Culture-less

For some reason, I don't quite feel connected to America. I'm sure it's a great place to live in retrospect to some other desolate, oppressed countries - however I'm not quite sure that I feel connected to our "culture" or what I would deem "lack of culture." America is known for being a melting pot of civilization and many people want to come here because everyone is supposedly accepted. However, I find myself watching movies from the 1920's to 1960's and I find that America seemed to be much more...pleasant then (okay, well forget about the Depression and women's lack of rights). A movie that makes it onto my favorites list is It Happened One Night with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert from 1934, winner of five Oscars! I love this movie.

And why do I love this movie? It reminds me of a more simplistic time long gone...a time where America had more of a collective culture - people were generally swayed by the same thing. I mean, there were only so many radio stations..everyone danced to the same songs, listened to the same radio shows - you could make friends easily based on a shared common interest. Men seemed classy, wearing suits and smoking sweet-smelling tobacco pipes with ease. Women dressed elegantly, wearing large hats and dresses - it was a time when showing some knee was scandalous. My, how the times have changed.

I mean, I like that everyone is different here and it is definitely more of a challenge to find people interested in the same things as I, but I tend to feel as if America is dissipating into entirely too many subdivisions ...and now we do not feel like a united country. Also, what direction is American culture heading? Where one of the most popular singers is Ke$ha (dollar bill sign, really?) who sings about brushing her teeth with alcohol and "waking up in the morning looking like P. Diddy." Wow. Truly, Ke$ha is the Socrates of our age. Simply breathtaking are her words. AND, the sad thing is that young girls are quoting Ke$ha lyrics and, I am sure, wanting to live a lifestyle just like her. My, how good of a life our children are going to have here if this culture continues to progress into goodness knows what next. Now listen, I'm not blaming Ke$ha for the lack of a centralized, upstanding culture in America. It's been a long, slow downward slope to this point. However, things are only getting worse. Which is why I hope to get out of America after I graduate college in around four years.