North American Culture

1. How can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world which we live? Give an example from your life to illustrate your answer.

Before describing the dominant culture in the United States, we first need to know what culture is and what a dominant culture is. Culture is the life style people choose. This includes language, religion, values and norms that a group of people accept without thinking about it. Now that we know what culture is, what is a dominant culture? The dominant culture in a society is the established language, religion, behaviour and norms that are proper to a certain culture. This is the dominant culture. Most often, dominant culture is the most powerful culture in a country and has the most powerful people or the most people associated to the culture.

From the term Mosaic we get a picture that America has a structure of different cultures. "The mosaic implies a contiguity of fixed, self-sufficient, utterly distinct cultures. Multiculturalism, as it has been practiced in the United States in the past 10 years, implies the existence of a central culture, ringed by peripheral cultures. The fallout of official multiculturalism is the establishment of one culture as the norm and the rest as aberrations." So I agree that the American civilization is composed of diverse cultures.

American culture encompasses customs or traditions in the United States. Customs or traditions include, but would not be limited to, values, language, religion, or how we communicate. The population in the United States is over 325 million, (United States Census Bureau, (n.d.) and is built on immigration. In comparison to other countries, the United States is considered cultural, as most nations unite, and later mix, their culture into American culture.

Culture is a very vital part of the world as we know it today. There are very many different cultures all around the world. In the USA, we have a mix of all the different cultures and and family values. From the original Native Americans that inhabited America to the Middle Eastern people in Afghanistan. These people groups have brought their language, food, values, and customs with them.

The Dust Bowl drought was the worst in U.S. history that was around 1930. It was in the mid west where it covered sixty percent of the country. Millions of people had to move to other parts because it lasted four years. It was "at its peak in 1934" according to "National Climate Data Center". We already have a lot of drought in California and west although one might say it is all of the U.S. With little rain and high tempatures in the summers drys out the vegatation which become a hazard for fires. Global warming might have some to do with the problem of drought. High populations need more water, with more water being used, depletes resources of water supplies which causes drought also. People need to become more aware of the use of the use of water, a lot of people take it for granite that there is plenty out there for all of us to share. In fact, if we don't start to conserve, we might not have water like we do in the future.

American culture is in my opinion a mixture of all cultures in the world. In some states, minorities have become majorities because of the huge masses that have immigrated there. Those groups have integrated their own customs to Americans and at the same time, have made American customs part of their lives. In that enormous alloy called Americans, you can meet diverse kinds of persons, languages, foods and words. At the same time, specific traits make this culture as any other unique. The British writer Lesley Hazleton describes in the essay The First Game her experience when she attended a baseball game for the first time in her life. It was her first time visiting America as well and the way the

The United States is an immense country, with many residents and citizens descending from immigrants who have influenced many customs, traditions, behaviors and ways of life. Unlike many old world nations, the United States does not have a homogenous population or a traditional homeland. However, American culture can be interpreted as being largely based in Western Europe with influences from the Native Indians, Africans, Asians, and elsewhere.

Hispanic cultures and population has experienced an immense growth in the past decade in the United States of America. In 2010 it is estimated that Hispanics cover 16 % of the population in The United States of America. A significant majority of Hispanics origin is in Mexico and the few Spanish speaking countries in the Caribbean. American culture is based from people who came from the European countries like Italy and the Great Britain. Cultural diversity is very important for every ethnic group as it shapes the culture of that particular group and therefore, certain cultures cannot realize their own values and beliefs until it has been exposed to another one.

United States is an example of the diversity cultures, but the majority is the Hispanic culture. The Hispanic culture has been growing up so fast in this country that currently White Americans does not want them here anymore. Most of White Americans has been debatable about the theme of Hispanics because the fact that they do not speak English, get more jobs than the white people does, taking money that they should not, and think that the Hispanics are bad persons because they could be drug dealers.

Nearly half the states in the U.S. are abnormally dry. This is a situation that will be happening until the world ends. By 2025, an estimated 1.8 billion people will live in areas plagued by water scarcity, with two-thirds of the world's population living in water-stressed regions as a result of use, growth, and climate change (“Clean Water Crisis, Water Crisis Facts, Water Crisis Resources”). This is something very serious to think about. We will be looking this problem directly in the face in less than 10 years unless we all make a conscious effort to significantly cut down on the amount of water we use. For a lot of third world countries, this water shortage problem is something that affects daily life. 319 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are without access to improved reliable drinking water sources (The Water Project). That's more people living without adequate water conditions, than the total population of the United States in 2014. As an American myself, the

In order for their to be a drought there has to be a long period with dry weather which is caused by lack of perception. And that lack of perception is being caused by climate change. Due to climate change, temperatures are rising and that is leaving less and less water behind. The climate change is also forcing the mountain snowpack to melt.The snowpack which provides for a third of California’s water supply and builds up during wet winters, causes a big impact on the drought. The change in climate patterns is forcing the snowpack to melt faster and earlier, making it more difficult to store and use in the dry spring and summer. Also with the climate change California's rate of evaporation is also high. So, water is being evaporated rather quickly, but with no perception it's not being replaced.But the blame can’t solely put on climate change. Since it's part of a chain sequence which ultimately comes back to us. Through us being careless with our environment we are not only hurting the Earth, but also ourselves as proven by the drought. We must be more aware and active in our fight against climate

Two cultures that are different from each other are American and Latinos because they come from diverse regions their education, lifestyle, and family structure

I was born and raised in the great white north. My culture and experiences throughout my whole life have probably been a little bit different then the average American. Canada 's culture was mostly influenced by European cultures and traditions,

Droughts are a natural occurrence that has been around for millions of years. Droughts are unpredictable; no one can tell when they are going to take place, the severity, or how long they will last. Impacts on of a drought can send shockwaves thought the region. The economy, agriculture, the environment, and the residents of the region are all affected. (Vicente-Serrano, Beguería, & López-Moreno, 2009, p.1696)