I found the concept of effort-optimism to be very interesting and within the same boundaries of what I was talking about before. The idea that within American culture, you are in charge of your own destiny, is not as common as many Americans would believe. As the book points out, in many other countries, emphasis is not put on the individual level as much as it is put on the family or clan level. I think that this is one of the core reasons that Americans clash so much with the rest of the world. We are taught that with hard work and determination, we can achieve anything. In other parts of the world this just isn't true. Obama would never be able to be the King of England. You have to be born into that kind of fortune, but in the United States we are taught that anyone can be anything they want to be.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I do like the fact that we have the oppurtunity to be anything we want in this country. In other countries if your father was a carpenter you became a carpenter. Even though I know that we all have the oppurtunity to be anything it is not uncommon to see this in the United States. I have quite a few friends that have followed in the steps of thier father or mother as far as career chioces. I know they could have done anything but I do think there is an advantage of going into a trade that your parents were in. If the parent is constantly talking to thier child about thier job that child will learn a lot about a certain job. This can make for individuals to become one of the elite at a certain occupation. Sorry I got off track but I did like your post.
ReplyDelete