...James Sandoval TCCA 230 10/5/14 Paper Assignment 1 The United States of America is one of, if not the most diverse country in the entire world. There are members of almost every culture that live in the United States. The United States also has a distinct set of cultural values that it is known by. So I was interested in comparing the people and culture of the United States to the people and culture of a different country, this country is Ecuador. I chose to compare the United States to Ecuador because I am interested in traveling abroad to Ecuador someday. I will compare the values of individualism and collectivism, low and high power distances, weak and strong uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, and the societal contexts of the United States and Ecuador. I will also be figuring out how my values match up with my own culture and the culture of Ecuador. The United States and Ecuador are both countries with a rich heritage and a diverse group of people. In this paper, I will be showing how the United States and Ecuador compare to each other and how my values compare to them both. The United States of America is known for being very individualistic. This means that the people of the United States mostly rely on themselves to get things done and not on others in the community. People in the United States rarely will reach out to others in their community when they are facing a challenge, they will try to figure out the problem themselves almost every...
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...EE TRADITIONAL AMERICAN VALUES AND BELIEFS a We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The Declaration of Independence (1776) Preview Vocabulary A. Here are some key AWL words in this chapter. Look at their definitions. Put a check next to the words you already know. 1. individual one person, considered separately from the group 2. achieve to succeed in getting the result you wanted 3. benefit something that gives advantages or improves life in some way 4. reliant being dependent on someone 5. constitution a set of basic laws and principles that a democratic country is governed by 6. ethical relating to principles of what is right and wrong 7. resources a country’s land, minerals, or natural energy that can be used to increase its wealth Traditional American Values and Beliefs • 25 8. status social or professional rank or position in relation to others 9. wetfare money paid by the government to people who are very poor, sick, not working, etc. 10. foundation a basic idea or principle B. Work with a partner. Complete each question with a word from the preceding list. Then answer the questions. of a country forbid titles of nobility? 1. Why would the (titles such as “princess” or “sir”) 2. If there are no titles of nobility, how does a society recognize people...
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...In every aspect of life respect and responsibility are key essentials to being successful in the workplace and outside of work. In order to be respected, respect must be shown, and the responsibility of carrying the respect of others must always be taken into consideration. Persons in the military all come from different backgrounds, everybody has a different set of beliefs, opinions and values that we as human beings should respect. But respect must especially be given towards your superiors before your personal opinions come into play. Among military members and civilians alike, there are particular qualities that determine how you, as a United States Sailor acts professionally and also how you act in your personal life. These standards...
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...district judge last week, the American public has been spared the spectacle of criminals being executed on television”, said Jacob Weisberg in the article This is Your death( Weisberg 9). As regards to the death penalty today it is viewed as cruel punishment, why is the United States the only democracy to have it, kills innocent, and cheapens the value of human life. In my opinion the death penalty is exactly what you make of it. If someone kills someone in my opinion them, themselves should have the same fate. The death penalty is viewed by millions of people as cruel and unusual punishment. As stated by Edward I. Koch in Death and Justice, the death penalty is “barbaric” (Koch 905). Capital punishment is the intentional taking of one’s life because they have committed a heinous crime against society. The death penalty today is not viewed as “barbaric” because of the way that capital punishment is carried out. Today, the most humane form of capital punishment used is lethal injection. Less humane types of capital punishment methods are the electric chair and the gas chamber. Koch states that life is precious (904). Each person has the right to live, and that right should not be taking by any one person. When a life is taken people draw curious about the incident. The death penalty is a curiosity of modern...
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...United States Army Organizational Behavior and Communication Brian Joseph Stevens COM/530 July 8, 2010 Sandra Payne, Master of Business Administration (MBA) United States Army Organizational Behavior and Communication The United States Army has a strong, complex, and unique organizational culture with espoused values, behaviors, and organizational communication. The United States Army culture requires constant realignment with enacted values created to deal with the turbulent and ever-changing environment of war. The United States Army culture is almost a society in itself and members are influenced by heavy emphasis on collectivism, hierarchy, discipline, and control (Soeters, Winslow, Weibull, 2003). The culture of the United States Army is strong, which allows it to be a successful organization however some shifts in culture may allow it to be even more effective. Culture The United States Army culture is a combination of in-group collectivism, high-performance orientation, institutional collectivism, assertiveness, and power distance. In-group collectivism is akin to team orientation with individuals that convey loyalty and pride to their unit or team. . The “can do” attitude like high-performance orientation emphasizing results with a sense of urgency at the loss of being soldier oriented. “The Army inoculates this assumption with its Warrior Ethos that begins with the tenet; I will always place the mission first” (Gerras, Wong, Allen, 2008, p...
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...Through analysis and comparisons of our cultures, I hope to be able to determine what cause cultural conflicts and specifically, those Ernesto and his family encountered on arriving to the United States. I will use data from Hofstede and references from Adler’s text to take a retrospective look into our belief and value systems. By doing so, we will gain a better understand of how cultural heritage plays an important role in how we develop stereotypes and misconceptions. Interviewing Ernesto should give he and I a better understanding on how we view each others culture. Since I do not have work colleagues, I chose to interview a friend of mine whose name is Ernesto. Ernesto has a security clearance with the federal government and for that reason; he asked me not to use his last name. Understanding the sensitivities surrounding security clearances, I agreed. Comparing Family Backgrounds Ernesto was born in Panama in 1966. He is married with two kids and currently resides in Maryland. In 1976, at the age of ten, Ernesto and his family immigrated to the United States. He initially it found difficult adjusting to American life, primarily because of the language barrier. He was educated in Panama up until the six-grade, and ultimately finished his primary education in the United States. Not long after that he entered the military, where he ultimately retired and now works for the federal government. I am also married with six kids and reside in Maryland. Ernesto and I have...
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...Culture is the essence of life; living the majority of my life in the United States has taught me the differences and similarities of Mexican and American cultures. Since both of my parents come from Mexican heritage, my roots align more with the Mexican culture. Therefore, I have learned the essential values of the Mexican culture from my parents, such as language and behavior. My appreciation for both cultures has come from all the experiences I have gathered from living in El Paso the majority of my life. Although I have spent the majority of my life All of my years living in the United States, I find myself abiding by traditional Mexican values. Due to this I have been able to differentiate the values and norms of both cultures. One aspect...
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...underscores the value of his community; he goes to great lengths and eventually martyrs himself in an attempt to keep intact his society’s way of life. His ascension to be a leader in the community is marked by success in combat and physical prowess, which renders him “one of the greatest men of his time” (8). Although the Umuofian government is militant and unremitting, it has some semblance to the United States government in that it makes decisions to better protect and serve its people. The United States government strives to protect and endow its constituency with an emphasis on equality and liberty, completely unlike the patriarchal and aggressive values that Umuofia embraces. Umuofia and America are both sovereign states that attempt to provide a “good life” to its constituents, but do so very differently. Property owning family men are the essential considerations of the Umuofian government. For these men, “it [is] right to be masculine and to be violent” (53). At ritualistic gatherings, Okonkwo “tremble[s] with the desire to conquer and subdue” (42). The expectations for aggressive and masculine society are not in place in the United States. A “good” man in American society is one that treats his family well and values everyone around him as equal. Polygamy is nonexistent in America. The government recognizes everyone’s rights as equal and nobody is deemed inferior for their gender. Women hold positions equal to men in the workforce because the government values equal opportunity...
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...The Values Americans Live By Compiled byVladimir Pavlov Adapted from Robert Kohl’s article, The Values Americans Live By (April 1984) Most Americans would have a difficult time telling international visitors, specifically, which values they live by. They probably have never given the matter any thought. Even if Americans had considered this question, they would probably decide not to answer in terms of a definitive list of values. The reason for this decision itself is one American value— that every individual is so unique that the same list of values could never be applied to all, or even most, of their fellow citizens. xxx Americans may think of themselves as being more varied and unpredictable than they really are. Americans think they have only been slightly influenced by family, church or schools. In the end, each believes, "I personally chose which values I want to live my own life by." xxx Despite this self-evaluation, an anthropologist from another country could observe Americans and produce a list of common values which would fit most Americans. The list of typically American values would stand in sharp contrast to the values commonly held by people in some other cultures.. xxx The different behaviors of a people or a culture make sense only when seen through the basic beliefs, assumptions and values of that particular group. When an international visitor encounters an action, or hears a statement in the United States which surprises him or her, he or she should...
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...Values of the nation after the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States of America The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution of the United States are two fundamental founding documents in American history. In the eighteenth century, the documents foreshadowed the aspirations of the founding fathers for the newly created United States of America. These documents are illustration of the values of the young nation, however they do not represent all the American citizens at the time of writing, as they are limited to the political and societal elite. This will be discussed through an analytical examination of these documents and how they reflect the relationship between the American citizen and nation. As a first consideration, both documents are integral in the understanding of the foundation of the United States. The Declaration of Independence was signed in Independence Hall in Pennsylvania, July 4, 1776 by the founding fathers of the United States of America. On that day the thirteen colonies of the United States dissolved their bond with King George III and Great Britain. The origin of these documents is a primary government source written by leading political figures of the time. The founding fathers developed and signed this document with a belief “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness...
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...The Values Americans Live By by L. Robert Kohls Most Americans would have a difficult time telling you, specifically, what the values are that Americans live by. They have never given the matter much thought. xxx Even if Americans had considered this question, they would probably, in the end, decide not to answer in terms of a definitive list of values. The reason for this decision is itself one very American value—their belief that every individual is so unique that the same list of values could never be applied to all, or even most, of their fellow citizens. Although Americans may think of themselves as being more varied and unpredictable than they actually are, it is significant that they think they are. Americans tend to think they have been only slightly influenced by family, church or schools. In the end, each believes, "I personally chose which values I want to live my own life by." Despite this self-evaluation, a foreign anthropologist could observe Americans and produce a list of common values that would fit most Americans. The list of typically American values would stand in sharp contrast to the values commonly held by the people of many other countries. We, the staff of the Washington International Center, have been introducing thousands of international visitors to life in the United States for more than a third of a century. This has caused us to try to look at Americans through the eyes of our visitors. We feel confident that the values listed here describe...
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...Value System Reading these articles has introduced me to the Norwegian culture, its values and its egalitarian social democracy. Residents of Norway are predominantly ethnic Norwegians who believe that it is their obligation to share their wealth with those who are less fortunate. Spouses are regarded as equals and it is important that the citizens maintain a good healthy balance between their work life and family life. Being wealthy is frowned upon by the general population of Norway, having an excess of money and material items are ranked very low on their list of values. There are no homeless or hungry residents, education, day care and government services are offered to all, and their financial security is guaranteed. Norway has evolved from a fishing and farming community to a mostly white collar high-tech, state-owned oil export industry with very little manufacturing thereby preserving their pristine environment. Norms Norway is a very small country but it spends 1% of its GDP each year to fight global poverty donating millions more in foreign aid than the U.N. Oslo often serves as a mediator to foreign conflicts between North and South Korea and in the Middle East peace process, gaining clout and global respectability. It is my opinion that the United States has a much different agenda for the foreign aid that we offer as compared to Norway. It appears to me that our current government may be viewed not only as the most powerful, but also as the “Bully”...
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...It has been almost nine years since I arrived from Mexico to the United States. Integrating these two unique cultures has been a wonderful experience. For immigrants in the United States culture differences can be difficult and complicate. Assimilating two separate cultures is an ongoing challenge. In this essay, I will describe the issues many immigrants face in regards to diversity, stereotyping, preserving self identity and personal values. America is nation that is populated with a culturally diverse group of people. The United States has welcomed more immigrants than any other country. The steady stream of people coming to America has had a profound effect on the evolution of American society. America is known as the land of the free and people from all over the world are attracted by promise of opportunity and success. It is not easy for those who move to the United States from other countries. It takes a lot of courage and sacrifice to leave your homeland and come to a new country, but the prospect of a better life makes the risk worth taking. Immigrants who come to America enrich the country by bringing aspects of their native cultures with them. For example, Hispanic Americans celebrate their culture with street fairs and other festivities on Cinco de Mayo. Other cultures, such as African Americans celebrate both Kwanzaa, a festival drawn from African rituals. As the population of the United States becomes more diverse its people are being exposed to holidays and...
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...family and I are Peruvian. That would make me Hispanic in the United States. My origins are straight from Peru. I came to the United States when I was 12 years old, so my beliefs and traditions haven’t changed from when I was still in Peru. There are rules that are transmitted from one generation to the next and are often adapted to the times and locations, and these rules are absorbed by children as we develop and learn about home country traditions, customs and beliefs. These customs will still follow us throughout your life. Although a person can be broken down into one specific race, it does not speak for what and who we really are. We are a lot more than that. What really influences who we are would seem to be culture. The things we grow up around, the people who are around us, the country we live in are some of the things that are going to influence who we are. My family and culture has influenced my thoughts, behaviors, feelings, and overall worldview in a unique form. When I was born, I was not born with a set of values and expectations, so I learned them from my parents or adults who raise me. I learned not only through these adults teaching me, I learned by examples and by observing. I find it hard to list all the values and beliefs deemed important by my culture and I, but there are a few predominant ones which I think overshadow the rest. I believe that family is one, if not the most important, of said values. Secondly, the Spanish language, help provide a sense of...
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...In the United States of American we have grown to know the importance of environmental laws, which protect our natural resources. These laws help to protect our land, water and air from pollution. Corporations have often been the cause of pollution to our environment and are unwilling to regulate themselves. Over the years as concerns for our surroundings have arisen, we have implemented laws to protect our country. By caring for our environment, we are also caring for human life and the quality of human life. There continues to be many concerns about our environment and we are very fortunate to live in a nation which chooses to address these concerns. Around the world many nations struggle with protecting their environments. They may have lax regulations in...
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