[danjaouen]

While I don't doubt the veracity of this article, it is wildly presumptuous to characterize an entire nation based on one or two isolated, anecdotal incidents.

How would we feel if the rest of the world characterized Americans by the antics of single individuals, like Lindsay Lohan or Miley Cyrus?

[bbuffone]

I lived in china for 2.5 years and american's are characterized by its celebrities. In the beginning, i spent most of my lunch time conversations explaining that... No i do not own a gun, but i also explained many times as the men told me they stopped drinking as they prepared to have children.... That is odd; most children in the US are conceived by parents that were drunk.

[jamesbritt]

most children in the US are conceived by parents that were drunk.

What? Consider me skeptical.

[aubreyjohnson]

Uh... that does happen.

[paulorlando]

Great point. That does happen a lot.

[speeder]

Granted, the average US person I've met... are not far from that, or from 50cents, or Paris Hilton...

By average I mean literally average, the majority, not HNers

[evan_]

Please elaborate, in what ways are the literally average majority of Americans like 50 Cent or Paris Hilton?

[speeder]

In the sense they are their role models (not only they, but pop culture celebrities in general)

People strive to be like them, rich and individualistic for their own pleasure (instead of being content, or wanting to be a bill gates in the sense of being good to other people beside himself)

The people I've met were usually highly materialistic, individualistic, consumerist, and willfully ignorant (ie: being seen as smart is bad, being seen as sexy but of average intelligence is good), and having a incredible sense of superiority and exceptionality.