I don't know if this is just me, but it seems that there's next to no passion in the U.S. as a whole anymore. I've been reading a lot of French lit. lately, and everything they do is just full of passion; not necessarily sexual passion, but just...zeal for life, I suppose. Sure, they usually end up dying because of it, but I can't think of a better way to go than for fighting for what you believe in. As for us in the U.S., the most passion we get is reading things like Twilight and watching "Grey's Anatomy". What happened to the patriotism we had? Passion was what founded our country; if we hadn't fought tooth and nail all those years ago to make a name for ourselves and show everyone that we had the guts to stand up to an empire, we'd have just ended up being a group of colonies for who knows how long. Men fought and died on our land to show the British (no offense, British; I love you guys) that we wanted to be free; even up until WWII, we still had that patriotism and stood by the men in battle. Now? Now we barely even care that we're in a war. Life is monotonous. Love? Love isn't a factor of anything anymore; "love" stories are about how much you wanna do someone, and then finally achieving it. Is this really any way for humanity to go on?
i don't think we lost passion, i just think that people care about different things now and are passionate about different things. i find that there people who are extremely passionate about their jobs and hobbies and they are so much better at them because of it. as for patriotism, i really don't know much about that. but for the caring about war thing, the thing is that the war in Afganistan is a 9 year war (i think, i don't exactly remember when it started) so that's why i think people don't seem to care anymore. it's like American Idol, people cared about it when it first premiered but i'm almost positive that people don't care as much about it now then when it first aired. because it's old that's why. and about love, i honestly have no idea what people think about it.
I think it's you. :p Seriously I don't think the passion as gone as much as it appears to be in your eyes. Now I'm going to tread on risky ground here, since my knowledge of American culture and politics is limited. I am very possibly talking gibberish here. But here goes... As for literature and media, the ones you list are meant for little more than commercial success. The "fast-food" among media, so to speak. Try looking past the mainstream and you'll see there are still genuine jewels to be found in all types and kinds of media. Oh, there is still patriotism all right. And there are still strong opinions about the war and every other issue America (or any Western country for that matter) is dealing with. Look at the Tea Party Express just to name one group. Whether you support them or not, you can't deny that they are passionate about what they do. Either way, it's only natural that hot items turn colder in due time and that news stops being news after a while. Much depends on the amount of news the media and government wish to provide you with too. The continuation of the Iraq war is probably more of a hassle to Obama, and he seems to take less pride in the victory than his predecessor Bush (possibly because he did not start the war himself, who knows?). Naturally, the war is less of a hot topic than it was in Bush' days. In addition to that, we are less passionate about something we are less involved in personally. Comparing the American independence with the war in Iraq; the latter is of less consequence to American citizens. Not to say that it doesn't concern you at all, but I hope you understand the difference in impact degrees for the American people. In short: time, relevance and the current man in charge are all factors Oh how wrong you are, but like I said, maybe you're not looking far enough. Then again, perhaps even looking far enough will have little effect: don't forget that love is a very intimate feeling and that few people are willing to share their innermost with the world. Either way, love is a factor in a whole lot of things; whether it's the love for a country, the love for an unborn child in the abortion debate or interpersonal love. I'll go as far as to say that many of life's questions, issues and dicotomies can be reduced to the eternal struggle of the mind vs the heart. If passion really had decreased or was missing in this world, these issues would not exist. Which is clearly not the case.
Hey bristish guy here. Lovin the Boston tea party incident, you crazy yanks. Good joke! : P Anyway, on topic… I can't speak for America directly, but Britain has that sense about it as well. A lack of patriotism in the general population seems to have comedown a lot in recent decades. I think it comes down to the change in times and the fact globalisation is taking place. We're starting to connect with each other around the world and talk and such leading us to not care about indivdual countries as we once did. It's not necessarily a good thing but neither a bad thing really, I just know it's coming and we can't atop it and we shouldn't. It's allowing us to progress forward as a species and as society, and I want that to happen. And, if I may, give a little outside perspective to the america's lack of passion you're mentiong. The whole concept of the American dream makes us visualise a land of freedom and therefore a land of passion for it's people, and onlookers alike. It's what makes the country so great because it allows freedom to venture as far as we want with our passion. That's something every American should be patriotic about.
I agree with this. The American Dream is a beautiful thing, and that's why I don't hate America. I don't want to give the impression that I'm anti-American; I'm not. I love what we stand on, and the opportunities that are available here. Thinking back, I think I didn't phrase my rant correctly. It's not the fact that we're missing passion here in the U.S.; it's more that we're taking everything for granted, which leads to a lack of passion. The more I've been studying History, the more I've noticed that what we did was groundbreaking. And yet we take it for granted and most people don't know about it. I guess, in retrospect, that's what's been bothering me.
I can see what you mean. I've thought the same thing before about the UK. I believe that to really appreciate your country or, hell anything, you need the threat that what you love could be taken away from you. When we're in our homes we don't think about how lucky we are to have been born to a family with a house, an income, an education. We care only about what comes next for us. I know i'm generalising, but not many people think past their wants in the world, and how things could have turned, and that's the point I want to to put through. As long as you appreciate what you have, what you've been given then you need not worry about others thoughts on the world. Feel lucky that you feel this way at all. Not everyone will experience it in their whole lives and your a lucky few. And hell if you want to make a difference become a politician! : D
