I'm a US expat and escaping this culture is one of the things that's made me happiest - I tend to call it the bullshit culture because my favorite example is... writing a good paper for class is admired - but what's really praised is writing a paper that gets good marks without ever having read the subject matter. Being able to spin lies about a topic you've no understanding of and turn that into a marketable skill is a dark potent for the future of America. I think it's always been somewhat present, but since emerging strongly out of the business world in the eighties it's gained a lot of steam.
We are a society that can benefit from cooperation where everyone gets a fair slice of the pie, but that society is eroded if we praise and not shame those people who betray societal trust and cheat the system.
I'm a US expat and escaping this culture is one of the things that's made me happiest - I tend to call it the bullshit culture because my favorite example is... writing a good paper for class is admired - but what's really praised is writing a paper that gets good marks without ever having read the subject matter. Being able to spin lies about a topic you've no understanding of and turn that into a marketable skill is a dark potent for the future of America. I think it's always been somewhat present, but since emerging strongly out of the business world in the eighties it's gained a lot of steam.
We are a society that can benefit from cooperation where everyone gets a fair slice of the pie, but that society is eroded if we praise and not shame those people who betray societal trust and cheat the system.