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For a good while now, we've been experiencing a sort of convergence in the US culturally since say the 1930s: less accents and unique phrases, pop music, franchises, corporate culture etc.
The question is this, will that trend continue or will it reverse, where areas develop their own unique habits that you don't really see other places?
I think that the nation will diverge. Looking at languages, they naturally diverge if you give them time, they tend to evolve down as people invent new phrases and words and they become common. That's how Latin made Romance languages. Mass media was the big force that undid a lot of this, but to what extent will mass media be such a presence in the future? Social media is replacing mass media and that is more targeted. Pop music doesn't exist anymore, everyone has their own playlists, largely built around a local live music scene.
Basically nobody relocates for jobs anymore, it's down to like 1-2% of people. People in general just don't move as much. And when they do, what people are moving for now is finding a place that fits them, so people are self segregating. Big cities will always be immigrant hubs and have this global churn feel, but the smaller cities and towns is where the regional flair really expresses, and those areas are picking up in growth or reversing declines.
The only area that doesn't really seem to be slowing down is franchises, seems like those keep thriving.
Basically nobody relocates for jobs anymore, it's down to like 1-2% of people. People in general just don't move as much. And when they do, what people are moving for now is finding a place that fits them, so people are self segregating. Big cities will always be immigrant hubs and have this global churn feel, but the smaller cities and towns is where the regional flair really expresses, and those areas are picking up in growth or reversing declines.
Is there data to support this? Because my anecdotal experience is the opposite. People are moving more than ever before in my lifetime. Remote work has enabled this and everything I’ve seen suggests the pandemic facilitated a major shift in domestic migration patterns, as millions of people left major coastal cities in favor of smaller, lower cost of living, towns and suburbs. Probably half or more of my high school classmates no longer live in their hometowns. They’ve moved elsewhere for college or careers and stayed. Perhaps compared to 100 years ago nobody is moving, but compared to 30 years ago I’d say moves have picked up.
The future of American culture likely moves in a three pronged direction. In the middle, you’ll see the idea of a common accent and regional distinctions fade away, but (unfortunately) the divergence of political and social attitudes will separate people as polarization continues to grow.
Is there data to support this? Because my anecdotal experience is the opposite. People are moving more than ever before in my lifetime. Remote work has enabled this and everything I’ve seen suggests the pandemic facilitated a major shift in domestic migration patterns, as millions of people left major coastal cities in favor of smaller, lower cost of living, towns and suburbs. Probably half or more of my high school classmates no longer live in their hometowns. They’ve moved elsewhere for college or careers and stayed. Perhaps compared to 100 years ago nobody is moving, but compared to 30 years ago I’d say moves have picked up.
The future of American culture likely moves in a three pronged direction. In the middle, you’ll see the idea of a common accent and regional distinctions fade away, but (unfortunately) the divergence of political and social attitudes will separate people as polarization continues to grow.
Interstate migration in the US has slowed significantly in the past decade, yes.
That being said; I concur very much with your second paragraph.
Is there data to support this? Because my anecdotal experience is the opposite. People are moving more than ever before in my lifetime. Remote work has enabled this and everything I’ve seen suggests the pandemic facilitated a major shift in domestic migration patterns, as millions of people left major coastal cities in favor of smaller, lower cost of living, towns and suburbs. Probably half or more of my high school classmates no longer live in their hometowns. They’ve moved elsewhere for college or careers and stayed. Perhaps compared to 100 years ago nobody is moving, but compared to 30 years ago I’d say moves have picked up.
The future of American culture likely moves in a three pronged direction. In the middle, you’ll see the idea of a common accent and regional distinctions fade away, but (unfortunately) the divergence of political and social attitudes will separate people as polarization continues to grow.
People are indeed moving more, but moving because you want to relocate somewhere vs relocating cause that's where the job is result it two very different outcomes. Relocating where you want generally means turbocharging the existing vibe and culture whereas moving for a job means more trying to mesh your culture with the mass of the metro suburban office park. The latter leads to homogenization, the former leads to more distinction.
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Originally Posted by cpomp
More convergent. A hyper-connected world = homogenization of ideas, cultures, cities, experiences, etc.
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Originally Posted by mhays25
More. The moment a subculture comes up with something cool, it's on the internet and wannabes from Spokane pick it up.
We are already very very connected, that's part of why I'm curious on this. Are we really going to get MORE similar than we are now?
On a lot of fronts, things seem to be slowing down. Immigration is slowing or at least less supported worldwide than it used to be. Supply chains are segmenting, we've already passed peak globalization from a goods perspective. The internet is fragmenting where China and the US have separate versions, and the EU will have their own version as their regs on AI and things of that nature differ markedly than the US.
Sports viewership and interest is down, and what's more mass US culture than that? Nobody has cable or the radio anymore. Ads are targeted rather than mass blasted.
People are subculturing a lot more than they used to. I say give it time and those subcultures will self segregate more geographically and that's how we end back up more divergent than we are now.
Today's LEVEL of connection will increase over time.
I could be wrong about that. Much depends on the details of how we're fed new stuff vs. same-old stuff by algorithms, whether shows are homogenized or more independent....
I also could see that happening among the entire Anglosphere. Aussies, Kiwis, and Brits sounding more American. Canadians are already losing unique accents (GTA/Lower Ontario has always sounds very similar to Inland American English [i.e. "General American"] )
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