Now that it appears that the standoff in Oregon has already turned for the deadly worse and is due to get bloodier, we really need to put a lid on this “culture” thing.
If you live in America, unless there are some serious economic special cases, you are rich. You are educated. And most importantly, you have access to any number of different forms of transportation that can allow you to live anywhere you like. In or outside of America.
All of which is to say: if you insist that your actions are somehow normal or acceptable within the boundaries of your “culture,” that’s a crap argument. No, a mid-Westerner is not appreciably different from a New Yorker. A cattle rancher is not different from a web designer. What differences may occur between these demographic groups is not about their life. It’s about their life-“style.” They all chose to make a conscious choice about who they are and what they do.
We cannot continue to excuse bad behavior because of “culture.”