with little adaptation to Greek reality and culture.

And to demonstrate the amount of this exposure, a 22-year-old Greek asked me the other day "if something happens we call 911, right?" This might have literally cost them their life, in a dangerous situation! Because all the movies and songs they consumed (not an unusual thing for the Greek youth) were what they knew. And I found a similar comment in this comment thread.

Lots of Americans in the notes failing to understand this post. It's not about not liking the US. It's not about you feeling ashamed or guilty for being American. It's not about you.

It's about American media drowning out native language media all over the world, and workplaces requiring the English language in your repertoire more and more. It's about proper translations and foreign language dubbing of films disappearing because "everyone speaks/should speak English anyway." All of this is leading to the deterioration of native speaker groups of languages worldwide.

In my country, Dutch language courses can't find enough people who want to study the language, while English language courses are overflowing with people who want to study the language. There is even widespread distaste for the Dutch language for being crude or sounding rough or what have you. That's our native language!!! That is our culture in its purest form!!! That is knowledge we inherit from our parents as they did from theirs!!! That is how we learned fairytales and folk stories and myths!!! That is the language that shapes our communication and our way of thinking!!! To hate your native language is to hate yourself at the deepest level.

And yet it's so normalised. Droves of foreigners living in the Netherlands will never learn a word of Dutch, because "everyone speaks English anyway." We are the world's leaders in non-native understanding of English, but it comes at a cost. A grave cost we will continue to pay.

If you're looking to support your non-American friends in any way that is not performatively shouting "I hate being an American" into the void, first of all, unlearn that hatred of yourself and your culture. You are of no help self-flagellating, and there is a difference between holding your country accountable for its issues, and denying yourself your culture because your country is doing and has done bad things.

(I am not going to get into arguments about whether or not US American culture exists. It does, and if you think differently you are welcome to change your mind.)

Secondly, learn about other countries. Learn a bit of Chinese. Take an interest in the Italian political system. Ask your friends about their countries' folklore. Watch documentaries about art from Nigeria. Absorb information that is not fed to you by American media.

And thirdly, quit expecting your non-American friends to communicate in a way that appeals to you. The French and Dutch will always seem rude to you because our way of communicating is far more direct than the way you communicate. People from other cultures may seem vague to you because their way of communicating is far more indirect, and you're not used to that either. Quit being frustrated when you don't get what we mean exactly. Quit assuming we mean the absolute worst thing you could imagine just because you didn't get what we meant the first time. Ask us to explain if you need us to, and learn to accept that we are different from you.

We are already adapting to your culture 100% of the time we are online. It's your responsibility to adapt to us, too. At least do your friends the courtesy of learning about and adapting to them.

We are already adapting to your culture 100% of the time we are online. It's your responsibility to adapt to us, too. At least do your friends the courtesy of learning about and adapting to them.

Honestly the comment about immediately thinking of 911 as the number to call in an emergency is too real

Happy Pride In Australia Runs From February To March Day!

conflating diaspora jews with the actions of the israeli government is not okay, yes, but have you considered it's not okay to conflate israeli jews with them either

It's kinda like Trump, the ICE detention centers, and the US.

"Ah, you're an American. America elected Trump. Therefore, you support Trump!"

No I'm not. Most of us aren't, it's just that between his rabid supporters and the people who don't like him but like Democrats less, and the fundamental injustice of the Electoral College, he managed to get elected.

"Ah, you're an American. America's government put kids in cages. Therefore, you support putting brown kids in cages!"

No, I don't. Not only do I vote for politicians who want to make it easier for undocumented immigrants to become legal residents and citizens, I also donate to and volunteer with my local immigrant support nonprofit.

You can't tell very much about a person's political, racial, or justice views based on their citizenship. Every single nation on Earth has a wide range of political, social, racial, economic, and other beliefs. Even things that may seem like everyone agrees about it will often have MAJOR disagreements when you look under the hood. If you assume otherwise, it's because you're either completely ignorant or have prejudices of one flavor or another. (Or possibly both.)

[image id 1: a symmetrical, geometrical fabric pattern consisting of black, red, white, and teal/green patterns-some looking like animals, such as dinosaurs or chickens with two heads. there is a white, rectangular space in the middle with two small triangles at the top and bottom, where black text has been added in editing, reading "no one is free until everyone is free". in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 2: a collage of various images of symbols of palestine/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the word "PALESTINE" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "Israel has been occupying Palestinian land for (bolded) 75 years, (unbolded) killing over (bolded) 15,000 (unbolded) civilians since October 7th, (bolded) ~6,000 (unbolded) of whom are children. Over (bolded) 1.5 million (unbolded) people are displaced daily, and the bombings have equated to the destruction of the Hiroshima bomb. The West and Eurocentric countries have not called for (bolded) ceasefire (unbolded) due to their governments' profit from the occupation and their desire to control the (bolded) Suez Canal. (unbolded) The Palestinians need support to shift favor away from Israel." in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 3: a collage of various images of symbols of congo/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the words "The Congo" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "Congolese people are suffering from a silent (bolded) genocide, (unbolded) forced to mine for (bolded) cobalt, (unbolded) coltan, gold, and diamonds with minimal safety measures. Enforced by Rwandan and Ugandan militias, they are (bolded) raped, beaten, and killed (unbolded) for not working to an unattainable standard. Israel exports diamonds and Coltan from Confo, leading to (bolded) milliona of deaths (unbolded) and injuries." in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 4: a collage of various images of symbols of sudan/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the word "Sudan" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "In 2019, Sudan's revolution overthrew the dictatorship, leading to the military's temporary rule. Militant parties (bolded) SAF AND RSF (unbolded) staged a coup to prevent civilians from forming a government. (bolded) Western governments funded this (unbolded) unrest, destroying hope for a civilian-led government. (bolded) Over 9000 civilians have died, (unbolded) 5.6 million are displaced, 24 million need aid, and many more are missing. in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 5: a collage of various images of symbols of north american indigeneity/things reminiscient of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the words "North American Indigenous" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "North American Indigenous Peoples have suffered genocide, ethnic cleansing, and forced (bolded) displacement (unbolded) from their land. They face harsh conditions, including nuclear radiation, poverty, and environmental degredation. Indigenous communities in (bolded) Canada, Hawaii, and Jamaica (unbolded) are also affected by (bolded) destructive tourism, (unbolded) displacement, and lack of access to resources. Supporting indigenous movements and advocating for their rights is crucial. in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 6: a collage of various images of symbols of armenia/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the word "Armenia" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian-populated region, has been a site of (bolded) multiple wars, genocide and ethnic cleansings since 1988. (unbolded) Azerbaijani claims have escalated, with tensions rising. As of April 2023, Azerbaijani activists blocked aid to Armenians, forcing (bolded) 120,000 to evacuate (unbolded) into Armenia as refugees." in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 7: a collage of various images of symbols of yemen/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the word "Yemen" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "For over (bolded) seven years, (unbolded) the Yemen conflict has led to a (bolded) humanitarian crisis, (unbolded) affecting over 20 million Yemenis with inadequate food, healthcare, and infrastructure. The conflict has resulted in (bolded) unlawful attacks on civilians, (unbolded) internal displacement, and food insecurity. Western countries continue to sell arms to Saudi Arabia and other coalition members." in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

[image id 8: a collage of various images of symbols of guatemala/things reminiscent of it, with a white square in the middle with a black border and black text within it, headed with the word "Guatemala" in slightly larger text than the rest. the regular sized text within the square reads "Guatemalan General Efrain Rios Montt seized power after a civil war and used it to seize land from (bolded) indigenous (unbolded) Mayans, leading to a brutal (bolded) genocide. (unbolded) The Guatemalan government targeted indigenous communities, forcibly displacing over (bolded) 40,000 (unbolded) people, and forcibly disposing of opposition figures. The United States supported the genocidal regime." in the bottom right corner, there is a tiktok symbol and credit to @megan_cap in white text. /end id.]

Every once in a while a new music genre gets invented and people from all different countries are like this slaps we got to start doing that and combine it with our own music styles and that's beautiful

There was a time when China got really into jazz and so did Ethiopia. Cambodia got really into Psychedelic Rock to the point that there's now an contemporary American band specialised in this style of music. There's a band from my hometown in Germany singing in Spanish and I know several early 20th century Japanese and Chinese artists were doing the same. Zambia had it's own Rock movement. Ska is from Jamaica but I know Japanese, Basque and Spanish ska bands. You can probably find hip hop and rap in all languages of the world by now. I watched an entire documentary on the history of South American rock and roll. There is a Cuban orchestra mixing Mozart and guajira. Finnish tango. German covers of Irish folk music. Blues from the Sahara.

Proverbs that encourage you to slow down in different languages:

Preko preče, naokolo bliže/Prijeko preče, naokolo bliže (BCS): lit. "more convenient across, closer all the way around." When you interpret it a bit it would be something like: "the shortcut is shorter but the long way is faster".

Тише едешь, дальше будешь (Russian): lit. "the quieter/slower you go, the further you'll get."

Vísteme despacio, que tengo prisa (Spanish): lit. "dress me slowly, I'm in a hurry."

Festina lente (Latin): lit. "hurry slowly". Originally a translation of the Ancient Greek "σπεῦδε βραδέως/ spéude bradéos".

One phrase my grandma always uses is “Haast en spoed is zelden goed”, haste and hurrying is rarely good

something my mom always says is: "Wenn du es eilig hast, gehe langsam." It's german for "If you're in a hurry, walk slowly. "

in polish we say “gdy się człowiek spieszy, to się diabeł cieszy” English translation is „when human is in hurry, devil is happy”

it basically means that your hurry won’t lead you to anything good, so slow down and focus

In Romanian we have "Graba stricĂ treaba" which means "Haste ruins the work" (and oops i didn't have the letter i needed so i had to copy and paste it off of wikipedia XD)

In Arabic we got

"في التأني السلامة وفي العجلة الندامة"

Which roughly translates to "in caution there's safety, in haste there's repentance/regret"

This is a lot less poetic than in other languages lol but in Bulgarian we have "бързата кучка слепи ги ражда" meaning "a quick bitch gives birth to blind puppies" (in other words haste ruins the quality of your work etc.)

#I've also heard 'бързай бавно' which would be a translation of the latin/greek one

Yeah, and I've also heard "бързата работа, срам за майстора".

So "quick work, shame for the master/handyman". Cause it'll be sloppy, y'know.

Usually said in response to someone rushing you.

YOU GET THE FUCK BACK HERE AND EXPLAIN THAT RIGHT NOW

the fuck

[Image 1: a world map. The land masses are in white, except for Australia which is red. The caption reads, "map of all the countries where the prime minister went for a swim and literally just fucking disappeared one day and was never found and none of the citizens gave a shit".

Image 2: another world map. This time the country in red is Peru and the caption is, "map of all the countries where the president fucking sent a resignation letter via fax".

Image 3: world map where the red county is Argentina. "Map of all the countries where the president escaped using an helicopter from the government house during a protest and no one watned to be president so there were Five different presidents in like a week".

Image 4: a tag, "# add the Netherlands and that time we ate our prime minister or something".

In plain text, instead of all caps: You get the fuck back here and explain that right now.

Image 5: a search on Google, "did the Netherlands eat their prime minister", turn up an expand from history extra dot com. "When Johan de Witt – the 'Grand Pensionary' (in effect, prime minister) of the Dutch Republic – was killed along with his brother in 1672, there are accounts of some among the mob taking parts of the bodies and eating them ... In 1672 the Dutch Republic was at war with England and France. March 15th, 2019".

End description.]

my favorite thing in the world is how every single human culture, together or independently, created its own version of Pancake. everyone took one look at frying pans and were like “holy shit i have the BEST idea”

i’m not even exaggerating not even a itty teeny bit

Latkes (Ashkenazi Jewish), Blinis (Russian/Ukrainian), Injera (Horn of Africa), Pannenkoeken (South Africa), Arepas (Colombian/Venezuelan), Cachapas (also Venezuelan/Colombian), Atayef (Middle Eastern)

Buchimgae (Korean pancake), Cong you bing (Chinese scallion pancake), Okonomiyaki (Japan), oh crap I hit photo limit

WAIT I GOT MORE

Dosa (Indian), Apam balik (Southeast Asia), Nordic pancakes (Norway, Sweden), Poffertjes (Netherlands), Dutch baby pancake (U.S.), Johnnny Cakes/Hoecakes (Indigenous North America), Crumpets (U.K.), Souffle pancakes (Japanese)

some of these recipes go back a thousand years, some are only a few decades old, wikipedia has like a hundred more entries, PANCAKES ARE THE UNIVERSAL HUMAN EXPERIENCE, PANCAKES ARE THE COMMON DENOMINATOR OF EXISTENCE

Pans are a bottom is all im getting from this

Some corrections to the original post! 

[Image Description: All images in the thread are the different types of pancakes reflected in the captions. The last reblog from the original poster with an image shows a screeenshot of Pikachu making a weirded out face. End Image Description.] 

I think it’s very weird that when one country is criticized y’all tend to be like “oh well my country we would never —” uhh YES in your country too, that’s how states work? Y’all talking about people living in China or the US not knowing their history because the bad parts aren’t taught well in school: sure!!! But I know many people from Belgium who know next-to-nothing about the genocide in the Congo, from the Netherlands who say all their colonies were only trading posts, from Thailand who say that the indigenous people in their country have been and are treated fine only they don’t make an effort to be Thai, from Portugal who will tell you about what an amazingly positive force they were in their… territories, from Czechia who will tell you their country holds no responsibility for treatment of the Roma—but also it was and is justified; all were taught these things in school.

My point isn’t “other countries do this too so it doesn’t matter!!” No! My point is that every single state commits and covers up atrocities in some way. There is no ethical state.

American liberals especially seem to have a tendancy to think that there is a Good and Perfect state and we must only find it and imitate it and then our problems will be fixed. But trust me: it doesn’t exist, (and it’s certainly not in Europe??). We must create our own systems, and have the courage to change those, too, when we see their flaws.

I would like to point out that Sweden espescially, being one of the primary states that gets raised up by liberals or social democrats as this sort of sensible paradise of welfare and respect, 1) Ran and operated colonies in the New World, including active participation in the slave trade (three forts on the Slave Coast) and one of the last colonies to outlaw slavery, the plantation island of St. Martinique. 2) Colonised and continues to colonised indigenous Sámi territory, Sápmi making up a good third of the landmass of ‘Sweden’, and is where we get a significant amount of our natural resources (both in the form of electricity from dammed-up rivers (and hence drowned villages) and ore from huge open-pit mines - any Sámi and allies who object recieve the Standing Rock treatment). 3) Put Sámi children in ‘nomad schools’ to “Swedify” them, including a harsh regime of abuse and beatings for speaking their own language, as well as kidnapping them from the communities for the most part of the year. The Sámi languages of Swedish-occupied Sápmi are very threatened and dying as a result. 4) Is the only country other than the Third Reich to have had a state department of eugenics, known as the Swedish Institute for Racial Hygiene (Svenska Statens Institution för Rashygien), which carried out eugenic experiements on children (espescially Sámi children, but also Forest Finns, Romani and Torne Valley Finnish children) to establish their racial inferiority to pureblooded teutonic Swedes. This institute operated untill 1976, and forcibly sterilised an unknown number of women (and a few men) - espescially those seen as racially inferior, but also those seen as weak, feeble-minded or queer (a particularily notorious case is the sterilisation of a woman in 1974 for feeble-mindedness - a diagnosis given her on the basis of sleeping with five different men during her university career) 5) On that note, forcibly sterilised trans people untill two-thousand and fucking eleven on the basis that trans people can’t be trusted to raise children. I could go on and on and on, but I think that should be enough to make the point - Sweden is not an admirable country worth emulating. 

English-speakers interested in contemportary and historical Swedish colonial policy from a Sámi would do well to get a hold of Liberating Sápmi: Indigenous Resistance in Europe’s Far North, a long set of interviews with Sámi artists and activists, that was published recently.

I've seen a lot of people, particularly from the US, pointing to a different country as a defense to the conservative argument: "This progressive thing could never be implemented!"

"Well, it has been in that country to great success, so it's clearly not impossible". Be the thing gun control or universal healthcare.

And with that much I agree, but it's also important to remember, every country has it's own problems that might not be immediately apparent and every government is going to try to sweep those under the rug to brand itself as a "perfect, progressive, amd modern" country. Such a thing does not exist. (Also the USA tries the same branding too. And a lot of people even believe it.)

That's not to say that you shouldn't look to foreign countries for a positive example but don't buy into the myth of achieved perfection. It's never real, and getting better means acknowledging the problems.

I wish Americans fucked with more foreign music. You don’t have to know the language to appreciate a good record. Folks in other countries listen to our music and don’t speak a lick of english. Music needs no translator

yall wont trick me into listening to kpop

You can try Radiooooo.com - The Musical Time Machine!!

choose a country, pick a decade, and GO!!

you’ll get an endless streaming of songs (ad free!).

I personally found myself loving 1970s Ghana, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire! Also 1920s and 1970s Japan for sure! Cambodian music: spectacular. Love Armenia and Mali as well. I’ve been told 70s Germany is weird and 30s Algeria is cool but I haven’t gotten around to those yet. Italy’s 1960s is bomb ofc but I’m biased ;)

This is the best website anyone has ever shared.

#german and russian and japanese are generally foreign languages i like hearing in music.

Try Czech and Spanish, they have some amazing punk and rap

Italy has surprisingly great metal

Also try Radiogarden!

I found a lot of music by going through wikipedia and listening to a band from every country 😅 I didn’t get to the end but I found some neat stuff

[Image: map of the world from the mentioned website. It's highlighting the country of Mali and the decade of nineteen seventies on the list. End description.]

DO NOT LET SOCIAL MEDIA TURN YOU INTO AN AMERICAN

As an American: Seriously, please don’t

ok well i don't

"Americanization" is a real phenomenon, and how non-Americans should be cautious of it is taught in different countries at school. It's taught in Greece and people from other countries told me their elementary or middle school teachers (using the American grades, to make it make sense to the majority on the site) talked to them about it.

It's common sense here, except for USians, so I'll analyze it a bit more for the dominant demographic here. In a globalized setting, the most dominant culture affects the others and sets the trends. The way our language works, how we think, our levels of politeness and intimacy, and our levels of respect. (flash news, they are going down 😂)

I don't want to imply that there is nothing good in the US. There are plenty of positives in the country. It's just that for the rest of the cultures online it's a constant daily fight to not forget our roots, with the degree US media and brands have permeated our lives. In Greece at least we watch more US American media than Greek media nowadays, and many of our shows are rip-offs of USian ones, with little adaptation to Greek reality and culture.

And to demonstrate the amount of this exposure, a 22-year-old Greek asked me the other day "if something happens we call 911, right?" This might have literally cost them their life, in a dangerous situation! Because all the movies and songs they consumed (not an unusual thing for the Greek youth) were what they knew. And I found a similar comment in this comment thread.

[Image 1: a tag reading, “I'm assuming you mean the stereotyping assholes”

Image 2: a reply from the notes by @kolodexa “If I was in a dangerous situation, my first instinct would be to call 911, not 999. That's a fucking bad thing”

End ID.]

I really like how many of the world’s most iconic structures and places are just right next to some of the most mundane stuff imaginable, for example

Stonehenge

Is right next to a busy road

The Pyramids of Giza

Are at the outskirts of Cairo

Niagara Falls

Are part of the town of the same name

And Agrippa’s Pantheon

Is crammed inside downtown Rome

It just so interesting to notice.

This would be a very interesting art history class…

I just wanna say, if you aren't American, definitely try setting a modern AU in your country. Fill it with the things you know, to breathe life into it. It's really nice to see new settings, to open up a fic and go 'oh wait, hold up, I know that place'. It might only apply to a few people who read your fic but it's really rewarding to get that feedback.

(Americans keep doing you, just trying to encourage the rest of us lol)

also fics that localize the action to Not America are extremely interesting and show a lot of people something new and wonderful, while also letting the writer express their own love for their own place. it's a win/win.

You shouldn’t date or become serious friends/partners with someone if you can’t stomach the thought of being stuck in a car or train with them for 16 hours.

Here’s my logic:

These tags are hilarious even though I don’t think you intended them to be.

*pulls European closer* The most populous countries in the world are China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil in that order, with these seven nations alone making up 48.16% of the world population. You may note with the aid of a map that many of these nations are quite large, and would take several days of travel to go across either in cars or on boats. Almost half of the world's population lives in places where you can travel in a cramped vehicle for days and still be within the country. Your worldview is limited and Europe is a tiny outlier in travel time and standards for international relations.

[Image: tags reading, “This post confuses me. Why would I ever be in a car or train for 16 hours... Even the train to France only takes like, 3 hours.” End ID.]

[Image: a meme of some smiling actor, wearing glasses. The altered captions read, "Impressive, very nice. Now, let's see the opinion of someone who lives there." End description.]

I really wish we'd teach about seasons based on where the kid lives and not on this midwestern/northeastern ideal of spring/summer/fall/winter.

My kiddo is learning about leaves changing color and falling off trees while she lives in Florida. She asked us when the leaves would fall here and I had to break it to her: never.

What I wished she'd learn instead, and which she will:

Autumn isn't falling leaves in Florida -- it's hurricanes and wildflowers. We tend to the monarch butterflies passing through and don't clear out the brush lest we clear out their chrysalises. We reclaim the evenings from summer's last grasps and await every cold front.

Winter isn't snow and ice here -- it's enjoying the beauty around us, exploring the woods, going outside without risking exsanguination by mosquito. Winter is our season of bounty, of relief. And sometimes, yes, we have to cover the plants to protect them from frost and we leave footprints on the grass in the morning. Here is our season of abundance, of frost-kissed oranges and lemons, of strawberries picked with your breath clouding your hands, of blueberries gathered in skirts. Kale and lettuce, beets and greens, it's all here for us in winter.

Spring isn't the season of hope it is up North. It's an end, a swelling of heat so sudden you swear by it. Florida kids need to know it's lovebug season and every bug season, it's gator baby season, it's beach before tourists season, and it's also fire season. The air is sticky but the trees are dry and an early thunderstorm could ignite it all, so be careful. Be careful.

Summer is our winter and it's shit. You step outside and you melt. It's hurricane season, but not really. More like hurricane preparatory season. They should teach kids here to check their supplies and how to chart a hurricane's movement. Summer is about wearing a jacket inside, because everywhere has the a/c cranked up. Kids need to learn how to cover themselves head to toe in insect repellant and sunscreen.

Instead of learning all that, my kid's gonna come home this week sad again that we don't have snow.

Even in places where we get all 4 of the seasons, the way they're presented is so misleading. They aren't 4 equal seasons, fall and spring are normally the short ones, sometimes lasting only a week between scorching, muggy afternoons and 'I think there's snow in that rain'. Other years you wear a light jacket to your New Year's party because your backless dress is a bit drafty at 2am.

Some springs rush in on a windstorm and wash winter away in a quick blast, turning to summer heat while the students are still stuck in classrooms meant to stay warm, other years you desperately add up the days it hasn't rained in July, trying to convince yourself that you've actually seen this mythical sun all the movies tell you about.

Teach kids the actual world around them, not some fake ideal that carefully follows dates in a calendar.

the fact that we have a global economy but no way of coordinating it seems like one of the biggest challenges humanity faces, although arguably that’s just a corollary of our inability to coordinate anything else at the global level.

Out of curiousity, do other countries have way too many religious folks who froth at the mouth at the sign of any potential one-world anything or is that just a USA thing?

I think there's a differing valence there where people inside the US fret about One World Government run by some amorphous combination of the UN, the Pope, the Illuminati, or whatever while people outside the US already have One World Government and it's run by the US.

I cannot believe there are people who genuinely believe that ethnic groups living in deserts walk around half naked to “deal with the heat” and that we actually wear typical bellydancing garb casually…orientalism truly has rotted your brain

Native Americans have similar traditional dress in the Southwest, here are some Diné (Navajo) traditional styles:

Traditional clothing of people of Gujarat and Rajasthan

Bedouins in the United Arab Emirates (previously known as the Trucial States)