The Values Americans Live Essay
The Values Americans Live By
S K Group426
Department of English Lexicology
College of English
Minsk State Linguistic University
Minsk-2006 Introduction
Most Americans would have à difficult time telling you, specifically, values which Americans live by. They have never given the matter any thought.
I'd like to give you à list of common values, which would fit most Americans. The list of typically American values would stand in sharp contrast to the values of people in many other countries.
If a foreign visitor really understood how deeply ingrained these 13 values are in Americans, he or she would then be able to understand 95% of Americans actions actions which might otherwise appear strange, confusing, or unbelievable when evaluated from the perspective of the foreigner's own society and its values. 1. Personal Control over the Environment
Americans nî longer believe in the power of Fate, and they have come to look at people who do as being backward, primitive, or hopelessly naive. To be called "fatalistic" is one of the worst criticisms one can receive in the American context; to an American, it means one is superstitious and lazy, unwilling to take any initiative in bringing about improvements. In the United States people consider that Man should control Nature, rather than the other way around. More specifically, people believe every single individual should have control over whatever in the environment might potentially affect him or her. The problems of one's life are not seen as having resulted from bad luck as much as having come from one's laziness in pursuing à better life. Furthermore, it is considered normal that anyone should look out for his or her own self-interests first and foremost. 2.
S K Group426
Department of English Lexicology
College of English
Minsk State Linguistic University
Minsk-2006 Introduction
Most Americans would have à difficult time telling you, specifically, values which Americans live by. They have never given the matter any thought.
I'd like to give you à list of common values, which would fit most Americans. The list of typically American values would stand in sharp contrast to the values of people in many other countries.
If a foreign visitor really understood how deeply ingrained these 13 values are in Americans, he or she would then be able to understand 95% of Americans actions actions which might otherwise appear strange, confusing, or unbelievable when evaluated from the perspective of the foreigner's own society and its values. 1. Personal Control over the Environment
Americans nî longer believe in the power of Fate, and they have come to look at people who do as being backward, primitive, or hopelessly naive. To be called "fatalistic" is one of the worst criticisms one can receive in the American context; to an American, it means one is superstitious and lazy, unwilling to take any initiative in bringing about improvements. In the United States people consider that Man should control Nature, rather than the other way around. More specifically, people believe every single individual should have control over whatever in the environment might potentially affect him or her. The problems of one's life are not seen as having resulted from bad luck as much as having come from one's laziness in pursuing à better life. Furthermore, it is considered normal that anyone should look out for his or her own self-interests first and foremost. 2.