Reality of American Values

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Reality of American values

Introduction

The United States of America has grown into fifty states and one federal district from

the thirteen original British colonies. It is inhabited by more than three hundred and

twelve million people and it is one of the world's mostethnically diverse and

multiculturalnations. Naturally to an ordinary citien of Bosnia and !eregovina the

United States of America may seem as a promised land. The county of independent

media and a low criminal rate with a government that loves to help other countries. It is

the "land of the free" where everyone can spea# freely and achieve the American dream

of discovery$ individualism$ and the pursuit of happiness. As we #now television is the

main source of information in today%s society. Its drama$ commercials$ news and other

programs bring a system of images and messages into every home. &e are not even

aware that we acuire many pre(udices and false images by putting our trust on the

media as an authority to give us news$ entertainment and education. )very day we

receive different messages that have an impact on our perception of social reality$ and it

is not surprising that the ma(ority of young people in our country would move to the

States without thin#ing$ because they believe life is easier there. Teenagers drive fast

cars$ they have their privacy$ they are independent and live alone$ their professors are

casual and of course they do not need to study hard to obtain a degree in the United

States. !owever$ are these assumptions really true* Is the American dream today

amythical concept or still a reality*

The American Dream

+or centuries people have moved to America in order to find happiness$ freedom andtheir version of the American dream. ,riginally the American dream was about fame$

success and wealth achieved through hard wor#. -ust as a freelance writer -ames

Truslow Adams once wrote

"It is a dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone$

with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for

the )uropean upper classes to interpret adeuately$ and too many of us ourselves have

grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages

merely$ but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to

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attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable$ and be recognied by

others for what they are$ regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.0

1Truslow$ Adams. The )pic of America. /23/ p.4/564/78

!owever$ somewhere along the way the dream had changed. The decadence of the

American dream is best presented in the boo# of +rancis Scott 9ey +itgerald "The

:reat :atsby;. The boo# was written in /247 and in a way$ it is a reflection of the

/24ictorian

morality seemed li#e empty hypocrisy. ?any people including +itgerald%s hero -ay

:atsby turned to wild and e@travagant living to compensate. As a child -ay :atsby was

small town #id who had a desire to escape his circumstances and ma#e a name for

himself. As a grown man he is a millionaire whose main motivation is to win bac# the

woman he almost married in the past$ aisy Buchanan. As the story unfolds it becomes

obvious that :atsby%s dream is ruined by the unworthiness of its ob(ect$ (ust as the

American dream in the /24


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4


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?arty. The end of Cace* ,bama Cace and politics in modern America. +ebruary

4$4


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of the most heated discussions occurred after the /222 massacre at =olumbine !igh

School in Gittleton$ =olorado. Twelve students and a teacher were #illed and twenty

four students were wounded. The shooters )ric !arris and ylan 9leebold ended the

massacre by #illing themselves. In the immediate aftermath$ there were calls for gun

restrictions$ but there was no lasting result. Dart of the reason this issue goes in circles is

that it is impossible to establish a causal lin# between guns and violence. In the

documentary film "Bowling for =olumbine; ?ichael ?oore tries to do e@actly that$ he

investigates the causes for the =olumbine !igh School massacreand other acts

of violencewith guns. !e compares the gun violence and the gun ownership in the US

with the gun violence and the gun ownership in :ermany$ +rance$ =anada$ United

9ingdom$ Australia and -apan. The results are devastating. The US certainly leads in

this bloodshed. . !e comes to a conclusion that easy availability of guns$ violent

national history$ violent entertainment and even poverty are inadeuate to e@plain this

violence when other cultures share those same factors without the euivalent carnage.

:ermany$ +rance$ and the United 9ingdom also share the violent national history and

most violent games come from -apan. The same thing is with poverty and easy

availability of guns. In order to e@plain this$ ?ichael ?oore ta#es on a deeper

e@amination of America's culture of fear. !e comes to a conclusion that the United

States society is based on fear and consumption$ the government6controlled media are

gaining from this fear. >iolence gets people%s attention$ and media houses #now this

and are using it e@tensively. News programming has a tendency to emphasie wars$

ecological disasters and other tragedies so people get the impression that nothing good

happens in the outside world. )veryone wants to be informed$ but the #ind of coverage

found in networ# and cable news is usually superficial. In general$ the headlines are

more shoc#ing than the actual story that hides behind them is. ?edia houses need to

#eep their ratings up$ and this sort of headlines is what #eeps people%s attention.

Conclusion

It seems that America li#e many other countries is still struggling with its own identity.

It is not easy to reach a conclusion based on tv series and someone else's e@periences. In

order to find out weather a real American owns a T> in every room$ and a gun under

every pillow it is necessary to spend some time abroad. Although it is clear that most

American values are misrepresented in our country$ we need to ta#e into consideration

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacrehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun


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that every person is different and has different values and ideas. )ven in our country a

person who lives in Sara(evo thin#s differently about certain topics than a person who

lives in obo(. Deople in the United States are e@posed to a lot more diverse cultures

than people in Bosnia and !eregovina. This does not ma#e one country superior to the

other it (ust ma#es them different.

M


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Ceferences

[/]=ampbell Neil$ and Alasdair 9ean. American =ultural Studies$ An introduction to

American culture.Gondon Coutledge 1/22E8

[4] =arroll$ November 44$ 4

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Reality of American Values