20th Century American Culture
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/5/8/13580696/8076430.jpg)
The American culture that many native born American citizens see in themselves and the country around them often comes into a harsh contrast with the culture that foreigners see when examining the various facets of life that many American take for granted. However, the Title of American Culture can not just be explained in one word or even a few. It requires a unique blending of words and phrases from both personal experiences and viewpoints as well as those from nearly opposite viewpoints with practically opposite experiences in life. My conclusions from the contrast that this creates comes only one definition of American Culture in the 20th century. One of the most integral part of the American culture is our apparent fascination and obsession- almost to the point of greed- with money. While it is hard to pinpoint a single cause that differentiates the United States in such a way from other countries in terms of just ideals, one definite cause is the approach the first people in our country had to the way they made their living. Many came to America in search of economic freedom and they undoubtedy passed these ideals on to their children. Another aspect that makes up the broad field of American Culture is the focus of competition and success. You will hear stories of students on college campuses who are afraid to leave their term papers on a table while they go to the bathroom in fear that other students will sabotage it in an attempt to raise their own grade. To connect this with the aforementioned point, we associate money with success. It is for this reason that we take an individualist approach to success. This implies that when we succeed, we believe it is due to our own merits but when we fail it is due to external factors or interference. This is opposed to some foreign cultures which could be classified as collectivist. However, our society can be collectively defined as the sum of our individual accomplishments. The ability of free expression in another aspect of American society that Americans truly pride themselves on. Many, such as the puritans, came from England in search of religious freedom the likes of which they found in America. This along with other core values in the Declaration of Independence give America a sense of pride and well being. Similar freedoms include the freedom of speech, the freedom of press, and the right to bear arms. All forms of free expression that are valiantly defended to this day. A final key component of American culture is our general approval of risk taking. Many people find financial success through risk taking. For instance, Steve Jobs dropped out of college after 6 months and because he is now considered a success, he is applauded for it. However, we rarely here about the stories of those intellectual individuals who drop out of college and become failures. This is because we want to believe that by not following the norm patterns of society we can still become successful in life (at least financially). This is more evidence to show we are an individualistic society because of the people's desire to "not fit in".
While, as mentioned before, 20th century American culture is much too broad to be described in only a few words, my best attempt is to try and describe the key facets that make it up, as I have done here. These include, but are certainly not limited to, being driven by monetary objectives, a fundamental focus on success, a desire for free expression and individuality, and the desirability of risk taking.
While, as mentioned before, 20th century American culture is much too broad to be described in only a few words, my best attempt is to try and describe the key facets that make it up, as I have done here. These include, but are certainly not limited to, being driven by monetary objectives, a fundamental focus on success, a desire for free expression and individuality, and the desirability of risk taking.