English美国社会主流价值观.ppt

TraditionalMainstreamValuesofUSA thespiritofAmericanpeople LarryLiu Igrowupinsuchasocialenvironment U S imperialismisournumberoneenemy Frommychildhood Americaismysterioustome Intheprocessofmygrowingup IwascuriousaboutAmericanpeopleandtheirstoriesandhadafeelingthatmydreamcametruewhenmyforeignaffairsworkledmetoAmericaandgavemechancetounderstandAmericanculture Human snaturemakespeoplecuriousabouteachother Whentheymeetpeoplefromdifferentcountries besidessomesimplequestionslike Whatislifelikeintheircountry Whatkindoffooddotheyeat Whataretheircustoms theyhavemorequestionsabouttheculture Whatdothepeoplebelievein Whatdotheyvaluemostinlife Whatmotivatesthem Whydotheybehavethewaytheydo Today IchoosetotakeanAmericancultureapproachtoourdiscussion focusingonthetraditionalmainstreamvalues 美国社会主流价值观 thathaveattractedimmigrantstotheUnitedStatesforover200years Afterexplaininghowthesetraditionalvaluesdeveloped wewilltracehowtheyaffectvariousaspectsofAmericanlife ThisinformationwillhelpusgetacompositepictureofAmericanbeliefsandpracticesastheyrelatetoeducation business government sports recreation andsoon Ihopetheintroductioncanhelpusbecomemoresensitivetoculturaldifferences However myintroductionisnottopersuadeChinesepeopletoacceptAmericanway butrathertohelpunderstanditmorefullyandcomparewithours Andseewhatwecanlearnfromeachother TherearesixmainstreamvaluesofAmericansociety 1 IndividualFreedom 个人自由 2 Self Reliance 自力更生 3 EqualityofOpportunity 机会平等 4 Competition 竞争 5 MaterialWealth 物质财富 6 HardWork 辛勤工作 Thesevaluesoriginatedfrom TheDeclarationofIndependence 独立宣言 peoplewillneverforgetitssaying Weholdthesetruthstobeself evident thatallmenarecreatedequal thattheyareendowedbytheirCreatorwithcertaininalienable 不能剥夺的 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 牧师 andchurches noblemenandaristocrats 贵族 Toagreatextent theysucceeded In1789 whentheywrotetheConstitutionfortheirnewnation theyseparatedthose privilegedclass 特权阶层 mentionedabovefromthegovernmenttoensurethatanaristocraticsocietywouldnotdevelop Therewouldbenorulingclassofnobilityinthenewnation ThewordfreedomisoneofthemostrespectedpopularwordsintheUnitedStatestoday Byfreedom Americansmeanthedesireandtheabilityofallindividualstocontroltheirowndestiny 命运 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 比赛 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 世袭贵族 andtitlesofnobility 贵族头衔 theyhadtofindasubstituteforjudgingsocialstatus Thequalityandquantityofanindividual smaterialpossessionsbecameanacceptedmeasureofsuccessandsocialstatus Americanshavepaidaprice however fortheirmaterialwealth hardwork Americansseematerialpossessionsasthenaturalrewardfortheirhardwork Insomeways materialpossessionswereseennotonlyastangible 有形资产 evidenceofpeople swork butalsooftheirabilities Theybelievethatpeopleshouldholdjobsandnotliveoffwelfarepaymentsfromthegovernment Thesixbasicvaluespresentedabove IndividualFreedom Self Reliance EqualityofOpportunity Competition MaterialWealth andHardWork donottellthewholestoryoftheAmericanpicture Inreality somepeoplehaveabetterchanceforsuccessthanothers Thosewhoarebornintorichhavemoreopportunitiesthanthosewhoarebornintopoorerfamilies Inheriting 继承 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 皇权 peoplegotusedtolisteningtothewordsofking sandtheirsuperiors butnowordinaryChinesepeoplehavetolearntobetheirowndecisionmaker PeoplerealizethatChinashouldbemodernized justlikewest buttheydonotknowhow Culturalconflictsometimesishard Inthiscase drawlessonsfromwesterncountryespeciallyAmericaiswise Thestoneofotherhillcanpolishthejadeofours 他山之石可以攻玉 justasoneoftheoldsayinggoes Secondly wecannotavoidonefactwhenwelearnforeignlanguages wearelearningdifferentculturewhichismuchmoreimportantthanthelanguageitself Whatdowereallylearnwhenwestudyaboutothercultures Firstandforemost welearnaboutourown Untilweareconfrontedbyadifferentwayofdoingthings weassumethateveryonedoesthingsthesamewaythatwedo andthusourownculture ourvalues attitudes behavior islargelyhiddenfromourview Whenwespendsometimeanalyzinganotherculture however webegintoseeourownmoreclearlyandtounderstandsomeofthesubtleties 微妙 thatmotivateourbehaviorandouropinions Therefore youcannothelpbutbegintounderstandyoursel