World's Cultural Capital

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Sava


Pffft, Chicago can always "dig up" some more votes than any other city.

So far Chicago has dug up zero votes. With two chances for some drunk to hit a random box that is not doing very well.

[1]

I agree with Monolith. Boston is a very rich and deep city. I spent most my summer there. Hey its just a 40 minute drive! =)

[Faeelin]

Hold it. What the hell is culture?

n 1: a particular civilization at a particular stage 2: the tastes in art and manners that are favored by a social group 3: all the knowledge and values shared by a society [syn: acculturation]


So which city has the most of 2 and 3?

I'd go with LA or NY.

[monolith94]

"There's already too many American cities. At least change it to Berlin instead."

NO NO NO! I and others have voiced our support for Boston, and only Boston has actually had a viable historical defence for its cultural importance out of all the cities in this thread!

[Kontiki]

Pretty much have to go with London, the true capital of the world.

[monolith94]

In the sense that the world = england, I suppose you would be correct…

[Kontiki]

No, I mean more in the sense that more cultures are represented there than anywhere else. You could give NY the nod, but its prominence is greatly amplified by the fact that the US economy dominates the world.

[monolith94]

What makes a city the world's cultural capital however??? Representation of different cultures? I think not. Rather, it is the creation of new culture, in my mind.

[Kontiki]

I agree, and certainly don't think that London is the cultural capital simply because of how cosmopolitan it is - sorry, on second glance, I guess my first post implied that. It does help, though, as a great many cultural contributions come from a confluence of many different people. But on top of that, London is still a major center for theatre, music, movies, art, literature, fashion etc., not to mention how many other places attempt to emulate it.

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by monolith94
Rather, it is the creation of new culture, in my mind.

That is why I voted for LA. New York has Culture. LA creates and exports culture. Sure McDonalds and movies aren't Opera but its culture and McDonalds and movies have effected far more people than Wagner ever has. Or even Beethoven which is kind of a shame.

[Urban Ranger]

Your threshold for culture is remarkably low. Culture should make people smarter, not dumber.

[Ethelred]

Culture has little to do with inteligence. If it did Wagner wouldn't be considered cultured considering what an oaf the man was. Culture does include things that make people smarter or at least more educated but it also includes normal day to day behaviour which is why crummy fast food places like McDonalds count. I haven't been to one of those for years but they are part of modern culture in many nations now and they came from the suburbs of LA.

Its not the food or the look or even Ronald McDonald that caused the success of McDonalds. It was the idea of franchising and making something familiar in distant places that made McDonalds and other fast food shops expand out of places like Downey, California to cover the world. Downey is not the kind of place you would expect a major company to get its start in. Franchising is the real cultural and bussiness phenomana that McDonalds spawned. Good or bad, like it or not its affecting the way people live everywhere. The New York Met isn't nor is the Louvre.

Of course I do look at culture from an anthropological point of view. Your mileage may differ.

[Urban Ranger]

Does culture include everyday normal things, or do those more properly belong to tradition? If a society stones those who work on saturdays, is that part of their culture, or is that part of their tradition?

[Ethelred]

Yes. All of the above at least from an anthropological point of view. Tradition is part of culture. Culture is what people learn from each other and pass on to the next generation although I suppose family secrets don't count while guild or clan secrets would.

Of course Saint Marcus might not have intended for the poll to take that point of view. He wasn't specific enough to stop me from taking this one. If we were to take the Hoity-Toity Culture with an Illuminated Capital C then it gets harder. Does Athens count more than Rome because Athen was a major influence in Rome? How much do the Pyramids count? Is Paris really all that or is it just self-centered? Do the Elgin Marbles count for Athens or London. How about Peking? Is it in bad taste or is it splendid?

[Combat Ingrid]

Gothenburg. Many nice death metal bands