English美國社會主流價值觀

TraditionalMainstreamValuesofUSA--thespiritofAmericanpeople

--LarryLiuIgrowupinsuchasocialenvironment:U.S.imperialismisournumberoneenemy.Frommychildhood,Americaismysterioustome.Intheprocessofmygrowingup,IwascuriousaboutAmericanpeopleandtheirstoriesandhadafeelingthatmydreamcametruewhenmyforeignaffairsworkledmetoAmericaandgavemechancetounderstandAmericanculture.

Human’snaturemakespeoplecuriousabouteachother.Whentheymeetpeoplefromdifferentcountries,besidessomesimplequestionslike“Whatislifelikeintheircountry?”“Whatkindoffooddotheyeat?”“Whataretheircustoms?”,theyhavemorequestionsabouttheculture:Whatdothepeoplebelievein?Whatdotheyvaluemostinlife?Whatmotivatesthem?Whydotheybehavethewaytheydo?

Today,IchoosetotakeanAmericancultureapproachtoourdiscussion,focusingonthetraditionalmainstreamvalues(美國社會主流價值觀)thathaveattractedimmigrantstotheUnitedStatesforover200years.Afterexplaininghowthesetraditionalvaluesdeveloped,wewilltracehowtheyaffectvariousaspectsofAmericanlife.ThisinformationwillhelpusgetacompositepictureofAmericanbeliefsandpracticesastheyrelatetoeducation,business,government,sports,recreation,andsoon.

Ihopetheintroductioncanhelpusbecomemoresensitivetoculturaldifferences.However,myintroductionisnottopersuadeChinesepeopletoacceptAmericanway，butrathertohelpunderstanditmorefullyandcomparewithours.Andseewhatwecanlearnfromeachother.

TherearesixmainstreamvaluesofAmericansociety:1.IndividualFreedom（個人自由）;2.Self-Reliance（自力更生）;3.EqualityofOpportunity

（機(jī)會平等）;4.Competition（競爭）;5.MaterialWealth（物質(zhì)財富）;6.HardWork（辛勤工作）

Thesevaluesoriginatedfrom“TheDeclarationofIndependence”(獨(dú)立宣言),peoplewillneverforgetitssaying:Weholdthesetruthstobeself-evident,thatallmenarecreatedequal,thattheyareendowedbytheirCreatorwithcertaininalienable（不能剝奪的）rights,thatamongtheseareLife,LibertyandthepursuitofHappiness.Let’shaveafurtherlookintothesesixvalues.Historically,theUnitedStateshasbeenviewedas“thelandofopportunity”,attractingimmigrantsfromallovertheworld.TheimmigrantsbelievedthattheywouldfindopportunitiesinAmericawiththissetofvalues.

Threeofthem--IndividualFreedom,EqualityofOpportunity,andMaterialWealth–representtraditionalreasonswhyimmigrantshavebeendrawntoAmerica.Inordertoachievethesebenefits,however,therewerepricestobepaid:Self-Reliance,Competition,andHardWork.Byandby,thesesixbasicvaluesbecometraditionalvaluesystem.

IndividualFreedomandSelf-RelianceTheearliestsettlerscametotheNorthAmericancontinenttoestablishcoloniesthatwerefreefromthecontrolsthatexistedinEuropeansocieties.Theywantedtoescapetocontrolsplacedontheirlivesbykingsandgovernments,priests（牧師師）andchurches,noblemenandaristocrats(貴族).Toagreatextent,theysucceeded.In1789,whentheywrotetheConstitutionfortheirnewnation,theyseparatedthose““privilegedclass”(特權(quán)權(quán)階層)mentionedabovefromthegovernmenttoensurethatanaristocraticsocietywouldnotdevelop.Therewouldbenorulingclassofnobilityinthenewnation.ThewordfreedomisoneofthemostrespectedpopularwordsintheUnitedStatestoday.Byfreedom,Americansmeanthedesireandtheabilityofallindividualstocontroltheirowndestiny(命運(yùn))withoutoutsideinterferencefromthegovernment,arulingnobleclass,thechurch,oranyotherorganizedauthority.Thereis,however,apricetobepaidforthisindividualfreedom:self-reliance.Individualsmustlearntorelyonthemselvesorrisklosingfreedom.Thismeansachievingbothfinancialandemotionalindependencefromtheirparentsasearlyaspossible,usuallybyage18or21.ItmeansthatAmericansbelievetheyshouldtakecareofthemselves,solvetheirownproblems,and““standontheirowntwofeet”.Thisstrongbeliefinself-reliancecontinuestodayasatraditionalbasicAmericanvalue.MostAmericansbelievethattheymustbeself-reliantinordertokeeptheirfreedom.Iftheyrelytoomuchonthesupportoftheirfamiliesorthegovernmentoranyorganization,theymaylosesomeoftheirfreedomtodowhattheywant.EqualityofOpportunityandCompetitionBecauseofthebeliefthateveryonehasachancetosucceedinAmerica,generationsofimmigrants,fromtheearliestsettlerstothepresentday,havecometotheUnitedStateswiththisexpectation.BecausetitlesofnobilitywereforbiddenintheConstitution,noformalclasssystemdevelopedintheUnitedStates.Thehopesanddreamsofmanyoftheimmigrantswerefulfilledintheirnewcountry.Thelowersocialclassintowhichmanywereborndidnotpreventthemfromtryingtorisetoahighersocialposition.Americansseemuchoflifeasarace(比比賽)forsuccess.Forthem,equalitymeansthateveryoneshouldhaveanequalchancetoentertheraceandwin.Ithelpsensurethattheraceforsuccessisafaironeandthatapersondoesnotwinjustbecauseheorshewasbornintoawealthyfamily,orlosebecauseofreligion.ThisAmericanconceptof“fairplay””isanimportantaspectofthebeliefinequalityofopportunity.Thereis,however,apricetobepaidfortheequalityofopportunity:competition.Ifmuchoflifeisseenasarace,thenapersonmustruntheraceinordertosucceed;apersonmustcompetewithothers.IfeverypersonhasanequalchancetosucceedintheUnitedStates,thenitiseveryperson’sdutytotryAmericansmatchtheirenergyandintelligenceagainstthatofothersinacompetitivecontestforsuccess.Peoplewholiketocompeteandaremoresuccessfulthanothersarehonoredbybeingcalledwinners.Ontheotherhand,thosewhodonotliketocompeteandarenotsuccessfulwhentheytryareoftendishonoredbybeingcalledlosers.ThepressuresofcompetitioninthelifeofanAmericanbegininchildhoodandcontinueuntilretirementfromwork,andlearningtocompetesuccessfullyispartofgrowingupintheUnitedStates.ThoughcompetitioncausesAmericanstobeenergetic,butitalsoplacesafeelingofuselessandunwantedonthosewhoarenotveryenergeticsuchasoldpeoplewhogenerallydidnotcompetewell.ThethirdreasonforimmigrantstocometotheUnitedStatesisveryimportant–forabetterlife.Thatis,toraisetheirstandardofliving.Ofcourse,mostimmigrantsdidnot““getrichovernight””,andmanyofthemsufferedterribly,butthemajorityofthemwereeventuallyabletoimproveupontheirformerstandardofliving.Eveniftheywerenotabletoachievetheeconomicsuccesstheywanted,theycouldbefairlycertainthattheirchildrenwouldhavetheopportunityforabetterlife.InAmerica,mostAmericansdohaveothervaluesandideals,butacquiringandmaintainingalargenumberofmaterialpossessionsisofgreatimportance.ThemainreasonisthatmaterialwealthhastraditionallybeenawidelyacceptedmeasureofsocialstatusintheUnitedStates.BecauseAmericansrejectedtheEuropeansystemofhereditaryaristocracy(世襲貴族)andtitlesofnobility(貴貴族頭銜),theyhadtofindasubstituteforjudgingsocialstatus.Thequalityandquantityofanindividual’smaterialpossessionsbecameanacceptedmeasureofsuccessandsocialstatus.Americanshavepaidaprice,however,fortheirmaterialwealth:hardwork.Americansseematerialpossessionsasthenaturalrewardfortheirhardwork.Insomeways,materialpossessionswereseennotonlyastangible(有形形資產(chǎn))evidenceofpeople’’swork,butalsooftheirabilities.Theybelievethatpeopleshouldholdjobsandnotliveoffwelfarepaymentsfromthegovernment.Thesixbasicvaluespresentedabove--IndividualFreedom,Self-Reliance,EqualityofOpportunity,Competition,MaterialWealth,andHardWork--donottellthewholestoryoftheAmericanpicture.Inreality,somepeoplehaveabetterchanceforsuccessthanothers.Thosewhoarebornintorichhavemoreopportunitiesthanthosewhoarebornintopoorerfamilies.Inheriting(繼承承)moneydoesgiveapersonadecidedadvantage.ManyblackAmericanshavefeweropportunitiesthantheaveragewhiteAmerican,andmanywomenhavefeweropportunitiesthanmen,inspiteoflawsdesignedtopromoteequalityofopportunityforallindividuals.AstheUnitedStateshasshiftedfromanindustry-basedeconomytoonethatisserviceorinformation-based,therehasbeenadeclineinhigh-payingjob.AstheUnitedStatescompetesinaglobaleconomy,manyworkersofmanufactureindustryarelosingtheiroldjobsandfindingthattheyandtheirfamilymembersmustnowworklongerhoursforlessmoneyandfewerbenefits.Butallofthesedonotdiminishtheimportanceofthesixbasicvalues.Americanpeoplebelieveinthemandarestronglyaffectedbythemintheireverydaylives.ItiseasiertounderstandwhatAmericansarethinkingandfeelingifwecanunderstandwhatthesebasictraditionalAmericanvaluesareandhowtheyhaveinfluencedalmosteveryfacetsoflifeintheUnitedStates.Myopinion:Firstly,whyshouldwestudyAmericanculture?PeopleinChinanowwouldliketotalkaboutlastthirtyyears’reformandopeningtooutsideworldwhenChinahashadgreatchanges.Thebiggestchange,Ibelieve,istheculture.China‘‘straditionalculturewhichhaslastedseveralthousandyearshasmetchallenge.Thesocietyisfullofuncertainty,alotofpeoplejustfeelataloss.ForthousandsofyearsChinafocusonimperialpower(皇權(quán)),peoplegotusedtolisteningtothewordsofking'sandtheirsuperiors’,butnowordinaryChinesepeoplehavetolearntobetheirowndecisionmaker.PeoplerealizethatChinashouldbemodernized,justlikewest,buttheydonotknowhow.Culturalconflictsometimesishard.Inthiscase,drawlessonsfromwesterncountryespeciallyAmericaiswise,“Thestoneofotherhillcanpolishthejadeofours””(他山之石石可以攻玉),justasoneoftheoldsayinggoes.Secondly,wecannotavoidonefactwhenwelearnforeignlanguages--wearelearningdifferentculturewhichismuchmoreimportantthanthelanguageitself.Whatdowereallylearnwhenwestudyaboutothercultures?Firstandforemost,welearnaboutourown.Untilweareconfrontedbyadifferentwayofdoingthings,weassumethateveryonedoesthingsthesamewaythatwedo,andthusourownculture––ourvalues,attitudes,behavior--islargelyhiddenfromourview.Whenwespendsometimeanalyzinganotherculture,however,webegintoseeourownmoreclearlyandtounderstandsomeofthesubtleties（微妙））thatmotivateourbehaviorandouropinions.Therefore,youcannothelpbutbegintounderstandyourselfandyourownculturesbetter