@Cruiser Not all. I was serious. (I should have written “Duh” instead of “Umm”). When I go to a foreign country, I adapt, as much as possible, to their customs—short of beheading and throwing acid in people’s faces—and even make an honest effort to pick up their language. It’s a sign of respect as a guest and provides me with a more thorough learning experience. I have little patience with people who come to my country and don’t do the same. When I’m in a foreign country that I am in agreement with politically and in a place where they are singing their national anthem, I’ll even salute their flag in the customary civilian way by placing my hand over my heart and show some respect. I did that in Sweden, but not in Poland under the Soviets. Doing this in no way makes me less an American, it only adds to who I am and it makes friends.
And when I see something that works, that can solve a problem that we Americans may have or make our lives more convenient—like the Gustav toilet in Sweden, or the way they monitor and police their welfare system to prevent abuse and waste—I promote the hell out of it. We are a young country and there is plenty of wiggle room in the American society for cultural assimilation, but if someone really wants to live there, they cannot expect to be successful if they insist on asserting their own culture into ours. If it works and is practical, the Americans will assimilate it on their own. If it’s too soon, too radical for us, impractical or abhorrent, we will not. In this respect, we are just like everybody else.