What do you mean by "our culture"? Do we have only one?

I'm still trying to figure out why we should take care of the homeless ...

Pennsylvania has an emergency heating assistance program for low income individuals and families (LiHEAP), and also won't shut you off when there's code blue or code red type weather going on.

This.

Yes they are businesses, but they are also amongst the providers of the country's basic infrastructure. They take on the rewards as they take on the responsiblity.

I just thought someone should note that it was not a business that killed this man, it is a municipal operation.

oh, ok, thanks, goddit now. More punctuation preferred :lol: (not that I would have got it then either, but I at least wouldn't have wasting time wondering how a person living with their family would be helped by a finding a homeless Somali.... :rolleyes:)

I was under the impression the man was killed by extremely cold temperatures... but I get your point.

I do not mean to say American culture is completely homogeneous, which is obviously false but I am generalizing. We as Americans do share a general culture, but that doesn't mean their aren't variations or subcultures between them. "Rural culture", "suburban culture", and even "urban culture", while different, share the same basic values as opposed to Arab culture, where the value system is much different.

It would be like commenting on the American political spectrum. Yes, there are Republicans and Democrats and they do have their differences but those differences are very minisual compared to Fuedalism, Fascism, Monarchism, or communism. Both Democrats and Republicans stem from the same basic values while monarchy and fuedalism stemed from different values, hence why they are so different and would never be accepted by Americans.

Thank you Mister Knowitall. ;)

Why would it matter if they were vets?

I am so sorry to the dudes family but that was a :lol2:

No comparison. Really, I hear this all the time. It does not matter if it is economics, military issues, politics, etc. There is no way you can compare our society to many of the European and Middle Eastern societies because of many things, and I know that you know all of this. If you are going to compare our society to any other you could use China and Russia based on diversity and demographics alone, but even those cannot compare. I find it funny how people want to compare our healthcare system to those that are about 1/50th the size of ours as one example. The list is endless of poor comparisons. If anyone doubts this hit me up with your best example.

Merc, by your reasoning then no other culture or economy or blah blah can be compared to that of the US considering the situation.

I think it's naive to think that lessons can't be learned from others who are perhaps not so powerful or established or wealthy.

My point is the comparisons are not so easily transferable. That is a fact.

I'm more disturbed that the population of the world doubled in just 40 years.

Well, I don't think comparisons are meant to be an exact science. When making a comparison, you acknowledge both the similarities and the differences in order to reach some conclusive thought.

For example, many people have compared my extended family to that of an Italian or Greek family structure, but we're definitely not the same. For one thing, we speak a different language and eat different food, and there's not the same strict heirarchy, and we have a different religion, and a different culture, but there are definitely some striking similarities in that we all know our second and third cousins and associate regularly, and in general, any minor feuds are patched up pretty quickly for the sake of 'the family' at large in order to create a good environment/example for the kids. We've stuck together when lots of other families are becoming very nuclear.