That would suggest a fundamental difference in practical ethics between the two cultures.

It sounds like people over there in America don’t do things because they enjoy doing them or because they’re convinced that those are the right things to do, but rather they do them to impress others or improve their social standing.

It doesn’t sound right to me, I mean a culture can’t be so totally obsessed with the self.

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drivingmenuts 9 hours ago | parent [-]

> It doesn’t sound right to me, I mean a culture can’t be so totally obsessed with the self.

One of our (the US) early political mottoes is "Don't Tread On Me" and it has a flag.

And, yes, we can be and to varying degrees, are. Which is why we can't get along with ourselves very well, much less everyone else.

We're tetchy.

	▲	kubb 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Right, but that would mean the „Don’t tread on me” motto is also a type of persona assumed (like veganism) by people who like being perceived as tough and unruly because that’s respected. (I guess „persona” would be a better word for it than „the self”.)