《当代美国社会与文化》课程论文
What Americans Think
When it comes to the topic of people in one country, we always pay
attention to their values. Compared with ours, Americans’ are a
lot
different. Maybe, that’s what we called cultural diversity.
Firstly, let’s talk about liberty. As a nation consisting of
different
kinds of people, Americans never like being tied. Thus, they call
for
liberty in every single aspect. When children have lessons, they want an
environment full of freedom. When adults work on their tasks, they just
think freely and get different ideas. When the elderly get time to do what
they like, they usually travel everywhere. All these cases show Americans’
greatest values, chasing liberty.
At the same time, Chinese are no more than Americans. Result from
the history when there were slavers throughout the country, Chinese are
not courageous enough to seek liberty, although this phenomenon
is
getting much better today. Comparing these two countries, liberty is more
American.
Then, our topic turns to equality. Being a developed country, America
thinks highly of equality. I think that is the first thing for Americans to
consider when they try to develop fast. In fair conditions,
different
competitors can do much better in their work. In fact, equality
is
practicedin many territories. NBA, NFL and so on are typical in carrying
it into practice, and that’s the reason why they are so popular across the world. Another good example is American commercial world, where fair
competitions are most needed. In America, even a CEO is like an average
person, and he never acts like an arrogant man. So in this case,
almost
everyone has chances to do what they like, because people are equal to
each other.
In China, maybe things are totally different. Without any
good
relationship, you may not get a good job, especially in a
government
department. As a result, bribe and graft occur in various ways. In
my
opinion, only if Chinese do like Americans will our economy gets better.
Thirdly, what I’m going to talk about is individualism.
American
parents always teach their children like this,” You are the best.” I assume
it the best way to show individualism. Based on this, American
young
people areconfident to do everything. Let’s take Forrest Gump as
an
instance. Forrest Gump, the lead role, has difficulty in his study. However,
his mother just keeps encouraging him;” You are as smart as other people.”
In the later several years, Gump finds that he has gift in running
and
Ping-Pong. After the war in Vietnam, Gump becomes a fisher and enjoys
his life. It’s the best ending we like to see, isn’t it?
Individualism is popular in America, not in China. In order to pass the
college entrance examination, millions of young people spend every piece
of time in studying. Thus, they are just too busy to show individualism.
As a matter of fact, it’s even not allowed in high school. In the view of Chinese parents, a great grade is the only way to get successful.
Another principle which Americans obey is time keeping.
Actually,
not only Americans, every developed country people know it.
When
attending a lecture or a meeting, people who arrive on time are seen as
polite and educational. When doing a hard work, finishing before
the
deadline is necessary. When promising someone to do something, it’s
important to do the right thing in the right place. Meanwhile, Americans
pay more attention to time loss. For them, any wasted time is not allowed.
So, no matter in TV or movies, or just in newspaper, we can
see
Americans doing their jobs in high efficiency. Business people
usually
say,” Just give me one more second.” I regard it as a conduct of
time
keeping.
Like the words above, Chinese also like doing things in time. As the
saying goes,” Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” This is
the Chinese way of keeping time.
Last but not least, we would like to say something about innovation. A
famous businessman once said,” Innovation is the key to
improvement
and development.” I’m in favor of it firmly. In America, you can find out
innovation in many things. Standing in a house, you can discover
the
innovative points in the structure. Walking on the street, you can
learn
about the innovative roadway design. Using the tableware, you can
be
delight with its innovation. All these examples tell us one thing:
