The first seminar of my program in Philadelphia was by Dr. Weaver (seen in picture) who presented his paper on the American Culture.
It was an indeed an interesting topic. Dr. Weaver views may have been very similar to my views on matters of how the World perceives American values and cultures. However, I think that I have not really explored views that counter to Dr. Weaver’s stand.
Nevertheless, the information on US history and American psyche in Dr. Weaver’s paper was very beneficial. I guess to understand the US you must first understand its history.
The Many faces of the American Culture
There is probably no single theme of the American culture but a formation of many different cultures which has strongly represented its current face to the outside world.
The US of A was started by the influx of mainly North European immigrants. At that time these immigrants were the outcast and religious outcast of Europe. They came to the States to search for a new beginning and, of course, new opportunities.
Self Destiny and Risk taking well rooted in American culture
The US was founded by immigrants whom had a strong sense of self destiny. They had left their families and homes for a new hope in the “New World”. Of course, to make such a decision a community must have a strong belief in risk taking.
For example, as described by Dr. Weaver, for anyone in US to succeed they must first fail and as such, someone that has not failed is in fact looked down by the American society. Failure to them is good. This is of course very contrary to where I come from. Here, Dr. Weaver highlighted that the greatest President the US ever had was Abraham Lincoln whom had various failures before he became President.
Andrew Carnegie was another example, which is a model of an American entrepreneur.
These immigrants fought for their independence and had strongly believed that opportunity is in abundance. They also believed that the Government should be small and not interfere in the individual rights of its citizens. Remember that US independence came from its strong belief to break away from the strong centralist government of Great Britain.
However, in times like now and during the American Civil War a central/ federal government had emerged.
Americans have strong sense of self destiny and do not like to have things handed down to them. The average American would rather say “Can I borrow a piece paper” rather then “Can I have a piece of paper”. Beggars on the street would rather say “Spare some loose change” rather then “Give me arms and charity”.
Because of such strong self destiny, volunteerism is strong in the US with an average of USD800/900 is donated to the charities by the average American family. The size of such NGO/ Charity industry has now reached USD1 trillion per annum and charities from individuals and corporations has reached over USD200 million per year.
The Romantic American
Americans are romantics. They strongly believe in the strong representation of good and evil. The typical American cowboy movie would always have the “Good” guy wearing the white hat and the “Bad” Guy wearing all black. To the Americans there is no “gray” area and there is just Good and Evil on each side.
This is very different from Europe where many European cultures believe that in most cases good and evil is mixed in everyday life of “Gray”. Shakespeare’s “tragedies” and his writings are a reflection of European culture.
As Dr. Weaver highlighted in his paper, one of the biggest Hollywood movie was a movie called “Independence Day” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(film) which was about a US President leading the World against the invading Aliens from outer space.
As usual, to the Americans, the “Good” guy will always win.
How 9/11 changed the American Psyche.
9/11 is probably the biggest event in American history that has challenged all the assumptions that the US culture strongly believed in.
The US of A has never been invaded and its people have never seen the destruction of war first hand, unlike Europe and Asia.
This changed on September 11th 2001.
The American people felt the destruction of war which was fought many times by many different Presidents in the past in its foreign policy. Suddenly, the US idea of invisibility and not being directly effected by its foreign policy is now being challenged.
Post 9/11: A strong Federal Government
For the first time since the American Civil War, all branches and levels of the Government moved to sacrifice personal liberty for a stronger central government. The Patriot Act is just one of the examples of such changes, including the formation of the Homeland Security Department.
But times are again changing. The US is now getting over its Post 9/11 insecurity. We see many Americans challenging and fighting for their personal liberty. Guantanamo Bay has received more then 100 legal challenges in the Supreme Court and until recently the Democrats took control of Congress.
An Awaken US of A
As the United States awake from its insecurity, it realizes that its foreign policy that has existed post 2nd World War will have a direct effect to the average American. No longer can both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be a safe cushion to its implications in the foreign policy.
Isolationists will also not have strong support because weather the US like or not they have to participate in the world stage knowing that if they do make a mistake, failures by its administration will have concencequences to its people.
Can 9/11 happen again? Maybe it could and maybe it could not but the loss of personal liberty by the average American citizen cannot be sustained in a country that was founded on the basis of justice, freedom and pursuit of happiness.
A different United States of America.
The new United States will also see a change. It will no longer be a melting pot because according to Dr. Weaver not all races and culture gets melted, especially the communities that do not look and practice the traditional northern European identities and religions.
The new United States culture will be a cookie cutter or better described, as a salad bowl where the identities and cultures of the United States are determined by the diversity of its people.
These changes are slowly appearing. The United States may have woman as a President or if Obama wins, an African-American President. In Congress it has already has a Muslim senator. More importantly, it had two Secretary of State that are of an African-American heritage.
Is this the changing landscape of the United States? By 2040s, Americans of European decent will be a minority.
As it changes internally and adapt its “integrated” role to the World, we will see a new change of America’s culture and its perception to the world.
It was an indeed an interesting topic. Dr. Weaver views may have been very similar to my views on matters of how the World perceives American values and cultures. However, I think that I have not really explored views that counter to Dr. Weaver’s stand.
Nevertheless, the information on US history and American psyche in Dr. Weaver’s paper was very beneficial. I guess to understand the US you must first understand its history.
The Many faces of the American Culture
There is probably no single theme of the American culture but a formation of many different cultures which has strongly represented its current face to the outside world.
The US of A was started by the influx of mainly North European immigrants. At that time these immigrants were the outcast and religious outcast of Europe. They came to the States to search for a new beginning and, of course, new opportunities.
Self Destiny and Risk taking well rooted in American culture
The US was founded by immigrants whom had a strong sense of self destiny. They had left their families and homes for a new hope in the “New World”. Of course, to make such a decision a community must have a strong belief in risk taking.
For example, as described by Dr. Weaver, for anyone in US to succeed they must first fail and as such, someone that has not failed is in fact looked down by the American society. Failure to them is good. This is of course very contrary to where I come from. Here, Dr. Weaver highlighted that the greatest President the US ever had was Abraham Lincoln whom had various failures before he became President.
Andrew Carnegie was another example, which is a model of an American entrepreneur.
These immigrants fought for their independence and had strongly believed that opportunity is in abundance. They also believed that the Government should be small and not interfere in the individual rights of its citizens. Remember that US independence came from its strong belief to break away from the strong centralist government of Great Britain.
However, in times like now and during the American Civil War a central/ federal government had emerged.
Americans have strong sense of self destiny and do not like to have things handed down to them. The average American would rather say “Can I borrow a piece paper” rather then “Can I have a piece of paper”. Beggars on the street would rather say “Spare some loose change” rather then “Give me arms and charity”.
Because of such strong self destiny, volunteerism is strong in the US with an average of USD800/900 is donated to the charities by the average American family. The size of such NGO/ Charity industry has now reached USD1 trillion per annum and charities from individuals and corporations has reached over USD200 million per year.
The Romantic American
Americans are romantics. They strongly believe in the strong representation of good and evil. The typical American cowboy movie would always have the “Good” guy wearing the white hat and the “Bad” Guy wearing all black. To the Americans there is no “gray” area and there is just Good and Evil on each side.
This is very different from Europe where many European cultures believe that in most cases good and evil is mixed in everyday life of “Gray”. Shakespeare’s “tragedies” and his writings are a reflection of European culture.
As Dr. Weaver highlighted in his paper, one of the biggest Hollywood movie was a movie called “Independence Day” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(film) which was about a US President leading the World against the invading Aliens from outer space.
As usual, to the Americans, the “Good” guy will always win.
How 9/11 changed the American Psyche.
9/11 is probably the biggest event in American history that has challenged all the assumptions that the US culture strongly believed in.
The US of A has never been invaded and its people have never seen the destruction of war first hand, unlike Europe and Asia.
This changed on September 11th 2001.
The American people felt the destruction of war which was fought many times by many different Presidents in the past in its foreign policy. Suddenly, the US idea of invisibility and not being directly effected by its foreign policy is now being challenged.
Post 9/11: A strong Federal Government
For the first time since the American Civil War, all branches and levels of the Government moved to sacrifice personal liberty for a stronger central government. The Patriot Act is just one of the examples of such changes, including the formation of the Homeland Security Department.
But times are again changing. The US is now getting over its Post 9/11 insecurity. We see many Americans challenging and fighting for their personal liberty. Guantanamo Bay has received more then 100 legal challenges in the Supreme Court and until recently the Democrats took control of Congress.
An Awaken US of A
As the United States awake from its insecurity, it realizes that its foreign policy that has existed post 2nd World War will have a direct effect to the average American. No longer can both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans be a safe cushion to its implications in the foreign policy.
Isolationists will also not have strong support because weather the US like or not they have to participate in the world stage knowing that if they do make a mistake, failures by its administration will have concencequences to its people.
Can 9/11 happen again? Maybe it could and maybe it could not but the loss of personal liberty by the average American citizen cannot be sustained in a country that was founded on the basis of justice, freedom and pursuit of happiness.
A different United States of America.
The new United States will also see a change. It will no longer be a melting pot because according to Dr. Weaver not all races and culture gets melted, especially the communities that do not look and practice the traditional northern European identities and religions.
The new United States culture will be a cookie cutter or better described, as a salad bowl where the identities and cultures of the United States are determined by the diversity of its people.
These changes are slowly appearing. The United States may have woman as a President or if Obama wins, an African-American President. In Congress it has already has a Muslim senator. More importantly, it had two Secretary of State that are of an African-American heritage.
Is this the changing landscape of the United States? By 2040s, Americans of European decent will be a minority.
As it changes internally and adapt its “integrated” role to the World, we will see a new change of America’s culture and its perception to the world.
5 comments:
Hi Farith
This is probably my favourite blog entry so far. It's an enlightening insight. Movies are entertaining case studies in education. When people ask me how Afghanistan is like, I say "Go watch The Road to Guantanamo!" I used to shop for my groceries from that Chelsea Supermarket in Kabul! "Kandahar", despite winning several fil festival awards, wasn't that reflective of Afghanistan and "Osama" is a bit difficult to get from our dear pirates! So "go watch The Road to Guantanamo!"
Angel Lam
Thanks. I did watch it. It was really a good movie. I bought it in Philadelphia because in Malaysia it's hard to find. I actually passed the movie to Rabia, the Pakistan EF fellow.
Typo: "film". I bought my TRTG from my Ah Beng pirate! You name it, he has it! Caya lah Penang "entrepreneurs"! Have you watched "Inside Deep Throat"?! It's banned in 23 states in America, but of course my Ah Beng never fails me! I love to know what others shouldn't!
Have you watched "An Inconvenient Truth"?! Hmmm. How does the dying of Al Gore's son have anything to do with global warming?! He was asked this by a journalist, and he gave the most evasive answer a la a politician: a response that said a lot but meant nothing.
Another simple example is Black Hawk Down.. It was fairly amusing to have them highlight themselves as the heroes when in fact it was Msian & Pakistani UN troops that rescued the American soldiers. It wasn't just their 18 men who passed on, one Malaysian did too.
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