A thread through the archive
Essays tagged “American culture”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Scott Alexander reviews 'America Against America', a 1988 book by Chinese political scientist Wang Huning, analyzing his observations of US society and institutions after a brief stay in Iowa.
Scott Alexander creates a humorous 'Puritan' checklist to rank historical American figures, lamenting the loss of this eccentric, morally serious archetype in modern American culture.
Scott presents Horace Miner's satirical essay describing American culture as an exotic tribe called the 'Nacirema,' demonstrating how framing effects and cultural expectations shape anthropological interpretation.