Why is there an "American" civilization??

[Hannabir]

utterly ridiculous. africa, europe and asia are all connected by land. so does the siani peninsula for some reason not count as part of the landmass connecting africa and asia while panama counts as a connecting piece between the north and south of the whole of the 'american continent'?

That is correct. It's not my decision, or my logic, and there are purists who say Africa and Eurasia are one continent, but this is how continents are counted.

insinuating that america doesn't have much culture beyond what came from europe is so completely off-base.

Indeed. America has a lot of culture. The USA have, too.

america in the last century has become the standard bearer for western civilization, with her cultural input being the primary driving force behind it

But this, the absolute opposite, is not true either.

The USA are just one country among many. They have a lot of culture, but so have others, and no single culture is dominant or entirely independent.

 

[trotskylite]

'primary driving force' doesn't mean 'dominance'. what it means is that in the last century (the more general) western civilization has taken on characteristics of (the more specific) american civilization. instead of other nations within the scope of western civilization acting on us by steering the general course of our common culture, america is taking a turn at the steering wheel.

 

[Turner]

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