Ego to Elite: The American Lifestyle Essay

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.

American society today has been shaped by years past. After the Second World War, U.S. inhabitants dedicated their lives and time to shape and improve America’s culture to the way it is today. Through the decades of the 1950s and today, the society has changed through scientific and technological advances. On the other hand, aspects of the culture have not changed because its citizens have yet to advance in those areas.

American Exceptionalism is a term used to define the ideal that America is far superior to all other countries. It has been used to justify unfair actions and used to cover up flaws. Children are taught from a young age that America is the model country, and the people living there can do no wrong. In school, each bad thing that America has done in history is skimmed over, yet the accomplishments and victories are taught in great detail. For years, Americans have hid behind the phrase American exceptionalism as a way to not only avoid taking responsibility for their actions but to not push themselves to be better, as they already consider themselves perfect. The concept of this exceptionalism impedes the progress and evolution of mankind as they give up caring and trying to better themselves.

Over and over again, Williams illustrates this theme of “American Exceptionalism.” Throughout the book, there are several occurrences in which the “We are the best, and all that we are doing is of benefit to the world” mentality is shown. On one hand, there is nothing wrong with being proud of roots as an American and believing that America is the greatest country, but on the other hand, using this thought process in in order to legitimize the domination and control of other nations unlike America while preaching one set of values and acting on others, is wrong. We see these actions play out time and time again as America invades and controls other countries “to help” them, however, prohibits the country from experiencing the full advantages of self-determination – a value that America claims to hold i.e. a tragedy of American Diplomacy.

For many around the world, the United States have become known as the country of opportunity and success. Consequently,

Since its inhabitance, competition and dominance has been a concept that remains prevalent throughout American life. Past ideologies such as Manifest Destiny, Cultural Imperialism, and Ethnocentrism are all practices and beliefs comprising what it means to be American for many citizens, while also continually shaping outside perception of Americans today. On one hand, many countries have and continue to fully embrace American culture, globalization, and the rise of capitalism. In contrast, many countries have and continue to reject America’s stride for world assimilation regarding their ideals and values.

When we think about American culture today, we usually think about the 4th of July, barbecuing, Donald Trump and football.We have centered our culture around ourselves and have not given much thought about the good of our country like our founders did when they wanted to avoid a tyrannical leader. In United States history, we have changed our culture due to given circumstances and becoming the “World’s Leading Power”, that we did not have to face the struggles that the colonists had to go through. Those struggles in the 1700’s had shaped American cultures and what they valued.

Throughout the development of one of the greatest countries in the world, the he United States had created a world empire between 1890 and 1945. In such a short amount of time, the country as a whole as able to produce a homogenization of life where the measurement of national and international power and the level of control of economic, military, political, media, institutions, education, sport, music, etc. came together to form a new kind of American cutlure. However, during this time, it was all about the projection of the “American-self” and demonstrating characteristics and qualities that distinguished the U.S. (us) and the foreign outsider (them).

American Exceptionalism in the US Political Culture When it comes to American Exceptionalism, there are two major views on how people see America in comparison to other countries around the world. One opinion is based on the theory of America being different and superior to other countries, just wanting the power and control over everyone. In a different view, people see it as a theory that represents our nation’s past and how America is a role model for other countries to follow based off our history’s success. I believe that America does stress the theme of “American Exceptionalism” when it comes down to our political culture because it represents America’s past and what it means to be an American by the freedoms and opportunities that we

The idealization of a pure culture creates a strong wave of chauvinism. America became the epicenter for the idealized culture to form, but idealization leaves out the human aspect surrounding it. Mukherjee added to this idealization, dreaming, “’America’ in contrast, exists as a myth of democracy and equal opportunity to live by, or as an ideal goal to reach” (Mukherjee 1997, para.1). Mukherjee’s dream is beautiful and what many people desire out of America, however America is not an ideal; it

While some find us arrogant, condescending and imperialistic, those who have come to join us in America find that there is some truth in the notion that our country is unique. Nowhere else is the freedom to express and improve yourself so widespread, and no other country welcomes those seeking that freedom so openly. Assimilation to our culture is not forced, but it is the rare individual who does not welcome it once they are here. Many people consider themselves to be the best humans on the planet, or maybe the only ones chosen by their god to succeed, but nobody can claim to be as powerful and prosperous as Americans are. To us the idea of American Exceptionalism is not propaganda or a myth; it is the understanding that the only way to the make the most of oneself is to have the freedom to do so.

Americans through the years of existence have adapted well to the radical changes throughout the world. Technology, independence and social equality are some of the diverse concepts the United States have adapted to and developed in order to become a more unified country. Our nation believes that it is exceptional when it comes to other countries worldwide. As can be shown through the popular reference to America as the ‘shining city on a hill’. The term “American exceptionalism” is derived from ideals held by many Americans throughout history. Different people have analyzed American exceptionalism through multiple literary devices. Works such as A Model of Christian Charity, What is an American and Acres of Diamonds illustrate the

In truth, its history dates back as far as the sixteenth century, following the first great expansion of European capitalism, which resulted in slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism (Ezema, 2009). Throughout history, world powers have continually sought to perpetuate their way of life: from the philosophy and mythology of the Greeks, the political ideologies and linguistics of the Romans, and the art and architecture of the Italian Renaissance (Daghrir, 2013). Thus, it comes as no surprise that the aftermath of the post-war era, which saw the collapse of Soviet communism and the emergence of the United States as the sole hegemon, saw the aggressive spread of American ideals, values, and beliefs. Indeed, just as American goods flooded world markets in the post-World War II era; American culture now penetrates every continent through the aggressive development of mass communications, trade expansion and information technology.

“America was conducting business as usual, but others were joining the game.” (Zakaria, 221). All this time we thought we were on top, we were actually slowly becoming less and less of leader and more a bystander as the rest of the world is slowly rising around us. Zakaria shows in that quote that as America has been continuing business like always, and because of this we have failed to realize our standing with the world around us. In the book The Post-American World, Zakaria shows us the challenges that America faces today. I believe the United States is most affected by our ignorance, competition, and worldly participation.

Some would say that the U.S. centric history taught in public schools presents a one-sided perspective, encourages over-nationalism, and impedes U.S. foreign relations. Those who carry these beliefs have coined the term “Americentrism”. Americentrism is defined as “the idea or perceived bias to judge other cultures and nations by American standards or to center around America in news” (Rationalwiki). This in turn is derived from the concept of “ethnocentrism,” or the “idea of judging another culture solely by the values and standards of one’s own culture” (Wikipedia). One cannot deny that the United States centers everything it possibly can around itself. This includes everything from the nation’s curriculum taught in public schools to its day-to-day news. However, that is exactly what happens in every country across the globe. It is only normal for a country to center things around itself because its audience is its own population. This is not necessarily a negative thing either. The majority of people are not interested in the world as a whole. Instead, they want to know what is happening around them on a local, state or national level because that is what applies to them personally. In the case of the United States, there is a definite focus on all things American in the classroom, but due to numerous external and internal factors, the effects of this focus are negligible in the grand scheme of things. Nevertheless, that does not mean that people’s perspectives cannot be