American Values and Assumptions

In Gary Althens, American Values and Assumptions, Athen informs foreigners about the typical practices and beliefs Americans hold. Individualism, freedom and materialism are some of the few words that define their values. Even though Althen`s primary audience were foreigners, I found this reading interesting because it made me realize how Americans stand out in the world. As an individual who`s lived in three different countries, my values are a bit different but I have learned to adapt to these American values as well.

Athen`s states that "the most important thing to understand about Americans is their devotion to individualism" and that "they`re not trained to see themselves as members of close knit family" (pg. 7). Individualism is important in America because there has always been a strong belief in creating your own path and doing what is best for you. Many Americans believe it is important to teach children lessons when they are young and to let them be independent. In Filipino culture, everything is correlated with family. I think one of the reasons why is because our families are so big and our instinct is always to help one another out. Family does not only mean mom, dad and siblings but it also extends to relatives and family friends. Whenever someone in the family would eat out, everyone had to be invited so there weren't any hard feelings. I was not necessarily raised to not praise individualism but I was always surrounded by an environment which emphasized importance of family. As I grew older, I began to become more independent. I had the choice of choosing my own major and college to attend but family was still a major factor in my decisions. Because family is so important to me, I feel like everything I do is to make them proud and a way to give back to all the sacrifices they made. I try to be more individualistic but sometimes it just doesn't feel right. I do believe individualism is important because it makes you more independent and to not have to rely on others in the future and learn the hard way.

One value that I can relate to is competition. Athen states that "competition pervades in the country" (pg. 9) and everyone is trying to "maintain their superiority" (10) by doing so. As Americans, we try to be the best in everything. The US is known to be one of the super powers in the world because of our leadership and dedication to be at the top. From sending the first man to the moon and creating many new gadgets, America surely enjoys competition and getting praise. Not only does competition prevail on a global level but also in schools and everyday life. In high school, my classmates were continuously fighting over the valedictorian spot, taking all AP classes and trying to getting perfect scores on the SATs. Most of my classmates were all talking about school and grades and there never seemed to be any fun. Since I was surrounded in such a competitive environment, I felt like I also had to do my best to catch up with everyone else because then I would not fit in. In a way, this influenced me to do better and always challenge myself but I never liked the feeling of always trying to "one-upping" others, especially friends. Competition helps us set high standards for ourselves so we can dream big and work even harder.