Reflections -- The American Way (T3W1)

First post in over a year!
Unorganised thoughts and scattered rants below --

In this week's lesson we learnt about how Americans think. There were 15 American notions in total:-

Individualism, Efficiency, Work for Work's Sake, Progress, Material Comfort,
Science and Technology, Achievement and Success, Humanitarianism, Freedom, Democracy,
Equality, Racism and Group Superiority, Education, Religiosity, and Romantic Love.

The list is not particularly important for this post, as I will only be reflecting on a few that struck me.

So let's begin.

I have always held that humans across the globe prize certain values and detest certain flaws in others. No matter where you are on the planet, you are not going to enjoy the company of an arrogant person, but will welcome the assistance of a kind person. As such, some of the values prized by Americans are not such a huge surprise to me, because they seem to be only human: Efficiency, for example, would be prized by any culture in the world - who wouldn't want their staff to be able to do things quickly and well? And which culture has never valued Progress? To be constantly a notch higher than your rivals is a vital method to survive. Continual improvement means better quality of life, safer societies, and a sense of achievement. To yearn for Efficiency and Progress, among others, is only human.

Then there is the clash of Racism and Group Superiority with Equality. Americans believe that all men are created equal. Yet, a social experiment showed some very different results: a white man was seen sawing away at the lock chain of a bicycle in a park in broad daylight, but few passers-by raised any objections and left the man to his own devices. When the white man was swapped with a black man, though, a throng of people soon surrounded the black man, shouting, questioning, calling the police. The perception that African-Americans are just thieves and crooks and up to no good is evidently still present in America. And why wouldn't it be? - white peoples' net worth is many times more than that of black peoples'. Black people tend to find it harder to make ends meet, and perhaps fail to obtain as good an education as whites, and have to resort to crime to support themselves. This produces the image that the blacks are just crooks, and locking offenders up does nothing to solve the problem of black's relative poverty. Evidently, not all groups are equal from an economic standpoint. Still, there is a redeeming factor, which is that blacks and whites are equal before the law. Perhaps, with effort and dedication, the notion of Group Superiority will be dispelled as people become more equal and society more democratic. Or perhaps it will not, for humans sub-consciously create the "Other", and those who are seen to be racially or ethnically different are viewed with more apathy. I would think that Racism and Group Superiority is human, while Democracy and Equality are ideals created by enlightened people. As not everyone is enlightened, it is likely that Racism is here to stay. It might take an alien invasion to change that perception.

And finally there is Achievement and Success. I am sure everyone aspires to these. I am not surprised that Americans should value these. But from my aunt who lives in America, the public school her children goes to does not avidly encourage them to score well. It does not motivate my cousins to aim higher. Being "smart" is good enough, you don't need to be "smarter". My aunt frets that the school environment encourages her children to slack off, and achieve less than they actually can. I find it quite likely that this is only an exception to the rule. But I was somewhat upset when I saw this value during the lesson, as I think all humans want to succeed, but perhaps the reason why my cousins are being told to be sub-standard is because the teachers are white and they are Asian. It could be just a matter of racism. Without focus on Achievement and Success, how else would Harvard be such a prestigious university?

I find it interesting how Humanitarianism, Achievement and Success, Equality, and Progress are sometimes hindered by racism. Still, as mentioned, it is hard to expect unenlightened people to stray from human instincts and appreciate the ideals. Nevertheless, societal notions need to change. I hope that sometime in my life, we can wipe Racism and Group Superiority from the list.