Positive And Negative Effects Of Americentrism

But is this what is happening? No, not at all. America used to be the center for cosmopolitanism. This was the country of immigrants coming together and forming as one but recently it seems otherwise Nussbaum says “Our nation is appallingly ignorant of most of the rest of the world. I think that this means that it is also, in many crucial ways, ignorant to itself.” This feeling of love and devotion to American is harmless but once it starts shunning people out it becomes serious and on many levels, ignorant. On what level does patriotism become critical and is it

American foreign policy since the countries foundation has been based off the white paternalistic perception that the United States is the most righteous, without sin country in existence. This ethnocentrism has developed biased justifications for

Although some argue otherwise, immigrants have a positive impact on our society. It is ironic how "within the country founded by Immigrants- Immigrant somehow become a bad word" (K'Naan). Although statistics prove that immigrants do bring overcrowding, drug trafficking, and diseases, they also impact positively on our economy and bring cultural knowledge. Being an immigrant in America is no easy task, they work long hours and most of the time have multiple jobs. Because the American dollar has greater value, immigrants will take any job that pays better than their home country. This often means they do the unwanted jobs of Americans. Immigrants fight hard to work their way to America with the American dream in mind, but once here that dream becomes very distant due to unexpected challenges they faced. In Valeria Luiselli book "Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions", she addresses her experience as an interpreter for immigration court of the state of New York, discussing the stories she has heard with the immigration process. Throughout the book, she explains her view of the lack of sympathy and protection the United States has for the young immigrants. Her purpose to show the difficulties the immigrants go through - their sacrifice, resilience, and strength as they fight to survive and obtain a better life in America can also be seen in K'naan video - "The Hamilton Mixtape: Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)", through his use of symbolism everywhere in the music.

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.

There is not one American identity. There is not a single consistent plan for what American policy is, should, or will be. Sure, this political scientist might present a plan for a specific crisis, but there is always a politician in the wings with another plan to counter the first. Every politician’s opinion is different, just as every citizen’s is. Our experiences shape our identities, as does the information we are fed in school, by our families and friends, as well as the media. The view I have of the United States and its place in the world is quite different than most because I am a first generation American. Moreover, my family comes from Venezuela, where their international policy is starkly different than America’s. The United States of America’s international role has unquestionably shaped my opinions, outlook, and behavior.

In his article “Lost in America,” Douglas McGray focuses heavily on the problem of isolationism in the U.S education system in order to prove that changes in the education of young Americans must be taken. “Lost in America” was issued by Foreign Policy magazine in 2006, which reveals that McGray’s audience includes American legislators involved in the elaboration of the American curriculum policies. McGray, who is the Editor in Chief of The California Sunday Magazine and Pop-Up Magazine, discusses that America has an isolationist education system that fails to embrace worldwide perspectives. To support his argument in the article “Lost in America,” McGray builds credibility through the use of anecdotes that surprises and shocks his audience,

The basic mission of high school American history courses is to prepare students to do their jobs as Americans, but that mission has always been overshadowed by its “nationalistic genesis” (xvii) as a part of a “nationalist flag-waving campaign”(xvii). This causes history to be taught in a way to comfort European descendants so that whites are presented in the best light even if that means leaving out information or telling lies and “we cannot afford another generation of white Americans raised on complacent celebratory Eurocentric history”

To start off, education is huge when analyzing ethnocentrism. Throughout my years of social studies and history classes the textbooks emphasize the victories of America, the times in which people from the U.S. were heroic and brave and fought in the face of hardship. However, these historical accounts merely account for a single side of the story when in fact there were many more events to be shared. The textbooks tilt the perspective of the important events to show the Americans as winners. They do not show triumphs against the U.S. or times when our people were defeated as much as they do the victorious moments, for that would display weakness. There is an article in the book that speaks about this topic specifically. Writing the textbook in an ethnocentric way denies the students the much more objective chance to learn about other cultures outside of the U.S. (Textbook, pg. 68) This act of showcasing the successes of America in a way that disregards any other country or culture tells the reader that America is the best, that we are superior and undefeatable. Emphasizing superiority then in turn creates an inferiority of others as well. (Textbook, pg. 68) The students, at a very young age are told that the United States of America is a country that wins. These books are taught

The United States experienced a period of growth and maturation during the twentieth century. Now, this is not to say that this was the only period of growth, but it was a significant time during which the United States began to establish its military force at an international level. By establishing itself during the twentieth century as one of the world’s largest superpowers, America grew to be respected by most of the world’s nations. America also grew to become much more active in foreign affairs, even in ones that had no relation to the nation. The United States began to look for chances to expand their country, as well as opportunities to benefit financially from these territories. Imperialism is the word that best describes the foreign

Ethnocentrism is defined as, “having or based on the idea that your own group or culture is better or more important than others.” Society is impacted by everything from media exposure to political agendas. A good example of this can be found in America’s recent history with countries in the Middle East. Issues ranging from energy and oil to a campaign against terrorism have created strained relationships between the United States and countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result, it is nearly impossible to watch an evening news program on American television that does not contain a story related to current events in the Middle

The United States after the Spanish-American War became progressively involved in International politics, predominantly in Latin America. The conflicts and territorial issues that came with this involvement pressed Americans to confront imperial ideology (19). Americans had explicit beliefs that the United States had an obligation to expand and it was their part to guide other countries into government and self-democracy. While examining the “School Begins” cartoon, it is clear to see that the cartoon in all gives an insightful illustration of that imperial ideology. Porto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines, represented by the four students in the cartoon, are the territories American’s began to turn their attention to. By the exaggeration

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.

In a country of complicated decisions made by politicians about far away places and the people that live there, it's only a guess as to the motives behind each of these decisions. In Noam Chomsky's book "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance", Noam gives a scrupulously researched critique of America's quest for dominance at any cost that not only has cast us in the role of a rogue superpower but also jeopardizes the very survival of humanity. From reading this book, I will give an account as to what Chomsky says about American hegemonic ideals and give him credit for the attempt that he has made to expose historical truth.

In the past few years, the United States has endured a steady increase in illegal immigrants who have come in the U.S trying to find that better opportunity for themselves and their families. Many of these people are refugees escaping civil wars in their home countries, and the United States is the best place to go. Immigration affects everyone of all races, cultures, and diverse religions. The question if immigration is a threat to Americans depends on how these immigrants take advantage of being here. Many of these people who come into the US are hard workers and will do practically anything for a quick buck even if the jobs they do cause risk to their health mentally or physically. With the time and amount of effort these people put into jobs, they help the economy largely by increasing labor and power. The jobs that are mostly taken by immigrants are hardworking, labored forced jobs most people do not want to do. With many open entries for jobs, the employer will hire anyone just to get work done. Most of the time these hard workers are underpaid and do a ridiculous amount of work for absolutely no pay at all. Working under the table helps keep labor costs low for American businesses, "Those unregulated workers are often underpaid, which keeps wages lower in a particular occupation and region…" (McDonald). With pay being low with so much work makes businesses able to keep low prices for consumers which mean more profit.

Assimilation is often assumed to be the only way for immigrants to integrate themselves into the local culture. However, assimilation has many harmful impacts because it implies that the host or dominant culture must be the standard of values, beliefs, behaviors, and perceptions. This creates many harmful impacts and fails to take advantage of the value and benefits of minority cultures. These impacts are included, but not limited to loss of cultural identity, and cultural bereavement. The local culture is also negatively impacted by this as it loses the benefits of the positive traditions and practices of minority cultures. Acculturation provides a better format for integration in a manner that allows the immigrant to retain many aspects of their original culture, while still integrating with the local culture. Such acceptance of diversity is reflected in scripture. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands (Revelation 7:9, New International Version).