Choose one piece of culture to represent your nation!

[Thalassian Bob]

So, MMO-Champion, if an alien beamed you up into their ship and asked you to present to them a piece of culture which you felt best represented your nation (whether you consider yourself as part of a nation state, a people or a citizen of the world), what would you show them?

Are you perhaps an American who takes great pride in the constitution upon which the republic was built? Or are you a Scandinavian who loves the folklore of the Eddas? Maybe you're Chinese and admire the architectural and engineering prowess required to construct the Great Wall? Or perhaps you are a Russian who enjoys ruminating on the moral conundrums presented in Dostoevsky's literary works?

I'm going to allow everyone to pick one piece of culture, whatever it might be, as their main example and then pick two honourable mentions.

This is not a thread for people to come in and rip on the cultures of other people, but a little bit of self-deprecation is fine. By all means, critique people's choices if you think they should have chosen differently, but let's not turn this hopefully positive, interesting and light-hearted thread into a dumpster fire of bile and vitriol!

I am an Englishman and more broadly a British Islander, so I think I would elect to show the aliens this beautiful song:



It is a musical performance of one of the most famous sonnets of William Shakespeare, considered one of Britain and perhaps the world's greatest authors, sung by Cara Dillon, who I think has one of Ireland's most beautiful voices. I think it's a beautiful articulation of the combined potential of our little North Atlantic archipelago.

My first honourable mention would be, if I am allowed to perhaps cheat at my own game, Peter Jackson's cinematic representation of J. R. R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Tolkien was, of course, an Englishman (with some German ancestry) and Peter Jackson was born in New Zealand to English parents, so I think I'm okay. While England has a rich tradition of folk tales and legends, it lacks a core mythology, with only fragmented attestations of pantheons (Nodens and Toutatis or Woden and Thunor) and scattered poetic references to legendary figures like Wayland the Smith surviving into the present. But Tolkien draws inspiration from Old English epics like Beowulf and mythologies from across Europe to create a very convincing, exciting and charming English-ish mythology and Peter Jackson's films are the big screen articulation that literary epic deserves.



My second honourable mention would perhaps be a snippet of Prime Minister's Questions. Britain's form of governance is sometimes messy, obtuse, lumbering, farcical and infuriating, but English parliamentary democracy, built on the foundations of Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights 1689, helped shape Britain into a relatively free, open and politically uncorrupt nation state and countries that have taken inspiration from Britain's model of governance; the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, India etc, have almost always thrived by any metric measure.

Prime Minister's Questions are simply a particularly ridiculous and amusing articulation of British parliamentary democracy.

[Ayirasi]

My American half says a NASCAR stock car. Couldn't be more American unless you were BBQing slabs of bacon-wrapped meat while chugging Tennessee whiskey and puking up bald eagles.

My Thai half says a war elephant in full battle regalia. Couldn't be more Thai unless, uh... what do we do, again? Put people in a clinch and knee them in the face? Cook food that burns your mouth and anus? Have hot chicks with surprise wiener?

[lockedout]

My American half says a NASCAR stock car. Couldn't be more American unless you were BBQing slabs of bacon-wrapped meat while chugging Tennessee whiskey and puking up bald eagles.

Fast cars barbecue and MAGA hats.

[Elegiac]

The Snuggie.



An item that actually has a practical use for people in wheelchairs but because we live in the late capitalist hellscape that is America the only way the manufacturers can remain solvent is by marketing it as a gimmick to suburban white people. And it's still not even a good quality blanket.

Few things encapsulate our culture better.

[Thalassian Bob]

My American half says a NASCAR stock car. Couldn't be more American unless you were BBQing slabs of bacon-wrapped meat while chugging Tennessee whiskey and puking up bald eagles.

My Thai half says a war elephant in full battle regalia. Couldn't be more Thai unless, uh... what do we do, again? Put people in a clinch and knee them in the face? Cook food that burns your mouth and anus? Have hot chicks with surprise wiener?

I think that sounds like a good selection of American wholesomeness. It's making me hungry thinking about it!

I will never say no to an armour-clad battle elephant! Most of those Thai alternatives sound pretty great too! Haha!

The Snuggie.

[IMG]https://hsmshops.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/hqdefault.jpg[/IG]

An item that actually has a practical use for people in wheelchairs but because we live in the late capitalist hellscape that is America the only way the manufacturers can remain solvent is by marketing it as a gimmick to suburban white people. And it's still not even a good quality blanket.

Few things encapsulate our culture better.

Supply and demand is a funny old beast to be sure! I think that's a very cosy choice, despite the jaded undertones! ^^'

[Shakadam]

A Sauna. Simple as that really.

[Saltysquidoon]

A.B. Paterson, H. Lawson, Vegemite and 50 years of artificial government-backed inflation of the housing market.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Ikea.

Nothing more to it, really.

[Thalassian Bob]

A Sauna. Simple as that really.

I don't think anything more needs to be said!

A.B. Paterson, H. Lawson, Vegemite and 50 years of artificial government-backed inflation of the housing market.

I hadn't heard of those chaps but will have to check out some of their work! Nor have I tried Vege or Marmite! I think I've always been put off by the look of the packaging, the "Love it or Hate it" branding and people always just describing it as "salty". Maybe I should brave it some day!

Ikea.

Nothing more to it, really.

Ikea is a global sensation!

[Saltysquidoon]

I hadn't heard of those chaps but will have to check out some of their work! Nor have I tried Vege or Marmite! I think I've always been put off by the look of the packaging, the "Love it or Hate it" branding and people always just describing it as "salty". Maybe I should brave it some day!

Hey, don't undersell the government-backed inflation that's a world record right there.

Pretty much all the 'mites' aren't as bad as people make out, you just have to eat it on bread and not stick your finger in it like people do on tv/youtube.

[unfilteredJW]

Being a selfish cunt.

[Floofi]

An HDDVD copy of Team America: World Police.

[breadisfunny]

i choose this:

the charts don't lie.
albeit i wouldn't actually give them this. i just feel it perfectly represents our nation's culture right now.

[Tuor]

Being a portuguese, i would choose a song the represents my country well. I would choose Canção do Mar by Dulce Pontes, that reflects our conection to the sea.


My 2 mentions would be so they could understand we humans can be genious at the same time we dump.

[Acidbaron]

Besides let's say beer and actually looking at landmarks?



The Atonium, a remanent of a world fair in the 50's.

Confusing, absurd and wondering what it really is. Represents our nation made up out of two different groups of people extremely well in that manner.
Not the best looking landmark we have, far more prettier building in Bruges or Leuven but those are more representative of the regions than of the nation in my opinion.

[Thalassian Bob]

Hey, don't undersell the government-backed inflation that's a world record right there.

Pretty much all the 'mites' aren't as bad as people make out, you just have to eat it on bread and not stick your finger in it like people do on tv/youtube.

I mean a world record's a world record, I guess!

Okay, cool. It might have to be the type of thing I try if someone else buys it but I'll unlikely buy my own pot... ^^'

Being a selfish cunt.

Doesn't the United States have the highest aid budget in the world though?

Nikola Tesla - Serbia

[snip]

Nikola Tesla had perhaps thousands of other ideas and inventions that remain unreleased. A look at his hundreds of patents shows a glimpse of the scope he intended to offer.

Cool choice! He did seem to have a brilliant mind!

An HDDVD copy of Team America: World Police.

Nice! I still think the "dicks, pussies and assholes" spiel is one of the best arguments in favour of a hawkish foreign policy that I've ever heard!

i choose this:
[IMG]https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/02/coronavirus-2.jpg[/IG]
the charts don't lie.
albeit i wouldn't actually give them this. i just feel it perfectly represents our nation's culture right now.

Hmm. Well the C-Word has had a profound global impact and I think the aftershocks of that impact will be felt long after the viral all-clear is given.

Being a portuguese, i would choose a song the represents my country well. I would choose Canção do Mar by Dulce Pontes, that reflects our conection to the sea.
[video=youtube;v_2fyB4dj4U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_2fyB4dj4U[/vieo]

My 2 mentions would be so they could understand we humans can be genious at the same time we dump.
[video=youtube;nOcDftgR5UQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOcDftgR5UQ[/vdeo]
[video=youtube;TbJvoUMmOCA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbJvoUMmOCA[/vieo]

Lovely song! I don't know what she's saying but I can feel the passion in her words!

You know the alliance between England (and Britain subsequently) and Portugal is the longest standing political alliance between two nations in global history! Over 600 years!

It would definitely be cool to show them space aliens that we made our way up there too!

Besides let's say beer and actually looking at landmarks?

[IMG]snip[/MG]

The Atonium, a remanent of a world fair in the 50's.

Confusing, absurd and wondering what it really is. Represents our nation made up out of two different groups of people extremely well in that manner.
Not the best looking landmark we have, far more prettier building in Bruges or Leuven but those are more representative of the regions than of the nation in my opinion.

Beer would be a perfectly valid choice!

I like your selection though! I find Belgium really interesting! I have a friend who lives in Leuven and went to visit him and his wife a couple of years ago. It was a really beautiful city!

[Tuor]

Lovely song! I don't know what she's saying but I can feel the passion in her words!

She is singing about the sea, translated to English the song is called The Song of the Sea.

You know the alliance between England (and Britain subsequently) and Portugal is the longest standing political alliance between two nations in global history! Over 600 years!

That is common sense for us... Not for the rest of the world.

It would definitely be cool to show them space aliens that we made our way up there too!

We mankind are on the way.

[Zuben]

Perkele. It's Finnish name for Satan and the most palatable curse word here.

EDIT: Seems to have originated from local folklore, from which Christians took it to mean the Devil.

[Santti]

Perkele. It's Finnish name for Satan and the most palatable curse word here.

EDIT: Seems to have originated from local folklore, from which Christians took it to mean the Devil.

Think Perkele was the lord of fire, or something like that. Naturally, Christians equated that to Satan.

[Stelio Kontos]

Being Greek, it's hard to narrow it down to one thing.

A hoplite? A book of philosophy? Democracy?

Or a gyro.