The USA's biggest export is our culture...like it or not. Think of movies, music, etc. Some of it is intangible.

The export is propaganda to promote US government stability and induce demand of American goods and services. So in the end it's money anyway.

>> You can wonder all you like, and call me a cynic, but the US runs on money not culture. The American identity is built on money and wealth and excess, not on anything you might describe as "culture".

> The USA's biggest export is our culture...like it or not. Think of movies, music, etc. Some of it is intangible.

Yeah, but that's not high culture. It's mass-market culture that makes a lot of money.

I think what the GP is referring to as "culture" is high culture--the kind of stuff that is not popular and requires subsidies and special effort to sustain.

What's the definition of high culture?

* * *

Not really. Both Shakespeare and Dickens were pretty mainstream culture at the time.

High culture is exactly equal to "surrogate activities" defined in this document: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unab...

It means the culture of the upper class.

It's also one of those phrases where people insist that's not what it means. You can see this bizzare battle playing out on its wikipedia page:

> In popular usage, the term high culture identifies the culture either of the upper class (an aristocracy) or of a status class (the intelligentsia); high culture also identifies a society’s common repository of broad-range knowledge and tradition (folk culture) that transcends the social-class system of the society.

I don't think so at all: the IA has little to do with what is normally termed "high culture", and much more to do with "low culture" (lots and lots of internet trivia that would mostly be of interest to archeologists).

The IA is the only way to see a lot of what was written and widely read starting in the 1990s onwards.

Libraries used to keep archives of old newspapers and publications on microfilm, and anyone who needed to research something could go and look through those archives. The IA holds a similar function today - but it's the only one with its breadth and age. If we lose the IA, we lose a lot of important historical information.

> Libraries used to keep archives of old newspapers and publications on microfilm, and anyone who needed to research something could go and look through those archives. The IA holds a similar function today - but it's the only one with its breadth and age.

Newspapers very frequently maintain and provide public access to their own online archives. That's not a function the IA is even especially good at--its coverage is spotty, and unless you have an old URL, it's very hard to find stuff in the IA.

The one unique thing the IA does is have is a broad and deep collection of internet ephemera.

> The one unique thing the IA does is have is a broad and deep collection of internet ephemera.

That's what I was referring to. Blogs especially are an important source of historical information from this period that will not exist in newspaper archives -- and many of those have appeared and disappeared in the last 20 years. IA is the only record we have of much of that.

> Newspapers very frequently maintain and provide public access to their own online archives now.

This is actually the worst way to preserve newspapers. There are two major problems:

1. It's their own content. Sometimes they find old content embarrassing and hide it.

2. Sometimes newspapers shut down. When that happens, the archive disappears! This defeats the whole purpose of archival.

> The IA is the only way to see a lot of what was written and widely read starting in the 1990s onwards.

Indeed, but that’s not the definition of “high culture” as proposed a few posts up, so I don’t see how it’s relevant to the thread.

I doubt the average person on the street has even heard of the Internet Archive much less thinks it's some essential cultural institution.

High culture, like theatre, classical music, architecture - sure,thats one line of thought here. There are isolated examples that exist, supported by patronage, but that's not entirely what I meant.

If we look to the mainstream,the movies,music etc are all commercial. There's a reason a studio would rather make another Marvel movie than something more meaningful. That's not to say that -only- Marvel movies are made, and they are very entertaining, but the -reason- they are made at all us economic.

For software we celebrate money-raised, MRR, user numbers and engagement. We dont celebrate programs for their life-impact. We don't celebrate the software used yo design the James Webb telescope. Or the software in an MRI machine. We don't throw VC levels of funding at prosthetics, things that have value beyond just ygr monetary, even more so when the monetary value is near-nil, just like the IA.

I say all this not to change it, at a fundamental level it can't be changed, bug rather to understand it.

You can find positive effect with it only being an indirect and fragile benefit of the system

I fundamentally disagree. Not US citizen, but what US seems to be exporting most are dollars. Most world trade is done with dollars.

They give dollars and get resources and services.

That's not an export, that's propaganda.

That's like saying fiat currency is just as valuable as lithium deposits. It's the hubris of the West.

The fiat currency is just as valuable as the lithium deposits because the fiat currency is backed by the most powerful force of military might the world has ever seen. When you trade for a dollar you're trading for that. Better than them just taking the lithium, as was the old way.

No, it's worse.

Empires that over-expand and seize too much sow the seeds of their own military destruction. Economic empires backed by ever-increasing military become overwhelming and then define any pushback as terrorism. What you end up with is a planetary-scale protection racket. Please do not construe this as an endorsement of other would-be hegemonies.

you don't export culture, you export stuff. it sounds like you're disgreeing with "america runs on money, not culture", but the fact you conflate culture with, like, movies sold internationally proves the point: american culture is in the form of market transactions. given that, how do you end up with "culturally too big to fail?"

and i'd dispute that entertainment is our #1 export. not all exports are on the books; i'd bet arms is our real #1 export.

You can look this information up pretty easily.[1] If you only count physical goods, the US's biggest exports are cars, aircraft, petroleum, food, drugs, industrial machinery, and semiconductors. Even if we count the value of all the military equipment sold to allies such as the Netherlands, France, Japan, Korea, the UK, etc, and we count all the Ukraine aid, the total value last year was $205.6 billion. That's less than petroleum exports ($258.3B) or food ($208.2B).

1. See page 22-23 of https://www.bea.gov/sites/default/files/2023-02/trad1222.pdf

2. FY2022 had $51.9B of sales to foreign militaries and $153.7B direct commercial sales, for a total of $205.6B: https://www.state.gov/fiscal-year-2022-u-s-arms-transfers-an...

>> not all exports are on the books

> You can look this information up pretty easily.

if you read what i wrote carefully you'll see you can't just look this information up pretty easily.

Attention, following text is a chatGPT summary and includes corrections. It's not generated by a prompt, it is summarized by a prompt.

As time goes on, cultures continue to evolve and adapt. The constant flow of information and the increasing connectivity between people all over the world make it inevitable that cultures will blend, sometimes harmoniously and sometimes with friction. It is essential to recognize the value of cultural exchange and learn from one another, taking the best of each culture and finding a way to make them work together.

For example, in a globalized world, it is essential to find a balance between the fast-paced, individualistic nature of American culture and the more collective, deeply rooted traditions of older cultures. There is merit in both approaches, and finding a way to incorporate them could lead to a more balanced, harmonious society.

It is also crucial to address the societal issues that come with cultural blending. This includes combating xenophobia, promoting understanding and empathy, and fostering open communication between different cultural groups. By doing so, we can work towards a world where everyone has the opportunity to learn from one another, grow, and thrive.

In conclusion, as we move forward into an increasingly interconnected world, it is essential to embrace the cultural diversity that comes with it. By recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each culture, we can learn from one another and work towards building a more inclusive, harmonious society.

-----

This is the prompt and result about context :

make a bullet list of contextual errors

Portraying American culture as entirely childish and immature without considering its positive aspects and contributions

Oversimplifying complex cultural elements and reducing them to stereotypes (e.g., Americans as fat and ignorant, ancient cultures as wise and settled)

Assuming that older cultures are inherently more dangerous and should be feared

Overgeneralizing the portrayal of American culture through movies and TV series, which may not always accurately represent reality

Suggesting that the police are not doing enough to protect society and should be more like community policing, without considering the complexities and challenges in law enforcement

Imposing a hierarchical structure on cultures (e.g., referring to ancient cultures as "big brothers" and assuming their superiority)

Failing to acknowledge the diversity and complexity within each culture and the possibility of positive change and growth

---

I may or may not complete this as an article - which was started just a comment -

Consider as draft : https://gist.github.com/firatsarlar/44edbe877cb8ffd587ba6284...

Please do not. Either write out your comment, invest the effort to condense it, or link to your blog post. I like chatGPT, but if I want an AI version I'll generate it myself.

I got you. You downvoted me. Please stop asking me more. Summary -intention- make the message short, easy, not time consuming. Solid good intention. I spend 1 hour to make communication solid. I put my intention. I cant be the person you dictate. Please is not the way to soften do as I -we- want. I do not read rules, I obey them in conflict, I do not ask permission, I say sorry. If we need rules, there need to be consensus. Other, a carma pramit , ranks, kind a god mode thing. I'm new in this block. We do not know each other. Talk to me privately if you seriously bothers you. Do not Elonize -Alianite- me. Do not make me buy this place, and sell it to my ego, I may put my every entry on top of HN.

If you want to offend, please kindly do that. The world "myself" bothering me -I'm not make these comments for yourself- , provoked me, changed my emotional state. If you want to share openly argue, I already made a submission - which will never see the sun -, go there, say something. Or say authentically what you feel - say bad things in private or openly, I do not my, because I'm reflecting my pure emotions right now. And yes. My intention is not to offend you but, I need to say a big NO to you. Sorry if you emotionally offend. I do not know you, and you are a candidate - in a real community- of new friend to me.

And please think: You should thank me for my 1 hour effort to make my comment solid, understandable, for the sake of quality. Thanks my downvote. It made me some kind of joke "Do not Elonize me" And sorry for my emotional, instant, Chinglish - People mock my English like that-. I cant use tools we build because of haters, ignorants, paranoids, unwarenes - I can easily take all those words to me and look at that mirror -

I passed this way on SO. Argue with people - yes I'm emotional sometimes-, I felt kicked there, not a place for me, .... Idea was simple - I cant rich my upper brain because of emotional state so even I would like to share that post - Put a badge to people's profile Not a Native speaker. Because as we can see currently my English is not enough for higher communication. I'm old. Not live in English speaking country - so not use it -. My grammar rusty. Mockers were right it is Chinglish :) - I'm not Chinese by the way-. Some advised Google Translate, which I was already trying and not getting the way I want to say. So, knowing or not knowing do not alienize me, please welcome me, no need to hug. Just smile. Think pure, I now you can summarize but , one of my downvoted - suspicious- comments about has had a quote like " I do not find time to make it short, please forgive me" I'm doing what they apology.

It is your karma, it is your self sufficiency to generate summaries, Please continue to punish me if you like it. As I said, It make me productive - yes aggressive- Look at I wrote lots of human words - not AI , synthetic - And it is my naked poor English community could easily mock. Yes It is USA, I need to talk in your language. Yes It is yourself, you don't me to summarize my post for you. Thanks. Apologies. PLUR -< if you know what this mean

The US runs on rule of law, and copyright law has been around for centuries. Many sites that violate copyright laws would be fine if left alone. That doesn’t mean they should be immune from lawsuits.

Everyone was telling the internet archive that this was a dumb idea because it opened them to lawsuits with ruinous fines. Now the chickens are coming home to roost and IA is crying foul.

It can be true that the internet archive is an invaluable store of history while also being true that they made an embarrassing own-goal.

>The US runs on rule of law

Oh you sweet summer child.

It was built on entrepreneurship that made Silicon Valley and HackerNews.

Now it's arguably a culture of attention and political or tribal identity.

> US runs on money not culture

fortunately, someone saying that does not make it real. Think of a "soup" and of "experiment" and you will get more detail. Resolving an entire nation to a 1 or 0 classification is not defensible, right?

In this case though, the question is what underlying motivator dominates. The claim doesn't need to be as strong as 'the us is money, no culture' and can just be 'in the US, money accounts for more willpower and political capital than culture in a head to head'

Resolving the statement to a 1/0 classification isn't necessary. If the US ran on culture, the archive would be considered a jewel; but the US runs on money so it's seen as an underoptimization. If you're predicting what a group would do in a specific case and decision, it really is correct to apply generalizations.

Er, no. Culture isn’t one specific thing, of which you either have or lack.

Our culture can be a rich one and also not value the things the IA represent.

Shit on the US all you like, but any country could step up to save the IA…

This isn’t an American problem, it’s a drawback to the economic system the globe has adopted.