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Great explanation of the origins of the culture wars in the 1960s and 1970s--and Pres. Obama's place in the culture wars

An article analyzing Swiss gun culture. At first, it seems similar to the US gun culture because Swiss citizens are allowed to own select fire rifles and keep them in their homes. However, their rifle is for their country, not for themselves. The types of guns you can own isn't very restricted, but you are not allowed to have them in a vehicle unless youre going to a shooting range, and concealed carry is illegal. The Swiss own guns to quickly fight off an invading foreign army. Many Us citizens own guns to, in their mind, "keep the government in check".

Is Japan invading Chinese culture with this anime series? No claws. . . . .

This is a funny representation of how Americans view Europe. I think that there are definitely parts of it that are fairly accurate. What parts do you think are accurate? What does it tell you about stereotypes?

Having been in Spanish class since elementary school and through those classes studying Spanish Culture I cannot tell you how many times people blend the spanish people (people from spain) and mexican people (people from mexico) as spanish. To my understanding they both speak spanish and are both hispanic but originate from vastly different cultures. It is ignorant of us to call all spanish speaking people Spaniards.

His description of arriving at the new cultural-immersion tourist location was very funny and sweet. There's something about this kind of tourism (especially the somewhat more resort-like experience at Kapawi) that feels sort of weird to me. I guess the tourist aspect feels like it cheapens the place and culture. But I think I just have the wrong mindset about it. Like the article says, the tourism is controlled and actually helps support their efforts to keep their land from oil companies and reconnect with share their culture. I guess there's just something that still feels intruding about it

This article, from a self proclaimed "unbiased" German media source, explores how Japan was able to limit covid cases so well. Compared to most other countries, Japan has significant risk factors: a dense population with a large concentration of old people and a flow of traffic from neighboring China. Yet, they have wildly low numbers of cases and deaths. Although some political scientists theorize that the government has under tested in order to appear organized and keep their 2020 olympics position, many believe that tests were simply preserved in case of emergency. In either case, Japan's hygienic culture is indisputably helpful. An interviewed citizen said that they "didn't need" covid to "teach" them how to wash their hands or wear a mask. In fact, wearing a mask is seen as a civic duty and is seen as the bare minimum for every person. (Flu rates actually decreased due to such strict mask wearing). As a result, Japanese people are able to continue with many regularly scheduled activities; school, festivals, even amusement parks began to re-open by March.

I think it's really interesting how unspoken rules/cultural norms were able to in some ways make up for the failures of the Japenese government's response in terms of testing.

Hi Cooper! It is so interesting how the different cultures have influenced how much the virus spreads. Seeing how in the US, the government played a huge role in influencing the spread of the virus, I'm curious if any other political factors have also played a role in Japan's success.

How the Bobos Broke America: Atlantic 9/21 article here: https://www.npr.org/2021/08/08/1025845766/david-brooks-new-book-takes-a-look-at-how-the-cultural-elite-broke-america

A new hotline has opened in Bogota, named the Calm Line, aimed to fight the machismo culture in Colombia. Unlike other methods to prevent violence against women, the Calm Line takes calls from men, and pushes men to examine how their long-time attitudes of machismo harm their lives and the lives of others. Latin America, notably Argentina and Mexico, have had recent movements related to women's rights and well-being, including legalizing abortion and femicide. Interesting to see a new method of challenging the culture and machismo.

I'd never thought about this approach to domestic violence/machismo culture.Patriarchy extends in both directions, and attacking one side helps defeat the effects on the other. The've said that a dozen people call in per day, and I'm interested to see if the Calm Line becomes more widely used in the coming years. It certainly is a unique solution.

In Denmark the new wave of immigrants has shown an underlying societal racism. Danes feel that their culture is being stripped away by the immigrants. While they have come to terms with being a multiethnical society, they do not want to be a multicultural one.

MOSCOW - When the Russian authorities began a series of investigations this spring into the business affairs of a prominent opposition lawmaker, it was widely viewed as thinly veiled political retribution. But in a sign of how quickly the tables can now be flipped in such disputes, allies of the politician, Gennady V.

This article concerns attempts by Russian lawmakers to target opposition party members who they believe have violated Duma policy by "engaging in business or other paid activities". The controversy over the hypocrisy present in the aforementioned investigations sheds light on a question that interests me greatly: will Russia's corrupt and billionaire-driven government be sustainable in the long term? This particular case also raises questions about the mechanisms used by the ruling party, United Russia, in maintaining control over the Russian government.

This article also speaks to political culture, a key part of comparative politics analysis. Russia's transition to democracy has been halting, and many CoPo scholars say this is because Russia has a civic (and by extension political) culture that is used to authoritarianism of one sort or another. The notion of rule by democratic law is taking a long time to take hold. Is this explanation adequate? Compared to other countries?

Massively inappropriate, even for the comedy Channel in the US. . . why does American culture go for "South Park" or "Drawn Together" over this kind of humor?

"The New York Times'" China Times Topics page has a series of articles categorized as "Uneasy Engagement." This article casts an interesting light on Chinese culture and pride. A delegation of "Chinese cultural experts" is currently traveling across the world (specifically to American museums and institutions) to find art that they believe was once part of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. This palace was destroyed by French and British troops in 1860, and the Chinese are now attempting to reclaim their art pieces (though it is extremely difficult to prove that pieces originate from the Old Summer Palace). There are a few interesting quotes that challenge how we think about China and how China portrays itself on the international stage: " 'China is like an adolescent who took too many steroids,' said Liu Kang, a professor of Chinese studies at Duke University. 'It has suddenly become big, but it finds it hard to coordinate and control its body. To the West, it can look like a monster.' " " 'Chinese history did not start with the Qing Dynasty,' [said Wu Zuolai, a professor at the China Academy of Art.] 'This treasure hunting trip is just a political show. The media portray it as patriotic, but it's just spreading hate.' "

It's interesting how the article argues different reasons for China's "treasure hunt." If they really do want artifacts back, why aren't they looking in the right places? Do they just want to intimidate other countries? I like how this article focuses on one action/aspect of China that I would have never thought about, and how this seemingly small thing (at least to me) just adds to China's overall demeanor.

Greece has been making structural reforms to try to address their debt, but Europe is also making them impose high taxes and cut social spending which is not helping to ease the problems. Hopefully, Greece will move towards liberalization of labor markets, cost-efficient public services, and more uniform taxes.

The Greek economic crisis is so difficult to overcome because of the Greek business habits of short hours and a culture of not paying taxes. To pay for these bailouts, the contemporary Greek culture must be revised, something that is incredibly difficult. Though the Greeks have agreed to higher taxes, it certainly does not mean that the majority of the people has changed. The strain that the Greeks are putting on Europe and the strain that Europe is putting on Greece hopefully will not produce cracks.

This article gives an overview on the cultural attitudes towards suicide in Japan.

Both Japan and France rank in the top 50 for Global Peace Rankings-- Japan 8th and France 48th. The biggest difference in their rankings comes from France's possession of heavy and nuclear weapons. The Japanese have limited possession of heavy and nuclear weapons as a result of the pacifist constitution they were forced to adopt following WWII which limited their ability to arm for war. Furthermore, France is involved in more conflicts and exports more weapons than Japan, which is also heavily related to the restrictions placed on Japan following WWII. However, Japan has a worse record when it comes to relations with neighbors which may be related to actions from WWII and rising tensions between Japan, China, and South Korea. Yet, perhaps unrelated to WWII and relating more to culture of society, France has a higher level of violent demonstrations and internal organized conflict than Japan. Japan has a homogenous population that has a main focus of work and a culture that accepts the social and economic hierarchy, but France has a more heterogeneous population with many disenfranchised groups that were once colonized that continue to face discrimination.