←back to thread

231 points rntn | 6 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
Show context
ghusto ◴[] No.35413937[source]
On the one hand: If your culture needs a preservation movement, it's not a culture, but a relic. Culture is defined by people, not some sacred thing that needs to be preserved. How much of the Italian cuisine they're trying to protect would exist if they had the same attitude in the 1500s, when the tomato was introduced to Italy?

On the other hand: I think countries should resist global cultural homogenisation. No offence meant to the Americans here, but I detest the exportation of American culture to Europe. I don't mean music and films, but rather the way of thinking about the world. I suspect this is where things like these proposals are coming from; it's the pendulum swing reaching too far before it settles in the middle.

replies(32): >>35414043 #>>35414075 #>>35414127 #>>35414167 #>>35414291 #>>35414385 #>>35414431 #>>35414591 #>>35414663 #>>35415031 #>>35415085 #>>35415093 #>>35415238 #>>35415252 #>>35415290 #>>35415487 #>>35415830 #>>35416551 #>>35416584 #>>35416958 #>>35417161 #>>35417310 #>>35417602 #>>35417643 #>>35418726 #>>35418735 #>>35418854 #>>35419182 #>>35419235 #>>35419782 #>>35419908 #>>35421649 #
1. WalterBright ◴[] No.35416551[source]
I remember visiting a shopping mall in Stuttgart. From the parking garage, to the building architecture, to the layout, to the businesses, to the advertising signs, you could not tell you were in a country other than the US. It was kinda sad.
replies(2): >>35417629 #>>35418102 #
2. jimvdv ◴[] No.35417629[source]
If I enter a shopping mall in my country I expect it to be American the same way I expect a McDonald’s to be American. I mean, the very concept is foreign.
replies(1): >>35417716 #
3. edgineer ◴[] No.35417716[source]
Fun fact, the word "mall" comes from the Italian "pallamaglio"

[0] https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-history-of...

replies(1): >>35422193 #
4. samtho ◴[] No.35418102[source]
Serious question (not rhetorical). Do you think this a problem could be that large, international cities tend to copy US cities or do you think that they themselves become homogenous with one another? Former West Germany is also a particularly egregious example of US influence due to our historical involvement there.
replies(1): >>35418555 #
5. WalterBright ◴[] No.35418555[source]
I don't know, but having lived in Germany for a while, I prefer the German way of shopping in the Alt Stadt. I've often thought that if I designed a planned community, I'd model it after an Alt Stadt. Complete with town wall and a moat, of course!
6. walthamstow ◴[] No.35422193{3}[source]
Thanks for this. I always wondered why the road leading west from Trafalgar Sq was called Pall Mall.