Characteristics Of Individualism In The United States

America is commonly characterized as the greatest country in the world, the glorious “land of the free and the home of the brave”, “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”. This idealization of the American identity conveniently focuses on what people want to hear and blurs out most everything else. In reality, Americans do not live up to the dreamscape created by our views, and we never really have. America is no longer characterized by its freedom and democracy, nearly every first world country can afford that luxury. Nor are we set apart by the great opportunities given to our people, for those are far from universal. We aren’t equal, we aren’t unified, we aren’t kinder or smarter or richer than any other country across the board. It’s easy to find the shortcomings of American culture, all the things we aren’t, but the things we are have proven to be more elusive. First, let’s examine the nots.

The United States of America is a big, powerful and wealthy country in the world. The diversity of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the embellishments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. America has been formed upon them, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single means in common; a single concept; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple theory; success.

America is a country full of ideas that create opportunities and memorable moments people enjoy with the company of others. Within the United States of America, diversity is a huge aspect that allows numerous races, ethnicities, and genders, etc. to roam our flourishing nation. Our nation is exceptional by having a beautiful range of natural wonders, collection of first-rate cities, and a wide variety of art and pop culture.The values and beliefs that unite Americans and define our nation’s purpose are the ideas of our nation steps forward to perform actions for the betterment of society, the lack of and enforcement of equality, and the citizenships that people fought to achieve.

From this paper, the reader will learn a lot about America, and the things that are often glossed over when trying to present the country a patriotic and free. It is important to take steps like these towards gaining a broader picture of our nation and perhaps also the human mind. Doing these things almost always have positive effects on people and their worldviews.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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”. This infamous quote from the declaration of Independence not only personifies the hope and desperation for opportunity so many immigrants long for before coming to America, it also exemplifies the true “American Identity” that is embraced by native born Americans. This promise for a better life that America is dangled in our faces of other countries that bonds the people together stronger than anything that would divide them. The American identity has taken several decades to develop from the influences of old European ties, the meshing of

American exceptionalism is the informal ideology that America is exceptional. That it exceeds, excels and is unique compared to other nations, and does not conform to a pattern or a norm. Americans believe their nation is unique and superior because of the country’s founding liberal principles, with the conviction that the United States has a special destiny among nations (Patman 2007, p. 964). Although the vast majority of Americans will not utter the words American exceptionalism, it is synonymous with the “American way of life” (Patman 2007, p. 964) otherwise known as the “American dream”. This paper will examine whether America is genuinely unique and thus exceptional, and argue that American exceptionalism is indeed a reality. To demonstrate

The movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a good example of how a political participation can help that state to achieve their goals. In the movie, Smith Jefferson is the main character that is appointed by the state governor Hopper to replace a Senator who died recently. The movie presents a society in which the people are fully practicing their rights by involving themselves in the political process. However, compared to the movie, present-day societies are more involved in political participation; because people are more willing to learn about politics, and can be much more educated than the people presented in the movie. The similarities between contemporary political participation and the Jefferson movie are that people’s participation

Collective suffrage is today considered an essential ingredient of democratic rule. But what about collective participation? Should the right to vote be accompanied with a legal duty to exercise it to guarantee this goal? Although voting is often said to be a norm of society in many places, many countries have failed to make it a priority and then wonder why the many different groups are not properly accounted for. If compulsory voting were to be established levels of voting would increase significantly which would most likely improve the validity of representation in government. Governments elected by only a small percentage of U.S citizens are unrepresentative of the population, and consequently may not be perceived as legitimate. The

In a world where people are edged to act as their own, comes the contradiction of perspicacity. If, and when, what you do, wear, or feel doesn’t align with society’s description of ideal; it then falls as an act of rebellion, misconduct, or the seeking of attention. Today, as individuals of society, we are eradicating each other other not by the temperament of a person, but by the image we portray everyone to be. Anything more or less than that is anathema. Individuality is limited and under attack in America today.

The United States of America is one of the oldest contemporary democracies, is currently the second largest democracy, and is ranked the 16th best democracy in the world (Campbell et. Al, 2014). Yet there is a legitimate question over whether or not the United States can still truly be considered a democracy, with some studies even suggesting it has begun to resemble an oligarchy (Chumley, 2014). In this essay, I will use Dahl’s criteria of voting equality and effective participation to determine whether or not the United States are truly a democracy.

In the contrary, people seem less revealing here, their attitudes are carefully concealed as if there is an invisible boundary of distrust that should be dispersed to bond with someone. I attribute this tendency to American individualism which marks the space outside of the self as insecure and emphasizes the importance of privacy. It might seem comfortable to live in a society where everyone feels good and leads a perfect life, but after a while I started experiencing a paradox of loneliness: when one is surrounded by a lot of people, nevertheless is not close to anyone. Digging into the causes for loneliness convinced me that I was performing instead of living by hiding my authentic and vulnerable self. Soon it became clear that shallow and

In the realm of international politics, the system of democracy, which requests the civic participation of the entire population in exchange for civic rights, has emerged as the predominant system. The United States of America has evolved an intricate balance of civic rights and responsibilities through years of constitutional amendments, movements for expanded civil rights, and the building of a system of public services. In return for the right to vote, to pursue any career of one 's choosing, and to freely trade goods and services to acquire private property, the public commits to the responsibilities of voting, of obeying laws, of paying applicable taxes, and of being active in local politics. All of these features are incorporated

Today, America has built a reputation for itself, earning titles like “The Land of Opportunity”, “The Melting Pot”, “The Home of the Brave”, and “The Land of Freedom”. Indeed, our proud nation has been praised by many nations for its precedent-setting nature since the original Thirteen Colonies broke away from England. What does it truly mean to be American? Is it to be able to speak your mind freely, no matter what? Or to be able to practice your own beliefs and religion without persecution? To be an American is to be able to express yourself as an individual. However, this trait has become rare since the advent of peer pressure and social media, where trending topics and styles are blasted into everyone’s lives. In the pursuit of

Our society is comprised of groups of people who view and act on life situations either in a collective or an individual perspective. These orientations are established in the different cultures of the world, and therefore, one acquires the characteristics as he or she grows up (Brewer & Chen, 2007). We are more likely to avoid cross-cultural miscommunication by understanding the differences in school performance, dating and marriage, and our definition of happiness.

An intrinsic element in the success of a democratic society is the willingness of the people to be self-governing. In modern America, to say that we have a government that is for, by, and of the people does not mean that each citizen is autocratic and simply 'takes the law into his or her own hands,' but rather that each citizen has the responsibility to actively participate in this large-scale experiment known as American Democracy. Therefore, the problem of declining voter participation is a serious one indeed.