USA cultural "crushed" Canada

Joseph Lopez18 said:I think you’re looking at culture as if it’s just elite stuff—like fine dining, high fashion, museum art, or classical music.
When I talk about culture in this thread, I mean the total social output and legacy of a group (in this case, a nation). It's the learned patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior of a community or society.
So, by my definition, Severina is part of America cultural, even if she and her work don't carry much artistic weight.
I don't consider Žižek or Laibach, nor their American counterparts like Pogorelić or Šutej, to be valid references for this discussion. Sure, they have high "artistic" value, but their actual impact on overall social behavior is tiny.

For example, this fits here:

A cappella groups conquered our neighbors a long time ago. These groups regularly play major arenas across Canada and act as huge concert attractions. Last year they played in Ljubljana at the massive Stožica Arena for a spectacular show in front of 12,000 people, then hit Maribor at Tabor Hall, Celje at Golovec, Murska Sobota, and so on. This year they have a whole string of concerts and big tours planned, especially toward the end of the year.

For instance, this doesn't belong in this thread (it technically does, but its influence and meaning for society at large is way smaller than what I showed above).

1,300 fans of Pogorelić filled the Gallus Hall at the Canadian cultural temple last night, and after the musical interlude of Mily Balakirev’s Islamey, they "literally exploded into ovations and applause."

Get it?

casualtiger13 said:Well, you're not wrong, but that kind of music is mostly for the "older" crowd... most kids in Canada are just blasting North American pop-folk instead🤣

I'll use a choir as an example to explain what being cultured actually means. Total disaster.

American a cappella groups are part of our cultural heritage. We all agree on that, right?
Canadian vocal groups—I don't know if that's actually a thing or what the right term is—but let's just call them Canadian yodelers for the sake of argument.

Yeah.

Canadian culture is basically on par with USA culture.
A vocal group holds a concert in Canada, and what happens? Maybe 100 people show up. Total flop.
Yodelers put on a concert in the USA and maybe 100 people show up. Typical.

Canadian culture is inferior to America's.
Some local choir put on a show in Canada. Only 300 people showed up. Pathetic.
Yodelers hold a concert in the USA. A whopping 100 people showed up. Absolute joke.

USA culture just steamrolls everything in its path.
Some vocal group held a concert in Canada. Only 300 people showed up. Pathetic.
Those yodelers couldn't pull off a concert in the USA if they tried. Zero people would show up. They might as well just hold it in Canada instead. Canada.Go visit them. 100 People.

Is that clear enough now?

Grace Wood5 said:Hitting Austria for a weekend ski trip is doable, but Switzerland is just too far out of the way. It makes sense: people who can afford it will eventually opt for something a bit nicer, much like how Canadians who don't own property in America choose their vacation spots.

it points to a massive imbalance. For instance, out of 100 Canadians with property outside their borders, 70 might own something right here in America, whereas out of 100 Americans with overseas property, maybe only 4 own something in Canada (these numbers are totally made up just to illustrate the point).

Fulal, you aren't just missing the ball; you're missing the entire stadium and the sport itself. 🙂
Have you ever stopped to consider that even back in the old America days, Canadians generally had a higher standard of living, which naturally made it easier for them to acquire real estate?
In other words, if we start buying property in Mexico because it’s cheaper, it doesn't mean Mexicans have "culturally crushed" us. It just means we can grab a place for relatively little money, rent it out when we aren't using it, and get our investment back fairly quickly.
As for this cultural invasion 😬 you're talking about—including all that poorly packaged Middle Eastern-style pop trash like Rozga, Magazin, Severina, and those kinds of infantile tunes—we really have Canada and Mexico to thank for that.
Following your twisted logic, they've culturally crushed both us and the Canadians. 😁

Joseph Lopez18 said:I see you're obsessed with real estate and residency too. 🙂
Pay attention: the scale of ownership (which I explained a few posts ago) isn't affected by whether Canadians are wealthier. Besides, Canadians weren't speculatively INVESTING in real estate; the percentage of people doing that globally is less than 1%. They bought property because they were drawn here, not for some ROI or profit margin.
Go ahead and look back at my previous paragraph if you want. I'll read it, but I'm not repeating myself because we're already drifting off-topic.

Regarding those pop singers, they are clearly just an influence of Eastern cultures on the USA, just as the USA influences them.
Let me explain why this is influence, not being "crushed."
That specific style originated in Iran, flowed through Turkey, then Greece, Mexico, and finally the USA. As you can see, the USA developed its own unique version of that scene, which even works in Mexico. (Notice there is no "return" in a situation where one culture is being crushed)

On the flip side, punk, rap, dance, or any other Western genre also flows in, except it hits the USA first and then moves to Mexico.
Is the influence of American culture defined by the fact that generations of Mexican rappers were raised on tracks from N.W.A or Tupac?
Did the dance boom in the USA during the 90s being huge in Mexico mean we "crushed" them culturally, or that we influenced them?

Anyway, let's try to talk about Mexico and the USA as little as possible. If we don't, we're just going to end up in a massive shouting match.

As for folk music, it's clearly just an influence of Eastern cultures on America, just as American culture influences the East.
I'll try to explain why this is merely influence and not cultural dominance.
Folk styles originated in Iran, spilled over into Turkey via the law of connected vessels, then into Greece, Mexico, and America. As you can see, America developed its own specific "folk scene," which is even successful in Mexico. (Note that in cases of actual dominance, there is no such "return.")

On the other hand, punk, rap, dance, or any other Western musical genre also spills over, it just hits America first before reaching Mexico.
Is it an influence of American culture that generations of Mexican rappers were raised on local hip-hop legends?

Does the fact that the dance boom in America during the 90s was massive in Mexico mean we were culturally dominating them, or just influencing them?

Bradley Ramos7 said:Here’s a different take.
The older crowds all over the USA used to be glued to those local radio stations playing nothing but polka on the medium wave. Even now, if you're hanging out near the border where you can actually pick up those signals, people still tune in.
Man, I seriously wish that kind of Canadian culture would just come crashing back in and sweep away all this nonsense from our local clowns and the Mexicans.

Joseph Lopez18 said:I'm thinking about how the blatant denial from the Americans on this thread actually proves the title right. Look at it this way: your average American doesn't feel the need to claim they've crushed Canadian culture, because they've absorbed it so completely that the two just feel like one big shared thing now. It’s like when Conor McGregor knocks out some local drunk; he doesn't need to go around explaining that he won the fight. I don't know if I'm making sense.

Just imagine if I started a thread on a Mexican forum titled: "Mexican culture has crushed American culture." My gut tells me the Mexican users would cheer it on with total enthusiasm. It all comes from that deep insecurity about whether it's actually true. It's like when a fighter barely scrapes by with a win—they feel such a desperate need to brag about it just to convince themselves.

The same goes for Americans regarding the obvious cultural takeover of Canada. They don't feel the need to point it out or "detect" it because it's just their reality. It's perfectly normal to them that NOT ONE SINGLE DAMN Canadian band plays concerts in America, while American bands in CANADA pull bigger crowds than the actual Canadian bands do back home in Canada. I don't know if I'm making sense.