Socialization of self
American values are a tricky thing. It seems that the value set changes with each individual. "American pragmatism is actually rooted in deeply held anti-authoritarian, individualistic, egalitarian, activist ideals, which privilege personal choice, flexibility, and technical efficiency with the pursuit of success, however success is defined." (Hall, Lindholm, pg. 91) Basically, an individual's values are what that individual decides they are. The key to understanding this is realizing that above almost all else, Americans prize, value, and recognize the sacredness of being an individual. Certainly there are basic expectations of all people living in American society regardless of how the individual feels they must recognize that they exist in the U.S. with a billion "individuals." Americans seem to think " . . . that 'nice' people of good will, as all true Americans are assumed to be, ought to be able to reach a compromise and keep the social peace. Those who keep on refusing the path of compromise are castigated as trouble-makers, demagogues, and even un-American." (Lipset, pg. 44) The rules are simple. I am an individual trying to exist with lots of other individuals and we are all trying not to kill one another an
There are some principles that exist regardless of how or where you live in the United States. You do not steal, you do not lie, you do not kill, you pay your taxes, and you eventually die. There are certainly exceptions to all of those, except the latter, but for the most part those are rules you simply avoid breaking if you want to be considered ethical. If you do not abide by those simple ethical guidelines may people will regard you with distrust. It seems at times that people are abandoning these ideals on a personal level; but those same people expect American society on the whole to live according to these standards. Whether or not these ideals are based on traditional Protestant standards does not seem to matter anymore as many people in the U.S. are neither traditional nor Protestant. These basic rules seem to transcend all religious, racial and ethnic boundaries are all equally recognized as something that someone can and at least probably should live by. As much as we like to think that as Americans we are unique in this great world we are not.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Buffalo NY, Hall Lindholm, York Virginia, American Americans, Information Systems, Austrian Australian, , White Rebecca, Silicon Valley, University Press, earn money, money buy, reach compromise social, lipset pg 44, racial ethnic, pg 44, american society, value system, religious racial ethnic, lots money, live life trying, bacon 2000, earn money buy, values feel, university press,
Approximate Word count = 2882
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)
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