Amer I can Values

Read Kohl's The Values Americans Live By

After you are assigned a number (1-13), find your partner and travel to the table that matches your number. 

1.  What evidence does the author provide for the value that you were assigned?

Value: _______________ Evidence:

2.  If you agree with the author’s evidence, what are some specific examples that you can cite from your own life (or your parents’ lives) that show these values shaping either you or your parents?  If you don’t agree why not? Provide evidence that contradicts the author.

3.  Individually, look over the whole reading.  What are the three values that impact you personally the most?  In what ways?

Value 1: _____________ How?

Value 2: _____________ How?

Value 3: _____________ How?

 Bemused in America, a series of articles about Chicago written by a German correspondent is another example of American values.  The article shows how someone from a country relatively similar to the United States, Germany(Western, industrialized, Democratic) can find many cultural differences that are quizzical and strange to him. These differences can be attributed to the different values that Americans have. For example, think about the Supermarket article. We like 24 hr stores because it is practical and efficient to have stores open all night and it allows us to control our time and shop whenever we want.  Here is the list of values (once again) that we compared to what the German author finds strange:

Kohl's "Values Americans Live By"

American Values                                        vs.Other Cultures’ Values
Personal control/responsibility                   vs Fate/destiny
Change seen as natural/positive/Progress  vs. Stability/tradition
Time and its control                                     vs. Human Interaction
Equality/fairness                                          vs. Hierarchy/rank/status
Individualism/independence/freedom   vs. Group welfare/dependence
Self-Help/initiative                                    vs. Birthright/inheritance
Competition                                               vs. Cooperation
Future orientation                                     vs. Past orientation
Action/work                                                vs. “Being”
Informality                                                 vs. Formality
Directness/openness/Honesty                    vs. Indirectness/ritual/”face”
Practicality/efficiency                                 vs. Idealism/theory
Materialism/Acquisitiveness                        vs. Spiritualism/detachment
Achievement/Success                                   vs. Acceptance/Status Quo
Morality/judgement                        vs.Consequentialism/situational ethics


And here is how other cultures view American culture. Many cultures have "American" themed parties based on their perception of American culture.


And here is an Australian's perspective of strange things Americans do.


Takeaway (For more info see Ferris and Stein pg 91):

What are the US values?