American Culture

12/09/2011

American Culture Essay

Some people criticize American culture and some say that there is no unique American culture. Many also think that there is a dearth of traditions and values associated with American culture. We teach our children how to be good Americans by sharing our traditions of citizenship, American holiday celebration, craftsmanship, freedom, leadership, know-how, and positive attitude. However, what is the American culture?

"Culture" in general could be defined as: The shared system of symbolic knowledge and patterns of behavior that human individuals carry to provide predictable internal and external psychological stability so as to prevent chaos among human individuals. We learn cultural codes for social life, role expectations, common definitions of situations, and social norms in order to provide predictability and survival of the human species. Human language (spoken and written) is the symbolic glue for human culture. (Aldridge, 1997). Some examples of American culture as we know it can be reflected in the following social values, themes, and customs: individualism, religion, opportunism, and punctuality.

Most Americans believe that the ideal person is independent and self-reliant, and most American people think of themselves this way. Americans do not think of themselves as representatives of their families, communities, or social class. From a non-American perspective this attitude may be seen as selfish. However, it results in American expectations to be independent and individualistic, to work alone, and to produce original work.

Religion does not play the same role in the United States as in many countries. There is no government-supported religion or established church of state. The government is based on "separation of church and state," and people believe this. In general, people are quite private about their religious views. This does not mean that people are not religious, nor that religion is not a political issue or an important part of people's lives. Most people in the United States believe in God, with the majority of people are Christians. However, there are many different practices and tolerance for various types of religious worship in America

American people are risk takers and very opportunistic. In addition, they value punctuality. Most American activities, both work and leisure, are organized around schedules. Being late is considered rude. This is reflected in the common American comment, "Time is Money".

The most unique aspect of American culture is freedom. Freedom means that all Americans have the right to express their personal views, to live their lives as they choose, and worship freely without fear of persecution. Therefore, it is the duty of every American family, no matter which ethnic group we belong that we must teach our children the importance