So today we talked about what we think makes up American culture. I was part of the last group to go, and it really surprised me what people ahead of me said what America's culture is based off of. Some of these things were liberty, or freedom, or opportunity. Others said that America doesn't have a culture of it's own, because we're a big "melting pot."
I disagree with many of these claims. Sure, many Americas value freedom and opportunity... as along as it's for them. It'd be nice to think that the American paper values are the same ones that make up our culture today, but in reality, I think American culture is individualistic and focused mainly on the "now." Most Americans don't care how their actions will effect the future- this applies to politicians who spend more time trying to get reelected than passing legislature, celebrates who are famous for the sake of being famous, and athletes focused more on their pay checks than anything else. These are the people we value in America.
Culture is easiet to see when you look at how people (aka, Americans in general,) react to other events. If Americans wanted to have liberty for all, shouldn't there be more uproar that Don't Ask Don't Tell didn't get repealed? If America was truely a "melting pot," wouldn't there be more acceptence for the growing Hispanic community? Instead, many (I hesitate to say most, but probably so,) Americans don't even realize that other citizens don't have the same equal rights, and others call out for an "English Only" country.
I hate that we only touched the surface of this in class, and spent more time talking about food and accents than current events. I thought the class was about creating sociological mindsets, not finding our safezones. But unfortunately, I guess that only proves my point, right?
you couldn't have said it better! we are individualistic (an aspect of us is or melting pot of nationalities), and we do really value the here and now (I wish I had thought of that). I went into how we're individualistic with one of the reasons being values (which included freedom, equality, opportunity, etc) but I see it as something we fight for and continue to change. And wonderful point on too much emphasis about our safezones. GREAT POST, seriously!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that American culture has a lot to do with the "now", and individualistic and almost selfishness. That's 100% right. But, I still think that what you mentioned in your first paragraph and what we talked about in class is true. I think that American culture is really a mix of the two.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you in the sense that American culture is rooted in selfishness and overall "meness". I liked how you linked it to politics and how candidates spend more energy on reelection rather than what to do in office.
ReplyDeleteAmerica as a culture should technically allow for all people of all races, religions, sexualitys, and gender. however, seeing as we are a free country, we also have to allow for people who are against such things. its a double sided blade. and while i may not agree with everything every one has to say, i do agree that they have the right to say it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that America is like a big melting pot. All of the ideas from different cultures are mixed in to create one big culture which is - America.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that society is all about themselves now. Everybody cares what they look like, etc. We are a very selfish culture, and I think we are turning more into a selfish culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. Individualism is a quality that Americans are given. We are lucky because most countries force people to conform to their way of life and follow strict guidelines. Americans have so much freedom to express themselves and do what they want!
ReplyDeleteWell, isn't this a great thread - look at the discussion it generated. And perhaps maybe even more people read it but didn't leave a comment. Hopefully, the rest of the week provided some more satisfying discussion regarding American culture and we are not done yet - after the movie we will have a little more discussion too. Lastly, the rest of the semester will focus on American culture so I think that you will find that satisfying. Right now we are just establishing the importance of culture before we get into our own issues a little deeper.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the difficulty/disagreement with American culture sociologists will make a note that cultures often have ideal culture and real culture. Ideal culture is the ideas that everyone claims to believe in (in this case equality) but real culture is actual lived experience of the people (in this case extreme inequality - based on sexuality and also as we will see socio-economically and racially). So, great point - you really touched on an important aspect of culture here. I didn't talk much about it in class but it was part of my blog post.