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amer values

#1 {lang:macro__useroffline}   Dragonman {lang:icon}

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Posted 31 August 2006 - 11:03 AM

America is has always been thought of as the "land of opportunity", and that anyone living there had to the freedom to make their own choices in life so that they aren't controlled by a lifestyle that they don't agree with. Individual freedom is a very strong value in America, especially since it is protected by legal rights, and it allows Americans to have control over their future and lets them make their own choices. The "be your own boss" attitude is very popular in America, which is why most of American businesses are small, because so many individuals want to hold their own way in life.

People believe that success should be the goal of everyone in America, in whatever you do for a living. People are judged by their successes more than their choices. One could make a bad choice, yet if it grants them success, then they think of it as the better choice. An example is two employees working in the same positions, and a job above them opens up. If the first employee knows something about the second employee that could diminish his chances of receiving the promotion, is it the right choice to turn him in? If he did, than he would achieve success, but at the same time the second employee doesn't want this to happen (even though he did something wrong), because he also wants success. The individual fights for success are what fuel most Americans, and those come out on top are thought of as the "better ones".

In reality, many people have a reason in the first place before looking for success. The biggest reason is supporting their family, yet other reasons could be that they want to impress someone, they want to travel to see other parts of the world, or just because they're trying to survive. Unfortunately, when an American gets caught up in the race for success, they can easily forget about that original reason for looking for it, because they're too worried about losing all that they have gained.

An artifact that I thought revealed American values, beliefs, and choices was the radio. Back when the radio was first invented, America couldn't communicate very well with the people, but with this they could find out what was going on in the country. One of the less known past times for American families was listening to the radio. There wasn't much to do back then, so families gathered around their radios to here about what was going on around their area or the country. This device inspired Americans to create more advanced forms of communication and entertainment, which is why we now have televisions, telephones, DVD players, etc.. This device what seen as a way to bring people together through communication, yet at the same time it had potential to individualize family members from each other. People would want to leave their families so that they could go off and succeed themselves. It's tempting to go after your own dreams after hearing about what's going on around the country, and hearing about the successes of others.

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"Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow."
--K
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