I wasn't talking about self-worth.  I was saying that the tactic of saying one culture or group doesn't understand the concept of dignity is a not uncommon practice that's always meaningless and often offensive.  It doesn't matter if you're making the accusation against the mainstream or not.  As to the bit about the poor, I'll quote Cesar Chavez:

"Do not romanticize the poor...We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others."

And it's just silly to generalize about the "mainstream" population based on whether they watch American Idol which, like Survivor is a re-make of a British show.  Does that make the British people incapable of understanding the concept of dignity?

There's plenty wrong with our culture.  There's also plenty wrong with people in general.  But there's nothing "exceptional" wrong with American people, although it would be nice to think so given the terrible things some of them are doing right now.  

I keep reading people being upset about American exceptionalism, but it seems to me they're helping perpetuate the notion if they say Americans are exceptionally anything -- good or bad.  Why don't we just admit that people are all the same instead of bashing each other, and then maybe we can figure out how to deal with these truly bad things that go on when the leaders are bad.


Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding. -Hobbes