American values1.docx

1、American values1Key American ValuesAmericas population reflects remarkable ethnic diversity. More than 20 percent of the population of two major cities, Los Angeles and New York, were born in another country. In some other major cities (including San Francisco and Chicago) more than one of every ten

2、 residents is foreign born. Non-white people outnumber whites in several large cities. Newspapers commonly use such terms as “Asian American,” “Italian American,” and “Arab American” to reflect the persistence of various ethnic heritages within the United States. There are people whose skin is label

3、ed white, black, brown, yellow and red. Americas population includes Catholics, Protestants of many denominations, Jews of several persuasions, Muslims, Buddhists, animists, and people who believe in no supreme being or higher power. There are people who have many years of formal education and peopl

4、e who have nearly none. There are the very rich as well as the very poor. There are Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Socialists, Communists, Libertarians, and adherents of other political views as well. There are lawyers, farmers, plumbers, teachers, social workers, immigration officers and peo

5、ple in thousands of other occupations. Some live in urban areas and some in rural ones.Given all this diversity, can one usefully talk about “Americans”? Probably so, if one is careful.How Americans See ThemselvesAmericans do not usually see themselves, when they are in the United States, as represe

6、ntatives of their country. They see themselves as individuals who are different from all other individuals, whether those others are Americans or foreigners. Americans may say they have no culture, since they often conceive of culture as an overlay of arbitrary customs to be found only in other coun

7、tries. Individual Americans may think they chose their own values, rather than having had their values and the assumptions on which they are based imposed on them by the society in which they were born. If you ask them to tell you something about “American culture,” they may be unable to answer and

8、they may even deny that there is an “American culture.”At the same time, Americans will readily generalize about various subgroups within their own country. Northerners have stereotypes (generalized, simplified notions) about Southerners, and vice versa. There are stereotypes of people from the coun

9、try, people from the city, people from the coasts, people from inland, people from the Midwest, minority ethnic groups, minority religious groups, Texans, New Yorkers, Californians, Iowans, and so on.Individualism and PrivacyThe most important thing to understand about American is probably their dev

10、otion to “individualism.” They have been trained since very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies. They have not been trained to see themselves as members of a close-knit, tightly interdependen

11、t family, religious group, tribe, nation, or other collectivity. It is this concept of themselves as individual decision-makers that blinds at least some Americans to the fact they share a culture with others. They have the idea as mentioned above, that they have independently made up their own mind

12、s about the values and assumptions they hold. The notion that social factors outside themselves have made them “just like everyone else” in important ways offends their sense of dignity. Foreigners who understand the degree to which Americans are imbued with the notion that the free, self-reliant in

13、dividual is the ideal kind of human being will find it easier to understand many aspects of American behavior and thinking that otherwise might not make sense. Many Americans do not display the degree of respect for their parents people in more traditional or family-oriented societies commonly displ

14、ay. They have the conception it is a historical or biological accident that put them in the hands of particular parents. Parents fulfill their responsibilities to the children while the children are young, and when children reach “the age of independence” the close child-parent tie is loosened, if n

15、ot broken. Closely associated with the value they place on individualism is the importance Americans assign privacy. Americans assume people “need some time to themselves” or “some time alone” to think about things or recover their spent psychological energy. Americans have great difficulty understa

16、nding foreigners who always want to be with another person and who dislike being alone.EqualityAmericans are also distinctive in the degree to which they believe in the ideal, as stated in their Declaration of Independence, that “all men are created equal.” Although they sometimes violate the ideal

17、in their daily lives, particularly in matters of interracial relationships, Americans have a deep faith that in some fundamental way all people (at least all American people) are of equal value, and no one is born superior to anyone else. “One man, one vote,” they say, conveying the idea any persons

18、 opinion is as valid and worthy of attention as any other persons opinion. This is not to say Americans make no distinctions among themselves as a result of such factors as sex, age, wealth, or social position. They do. But the distinctions are acknowledged in subtle ways. Tone of voice, order of sp

19、eaking, choice of words, seating arrangements-such are the means by which Americans acknowledge status differences among themselves.InformalityTheir notions of equality lead Americans to be quite informal in their general behavior and in their relationships with other people.People from societies wh

20、ere general behavior is more formal than in American are struck by the informality of American speech, dress, and posture. Idiomatic speech (commonly called “slang”) is heavily used on most occasions, with formal speech reserved for public events and fairly formal situations. People of almost any st

21、ation in life can be seen in public wearing jeans, sandals, or other informal attire. People slouch down in chairs or lean on walls or furniture when they talk, rather than maintaining an erect bearing.The Future, Change, and ProgressAmericans are generally less concerned about history and tradition

22、s than are people from older societies. “History doesnt matter,” many of them will say. “Its the future that counts.” They look ahead.This fundamental American belief in progress and a better future contrasts sharply with fatalistic (Americans are likely to us that term with a negative or critical c

23、onnotation) attitude that characterizes people from many other cultures, notably Latin, Asian, and Arab, where there is a pronounced reverence for the past. In those cultures the future is considered to be in the hands of “fate,” “God,” or at least the few powerful people or families dominating soci

24、ety.Goodness of HumanityThe future cannot be better if people are not fundamentally good and improvable. Americans assume that human nature is basically good, not basically evil. Foreign visitors will see them doing many things that are based on the assumption people are good and can make themselves

25、 better.” Where theres a will, theres a way,” the Americans say. People who want to make things better can do so if only they have strong enough motivation.TimeFor Americans, time is a “resource,” like water or coal, which can be used well or poorly. “Time is money.” “You only get so much time in th

26、is life, so youd better use it wisely.” The future will not be better than the past or the present, as Americans are trained to see things, unless people use their time for constructive, future-oriented activities. Thus, Americans admire a “well-organized” person, one who has a written list of thing

27、s to do and a schedule for doing them. The ideal person is punctual (that is, arrives at the scheduled time for a meeting or event) and is considerate of other peoples time (that is, does not “waste peoples time” with conversation or other activity with no visible, beneficial outcome).The American a

28、ttitude toward time is not necessarily shared by others, especially non-Europeans. They are more likely to conceive of time as something that is simply there around them, not something they can “use.” One of the more difficult things to which many foreign businessmen and students must adjust in the

29、States is the notion that time must be saved whenever possible and used wisely every day.Achievement, Action, Work, and Materialism“Hes a hard worker,” one American might say in praise of another, or “she gets the job done.” These expressions convey the typical Americans admiration for a person who

30、approaches a task conscientiously and persistently, seeing it through to a successful conclusion. More than that, these expressions convey an admiration for achievers, people whose live are centered around efforts to accomplish some physical, measurable thing.Foreign visitors commonly remark that “A

31、mericans work harder than I expected them to.” (Perhaps these visitors have been excessively influenced by American movies and television programs, which are less likely to show people working than to show them driving around in fast cars or pursuing members of the opposite sex.) While the so-called

32、 Protestant work ethic may have lost some of its hold on Americans, there is still a strong belief that the ideal person is a “hard worker.” A hard worker is one who “gets right to work” on a task without delay, works efficiently, and completes the task in a way that meets reasonably high standards

33、of quality.Generally, Americans like action. They do indeed believe it is important to devote significant energy to their jobs or to other daily responsibilities. Beyond that, they tend to believe they should be doing something most of the time. They are usually not content, as people from many other countries are, to sit for hours and talk with o