{"id":93111,"date":"2016-04-10T16:19:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T00:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=93111"},"modified":"2016-04-10T16:19:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-11T00:19:14","slug":"life-is-duty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=93111","title":{"rendered":"Life Is Duty"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comments<\/a>: It reminds me of the blurb from the Xenophobe\u2019s Guide to Germany (which I haven\u2019t read \u2013 I read the Swiss one, and found it hilariously accurate) \u2013 which is of course not meant to be accurate, instead to amuse via the stereotypes; we all know how inaccurate stereotypes are.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeutonic torment
\nIn every German there is a touch of the wild-haired Beethoven striding through forests and weeping over a mountain sunset, grappling against impossible odds to express the inexpressible. This is the Great German Soul, prominent display of which is essential whenever Art, Feeling, and Truth are under discussion.<\/p>\n

Angst breeds angst
\nFor a German, doubt and anxiety expand and ramify the more you ponder them. They are astonished that things haven\u2019t gone to pot already, and are pretty certain that they soon will.<\/p>\n

Longer must be better
\nMost Germans apply the rule that more equals better. If a passing quip makes you smile, then surely by making it longer the pleasure will be drawn out and increased. As a rule, if you are cornered by someone keen to give you a laugh, you must expect to miss lunch and most of that afternoon\u2019s appointments.<\/p>\n

Angst breeds angst
\nBecause life is ernsthaft, the Germans go by the rules. Schiller wrote, \u201cobedience is the first duty,\u201d and no German has ever doubted it. This fits with their sense of order and duty. Germans hate breaking rules, which can make life difficult because, as a rule, everything not expressly permitted is prohibited.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the blurb from the Xenophobe\u2019s Guide to Americans<\/p>\n

Friends without friendship
\nAmericans are friendly because they just can\u2019t help it; they like to be neighbourly and want to be liked. However, a wise traveller realises that a few happy moments with an American do not translate into a permanent commitment of any kind. Indeed, permanent commitments are what Americans fear the most. This is a nation whose fundamental social relationship is the casual acquaintance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a \u2018good day\u2019 unless it\u2019s a \u2018good hair day\u2019
\nWhen asked in a survey what they notice first in a potential mate, the answer from both men and women was hair. Having good hair is more important than having a college education or a happy family.<\/p>\n

Americans shoot from the lip
\nAmerican speech is remarkably straightforward. They tell it as it is, even when it\u2019s not a particularly good idea to do so. Linguistic subtlety, innuendo, and irony that other nations find delightful puzzle the Americans, who take all statements at face value, weigh them for accuracy, and reject anything they don\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

Always aim to win
\nWinning is central to the American psyche. As American football coach Vince Lombardi put it, \u2018Winning isn\u2019t everything. It\u2019s the only thing\u2019. Virtually every event in American life, from school graduation to marriage to buying an automobile, is structured so that one party wins, or at least comes out looking better than any of the other participants.<\/p>\n

That last one should include that part from the Patton speech of how Americans love a winner and detest a loser.<\/p>\n

There is a section detailing how every American wants to distance themselves from every other American by saying that they are unlike the \u201caverage American.\u201d Sounds like Lake Wobegon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comments: It reminds me of the blurb from the Xenophobe\u2019s Guide to Germany (which I haven\u2019t read \u2013 I read the Swiss one, and found it hilariously accurate) \u2013 which is of course not meant to be accurate, instead to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21791,13633],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america","category-germany"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t