culture in the US

[love alabama]

I found this on another forum.



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Absolutely. I have written about this many times on the site -- America is built on the Protestant work ethic, not on the Catholic work ethic, which makes time for spiritual development and family life. The Protestant work ethic takes this virtue of working, and makes a religion itself out of it. Eventually, money itself becomes the god of these people. Just look at the Purpose-Driven Life and you will see exactly what I mean.

America is a total reversion of Catholic European values. There a kid lives at home until he's married, sometimes until he's 40. Here you have to fend for yourself at 18. This puts such fear and overdriven money-obsession into people that it's no wonder they become conscienceless, lying and cheating drones in order to get by. It's a jungle, a rat race, not a civilization.

But the Catholics, growing up in this Protestant culture have embraced it. American Catholics tend to be VERY Protestant, very Puritanical. I have a friend, God love him, who made his daughter go get a job when she was a young girl. Why? If they have a farm, sure, she should help out, but why should a young girl be thrust out into the world to work? It's just taking jobs away from men, and imperilling her soul. This is so obvious but people here don't see it. The Protestants have created a nation of maniacal speed freaks who live at an exaggerated pace, pop antidepressants, get in massive debt to keep up with the neighbors, work five jobs, never take a chance to breathe, and then hurl themselves off buildings when it all falls apart. The pace of life in America is outright SICK. I felt this even before I was Catholic, it's why I had no inclination to work.

I know one family whose husband can never get a job, and to keep up their lifestyle, the wife gives tennis instructions for 16 hours a day or something -- her face looks like an old shoe, it's so wrinkly from being in the sun constantly. That to me is the perfect statement about American desperation to keep up these useless standards of living.


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This is my reply that I gave to him
Love Alabama



I have relatives in Alabama who are OBSESSED with money.It is all WORK WORK WORK. I have been told to leave the home by my protestant relatives since I am 19 years old. My family is traditionalist and my family does not embrace that Protestant ethic. My relatives have tried to make me leave against my wishes.

They talk about CHARITY CHARITY but they do not think about the soul.

You stated in your post what my father has been saying. He had to lay the law down and tell them to butt out of our familiy's life.

You can't worship God and money at the same time.

[Mithrandylan]

[formerbuddhist]

If you are willing to spend $1.50 there is a great lecture on keepthefaith.org by Dr. John Rao called "The Barren Harvest of Protestantism".  There is a lot of good information in his lecture about how Protestantism and it's ideas has led to the way things are in the culture today, most especially in the United States.  I haven't listened to it recently so I won't try to give a synopsis  of it but if you are interested in this topic I trust you will learn much from it.

[Crusading Philologist]

America is a total reversion of Catholic European values. There a kid lives at home until he's married, sometimes until he's 40. Here you have to fend for yourself at 18.

I agree that American culture is messed up and that the Protestant work ethic is bad, but this is not at all true.

[SaintAndrew]

If you are willing to spend $1.50 there is a great lecture on keepthefaith.org by Dr. John Rao called "The Barren Harvest of Protestantism".  There is a lot of good information in his lecture about how Protestantism and it's ideas has led to the way things are in the culture today, most especially in the United States.  I haven't listened to it recently so I won't try to give a synopsis  of it but if you are interested in this topic I trust you will learn much from it.

Sounds good. :w2go:

[Laetare]

For the Rao lectures entirely online for free, Alabama Catholic Resources has obliged us:

http://www.alabamacatholicresources.com/Rao.html

Barren Harvest is really good...

Whether this is legal, who knows? The site hasn't been taken down in 2 years since I last visited it, so... :)

[newyorkcatholic]

America is a total reversion of Catholic European values. There a kid lives at home until he's married, sometimes until he's 40. Here you have to fend for yourself at 18.

I agree that American culture is messed up and that the Protestant work ethic is bad, but this is not at all true.

It may not be true universally, but I think demographic trends do support the idea, at least, that in places like the US and the UK there is a strong emphasis on independence starting at around age 18, and "living with your parents" is an insult or a joke, or something to be embarassed about.

In places like Italy it is much more accepted to stay living with one's parents well into ones 20s or 30s until establishing one's own career and family.

In places like India it's still common (at least in the richest and poorest classes) in many places not to leave at all, but to just take care of your parents in the family home as they age and then stay while your children take care of you and so on.

[alaric]

America is a total reversion of Catholic European values. There a kid lives at home until he's married, sometimes until he's 40. Here you have to fend for yourself at 18.

I agree that American culture is messed up and that the Protestant work ethic is bad, but this is not at all true.

It may not be true universally, but I think demographic trends do support the idea, at least, that in places like the US and the UK there is a strong emphasis on independence starting at around age 18, and "living with your parents" is an insult or a joke, or something to be embarassed about.

In places like Italy it is much more accepted to stay living with one's parents well into ones 20s or 30s until establishing one's own career and family.

In places like India it's still common (at least in the richest and poorest classes) in many places not to leave at all, but to just take care of your parents in the family home as they age and then stay while your children take care of you and so on.

  That almost sounds like Texas to me...... :grin:

They also like to call their father's "daddy" down there as grown men, this never did sit well with this New Yorker.

Anyway, I agree with the the OP and there's no doubt about protestants and their love of money. I've been saying it for years, WASP's don't worship Jesus, they worship money.

I've been observing this for years, these people will work or do anything for money. I can't tell you how many times I had some douchebag nonCatholic want me to work on Sundays or Christmas or Easter or even some of the secular holidays like Independence day. All they can talk about is how much "over/double time" they're going to make and how fat their checks will be on payday. it's all about the money with these people they'd sell out their families and church in a second to make a buck and then mock you for not doing the same.

I always have to remind these idiots that all their doing is working more hours to put more money in the gov't coffers paying more taxes (Especially here in socialist NY) so why the hell would they give up time to be with their families or church just to serve the tax collector? Their clueless and frankly just don't care, about anything....except money.

[Guardian]

America is a total reversion of Catholic European values. There a kid lives at home until he's married, sometimes until he's 40. Here you have to fend for yourself at 18.

I agree that American culture is messed up and that the Protestant work ethic is bad, but this is not at all true.

Agreed.  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/busine....html?_r=1

As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Like most of her friends, Hollis Romanelli graduated from college last May and promptly moved back in with her parents.

As a result, she didn’t pay rent — or a broker’s fee or renters’ insurance, for that matter. She also didn’t buy a bed, desk, couch, doormat, mop or new crockery set. Nor did she pay the cable company to send a worker to set up her TV and Internet, or a handyman to hang a newly framed diploma. She didn’t even buy drinks and snacks for a housewarming party.

In other words, Ms. Romanelli, 22, saved a lot of money. But she deprived the economy of a lot of potential activity, too.

Every year, young adults leave the nest, couples divorce, foreigners immigrate and roommates separate, all helping drive economic growth when they furnish and refurbish their new homes. Under normal circumstances, each time a household is formed it adds about $145,000 to output that year as the spending ripples through the economy, estimates Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

But with the poor job market and uncertain recovery, hundreds of thousands of Americans like Ms. Romanelli (and her boyfriend, who also lives with his parents) have tabled their moves. Even before the recession began, young people were leaving home later; now the bad economy has tethered them there indefinitely. Last year, just 950,000 new households were created. By comparison, about 1.3 million new households were formed in 2007, the year the recession began, according to Mr. Zandi. Ms. Romanelli, who lives in the room where she grew up in Branford, Conn., said, “I don’t really have much of a choice,” adding, “I don’t have the means to move out.”

Ms. Romanelli, who works as an assistant editor at Cottages & Gardens magazines, is one of the luckier “boomerang” children who have found jobs and at least can start saving for their own place someday. As of last month, just 74 percent of Americans ages 25 to 34 were working. It is perhaps no wonder then that 14.2 percent of young adults are living with their parents, up from 11.8 percent in 2007. Among young men, 19 percent are living with their parents.

But even some young people who can afford to move out have decided to wait until getting on more solid footing. Prudence, not necessity, has kept them at home.

Jay Bouvier, 26, has a full-time job teaching physical education and health and coaching football and baseball at a high school in Hartford, near his parents’ house in Bristol. He could rent his own apartment — after taxes he makes about $45,000 a year, he says — but has decided not to. He says he will stay with his parents until he has saved enough to buy his own house.

“I have it pretty good at home, since it’s so close to my work, and financially I just feel like it’s smarter for the long run to buy,” he said. He says that living with his parents enables him to set aside about half of each paycheck. “It’s like I pay rent, but to myself.”

By not paying rent, of course, he has deprived a local landlord and a host of other local companies of some income, as well as whatever businesses those purveyors might have patronized further down the line. It’s a phenomenon that John Maynard Keynes referred to as the “paradox of thrift”: Saving is good for the individual, but en masse can hurt the economy by reducing demand.

“Increased housing demand definitely has multiplier effects throughout the economy,” said Gary D. Painter, a professor at the University of Southern California and director of research for the university’s Lusk Center for Real Estate. “We have these sort of missing potential households,” he said, which also means “missing” sales and jobs in industries like retail, construction and manufacturing.

The actions of the young are self-perpetuating. Young people are reluctant to set off on their own until they have greater financial stability. But the economic conditions necessary to make them financially secure are difficult to achieve while consumers like them are still too nervous to start making big purchases, on housing or anything else.

Small indulgences are not totally out of the question, though.

“To be honest, for my first few real paychecks I’ve treated myself,” said Ms. Romanelli, explaining that she has not yet begun her plan to salt away half of each paycheck. “It’s only the first month or two, after all.”

Some economists are optimistic that there is considerable pent-up demand for new homes because so many young adults are reluctantly staying with their parents. Several of Mr. Bouvier’s friends, he said, are “itching to get out.” As soon as they find work, he says, they’ll leave.

“Once we get a little bit of job growth, or even expectations of better job market, those households are going to start breaking apart pretty fast,” said Mr. Zandi, of Moody’s Analytics. Household formation probably won’t lead the recovery, but once set into motion by other good economic news it can “supercharge growth.” He estimates that there is pent-up demand for close to 1.1 million new households, which is approximately equal to the number of excess vacant homes for sale and rent.

“If these pent-up households were to form, then the oversupply of housing would be largely absorbed and housing construction would quickly ramp up,” he said.

Mr. Bouvier, now three years out of school, is hoping to move into his own house early next year, ideally a place that he can “fix up and turn into good investment.” He says he’ll hire a construction crew to help with the renovations.

“You know, they really should have kept that tax incentive for first-time home buyers,” he said. “I’m creating jobs after all. I thought that was a good thing.”

[formerbuddhist]

For the Rao lectures entirely online for free, Alabama Catholic Resources has obliged us:

http://www.alabamacatholicresources.com/Rao.html

Barren Harvest is really good...

Whether this is legal, who knows? The site hasn't been taken down in 2 years since I last visited it, so... :)

Thanks for the link. That is awesome. I'm glad they have his "The Dogma of Pluralism" on there too. That one worth listening to several times over.