American Culture

American Culture

a) Americen Culture Essay

Anything made by man and depicted on a map is referred to as culture. I think it's safe to state that people think of the word in terms of past traditions and a desire to maintain them. Some people want to “freeze” a tradition as it existed somewhere in time and often recounted by grandparents while believing it to be something to protect and preserve against all attempts to introduce change. This frequently takes place through legends, song and dance and it's good that it's done (Angus, 1989).

Today's young students will one day think back on the classroom culture of today's computer lab and wonder how anything could be accomplished on such primitive machines. So culture changes along with one's mindset and the march of time. The dictionary defines “culture” terminology as the following: “the development and refinement of mind, morals or taste. The condition therefore produced; refinement. The specific stage in the development of a civilization and the sum total of the attainment and learned behavior patterns of any specific period, race, or people.” Nehru once said, “Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.” Matthew Arnold in the Preface to Literature and Dogma wrote: “Culture - the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world.” (Angus, 1989, 13-31) Selected tools for cultural enrichment are: education, exposure, travel, language, etc. Opportunities for such enrichment can be experienced in: museums, libraries, zoos, universities, lectures, theaters, concerts, ethnic customs, cuisine, religions, observatories, planetariums and other people, places and things and, of course, profuse oratory contests, (of which American politicians and some writers exhibit an abundant measure). Do people confuse “culture” with “traditions” or are they one and the same?

One of the problems of assimilation into the “American culture” - what ever that may be - is that you probably have to be in the country for the process to take effect. For a new immigrant savoring the essence of liberty, a metamorphosis takes place. I have yet to meet one who was not extremely proud of his new citizenship. People who immigrate to the United States and are physically present in the environment are exposed to all manner of influences both positive and negative within the American scene. Some try to resist the erosion and dilution of the ways of the “old county” but the process soon catches up with them - just inquire about the effect on their children. One thing about America is the freedom permitted to try to compete at being the best of anything you can be. Regardless of what the endeavor might be: basketball, singing or pickling prunes - if you reach the top of your field in America - you are probably the best in the world. That's American culture (Angus, 1989).

Americans freely elect the most powerful man in the world as their leader and then verbally attack him with impunity. The culture of America is freedom and liberty and the tool ...