Five Lessons Learned from “the Ugly American”

The article, John Wayne and Big Jim McLain (1952): The Duke's Cold War Legacy by Ron Briley, helps to construct the idea similarity in characterization of individuals in the Communist party with ‘true Americans’. Ron Briley refers to one of the scenes from the film as “the disturbing element of the investigation” because of the betrayal of an elderly Polish-American couple, the Lesters, who turn in their son Ed White to the HUAC investigators (Briley, 29). The Lesters, turned against their son because of his involvement with the Communist party, which shows a contradiction to the American ideal of loyalty to your family and instead places the greatest loyalty to a cause or country, that has been a focal point criticized in cinema towards communist, who spy and turn against and report their own family (“to spy upon one’s parents”) (Briley, 29). For example, in the short film, Red Nightmare (1952), in a fictional but feared world where communism has taken over, children and wives report and testify against their unloyal spouses. But in ‘Americanism’ one does all that they can in their power to protect their families and homes, even though during the Cold War era people were

In Edward L. Hudgins article, What is an American?, Hudgins defines an American in ways I had not thought of before. Hudgins stated all these ideas about Americans being driven to do their best and meeting challenges head-on. I would like to think that being an American means everything Hudgins stated, however I think Hudgins is giving the optimistic answer of what being an American means. What Hudgins explains as being an American is what I believe most Americans were like when the country was first founded. The idea of taking risks and working until the risks paid off is one that most Americans do not believe because the possibility of actually achieve one’s dream is extremely less likely today than it was when the country was first established.

Garrett Hardin argues for a very harsh thesis: we simply should not provide aid to people in poor countries. His argument is consequentialist: he claims that the net result of doing so would be negative -- would in fact be courting large-scale disaster. One of the things that we will notice about Hardin's essay, however, is that whether he is right or wrong, he paints with a very broad brush. This makes it a good essay for the honing of your philosophical skills; you should notice that there are many places where the reasoning procees with less than total care.

To get a clear view and understanding of the book, first must review the time period in history. The book was written in the mid 1950's during the cold war. Former General McCarthy, then U.S. Senator started a fire ball of suspicion, suppression, and

The irony he pointed out, was that American truly can not be as truly virtuous as we claim to be, if we are truly as innocent as we pretend to be (Niebuhr, Pg. 19). After World War II, both the US and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two “superpowers” which would lead them into a fierce competition for political control over Europe and their resources. During the Cold War in the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in many covert conflicts that eventually shaped foreign policy during this war. Because decolonization was becoming popular in the 1950’s and 60’s, the US and Soviet Union directly competed for influence in many third world countries, such as in Guatemala, Iran, and Indochina. The US government use of the CIA to disrupt many governments with ties to communists in the 50s was their primary tactic in an aim to support the allied countries. With conflicts going over ideological territories, both countries undermined their own political ideologies in order to undermine their each

The details in the memoir have biases that are balanced, and understandable in many instances; when one is passionate about a certain thing, it is hard to take a truly objective view. John Scott’s beliefs about America are unmistakable and it is important to realize that he was considered to be ranked higher than the average Russian peasant in Behind the Urals, nevertheless, he does make an unbiased stand on the true cost of industrial accidents, the overwork of the workers, the hyper-industrialization of the five year plans enacted by Stalin, the peasants pushed out of their land in the collectivization program to be forced into becoming industrial laborers, and the severity of the Stalin’s political purges.

One of the Cold War’s most prominent is The Ugly American. Written in 1958, this book was a best seller, filled with different stories about why communism was winning and what must be done about it. The authors of the book The Ugly American used one main argument for its readers: “communism is a monolithic enemy whose fundamental values challenged those of the United States and whose ultimate goal was world domination.” (page 4) There stories were one of main forces driving people like Kennedy and Johnson to go and “save” Vietnam from

During the 19th century the United-States, already a regional power, slowly emerged as an imperial one (Slater, 2010; Steinmetz, 2005). Up until the 20th century, the country was mainly focused on fulfilling its ‘manifest destiny’ and centred its foreign policy on Latin America (Kissinger, 1994). It was of great importance for the Americans not only to differentiate themselves from the colonialist Europe but also to assert their

America may be a relatively young nation, turning 240 years old this year, but in its short existence, it has had a powerful influence over world affairs, for better or worse. George Washington once said, “It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.” However, since his presidency, the United States’ position in the world has steered from a steely isolationist stance to one open and hungry for involvement in the matters of other countries. America craved land and power to bolster itself and utilized foreign policy to do so, shifting towards an imperialist position. However, this change in foreign policy resulted

In the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, the Author, Jamie Ford, illustrates American identity as something that comes in several different spectrums, but encompassing the same basic ideas that shaped our country in the first place through characters such as Mr.Okabe and Mr.Lee. Our country was based off of standing up and fighting for what we believe in. This is exactly what both Mr.Lee and Mr.Okabe do. Mr.Lee stays loyal to what he thinks is right even when not everyone in his surrounding approves and Mr.Okabe fights for inequality and justice by obeying the laws placed by the government of the United States of America. Both these men, show that being an American doesn’t have certain boundaries, that it comes in multiple forms,

In America in the 1950’s there was a massive fear of communism. During this time in Vietnam, the Communist North and the Colonialistic French controlled South, waged war against each other. This is brought together in peace by Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1958 film adaptation of The Quiet American. He does so by highlighting key differences in the novel to give a completely different perspective. The novel, written by Graham Greene shows the two central characters; Fowler, a British journalist and Pyle, a young idealistic American in Vietnam. Granted there are very few differences between film and novel that affect the character’s development in the story, these differences change the way the characters are looked at and how their personalities come

America’s foreign policy affects each and every person in the world in terms of prices, taxes, supply of gasoline, and the lives of our soldiers also depends on how we associate with US. This country can bring hope to the lives of the poorest people in the world. It is because of their persona that they are able to respect the lives of others who are not even their own. Most American citizens believe in embracing their values, justice, fairness, democracy, a helping hand when there is need and hard work. Their values are applied from their households, to

Through its critical depiction of American policy in the conflict between the Viet Minh and Southern Vietnam, Graham Greene’s The Quiet American suggests that journalist Thomas Fowler’s perspective of foreign non-intervention in Vietnamese affairs is justified because Fowler understands the discomfort and struggles Vietnamese citizens face first-hand while his rival, Alden Pyle, refuses to allow his experiences change his firm beliefs in democracy. Pyle, an American working with the Economic Aid Mission, is an ardent believer in the virtue and necessary action of the American foreign policy. Despite formulating his own opinions based on author York Harding and having no experience in Southern Asia, Pyle “was absorbed already in the dilemmas of Democracy and the responsibilities of the West, [determined] … to do good, not to any

It is the most powerful line I felt in the American Beauty which directly shows how people being trapped in the American Dream. Is it based on others’ impression or self-satisfaction? In the American Beauty, even the personal time for being vulnerable is being forbidden AT ALL TIMES: Carolyn slapped herself in the unsold house in order to forcing herself stop from crying, even she was alone. Unhappiness and things that uncontrollable are prohibited nowadays. People must believe they can do anything and stay positive to show they are the “final” winner as always. In the resources management way of speaking, people nowadays will allocate their resources (emotions, times, money etc.) in the most efficient way so that they could become one of the

Previously, I perceived our opponents to be the “bad guys” and the United States to be the heroes that were helping people around the world. While this may be true in some applications, I’m no longer naïve to the fact that the U.S. isn’t handing out millions of dollars in economic interest simply because it’s the right thing to do. Rather, I believe that most military conflicts the U.S. has engaged in over the last century, as well as the current battles in Syria and throughout the Middle East, stem principally from economic motivations. While I’m undecided in the political debate that exists between political parties over the term imperialism itself, I’ve become keenly aware of how much of our country’s foreign policy is driven by the economic needs of its citizens. The profound change I’ve experienced is in remaining mindful as to the influence on foreign policy that receptive markets and favorable political conditions in countries throughout the world has.