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Having lived for long periods in the USA and Nigeria and visiting other continents as well, I can assure you that each culture has an idea of what's appropriate whether they use that specific word or not. Never been to Germany (I've visited 5 of its neighbors), but no matter how open or permissive Berliners consider themselves, I feel it's likely they "don't care" about certain things - a lot of people take things for granted that everyone in their culture accepts as a norm or a line that shouldn't be crossed and I'm sure there are bound to be some of those in Berlin whether you perceive them or not.

You keep talking about how this is a uniquely American concept but I get the feeling that your only basis for comparison is Europe? Because just to take one example, Chinese parents complain even louder than American parents about anything "inappropriate" in the media and thus Westerners are often very surprised and disappointed to find that their Chinese acquaintances aren't interested in fighting government censorship.

Every culture for thousands of years has had rules about what is appropriate. Kosher laws, Halal, and so on. Modern Europe is probably the main exception.