跨文化交际——美国价值观.doc

The Course Paper for Intercultural Communication 姓名： 蓝小胖 学号： 专业班级： The comparison of work values in America then and nowIn 1815, the population of the United States was 8.4 million. Over the next 100 years, the country took in about 35million immigrants, with the greatest numbers coming in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. In the twenty-first century, the United States probably has a greater diversity of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious groups than any other nation on earth. People work in America. Meanwhile, work values gradually form in this long process. And the values develop and change unceasingly with the development of the society. The leading work values influence the choice behavior of people deeply.This paper will try to explain the connotation of the main work valuesequality of opportunity , competition, material wealth and hard work. Then it will analyze the values at the crossroads. I will be based on limited information to give my personal immature opinions.Equality of Opportunity and CompetitionGenerations of immigrants, from the earliest settlers to the present day, have come to the United States with this expectation of equality of opportunity. They have felt that because individuals are free from excessive political, religious, and social controls, they have a better chance for personal success. Of particular importance is the lack of a hereditary aristocracy.Because titles of nobility were forbidden in the Constitution, no formal class system developed in the United States. In the early years of American history, many immigrants chose to leave older European societies because they believed that they had a better chance to succeed in America. They knew that in America they would not have to live among noble families who possessed great power and wealth inherited and accumulated over hundreds of years.The hopes and dreams of many of these early immigrants were fulfilled in their new country. The lower social class into which many were born did not prevent them from trying to rise to a higher social position. “Many found that they did indeed have a better chance to succeed in the United States than in the old country.” (朱永涛,2002) When Tocqueville visited the United States in the 1830s, he was impressed by the great uniformity of conditions of life in the new nation. He wrote, “The more I advanced in the study of American society, the more I perceived thatequality of condition is the fundamental fact from which all others seem to be derived.” (Tocqueville, 2009)It is important to understand what most Americans mean when they say they believe in equality of opportunity. In my view, they do not mean that everyone is-or should be-equal. I mean those who are born into rich families have more opportunities than those who are born into poorer families. However, they do mean that each individual should have an equal chance for success. “Americans see much of life as a race foe success.”(Maryanne et al, 2006) For them, equality means that everyone should have an equal chance to enter the race and win. In other words, equality of opportunity may be thought of as an ethical rule. This American concept of “fair play” is an important aspect of the belief in equality of opportunity.However, the price to be paid for this equality of opportunity is competition. If life is seen as a race, then a person must run the race in order to succeed. If every person has an equal chance to succeed in the United States, then many would say that it is every persons duty to try. Maryanne (2006) argues: Many Americans enjoy matching their energy and intelligence against those of others in a contest for success. People who like to compete are often more successful than others, and many are honored by being called winners. On the other hand, those who do not like to compete and those who are not successful when they try are sometimes dishonored by being called losers.In fact, generally speaking, any groups of people who do not compete successfully, for whatever reason, do not fit into the mainstream of American life as well as those who do compete and succeed. Material Wealth and Hard WorkThe phrase “going from rags to riches” became a slogan for the “American Dream.” Because of the vast riches of the North American continent, the dream came true for many of immigrants. They achieved material success and many became very attached to material things. Material wealth became a value to the American people.One reason is that material wealth has traditionally been a widely accepted measure of social status in the United States. Because Americans rejected the European system of hereditary aristocracy and titles of nobility, they had to find a substitute for judging social status. Cao Changqing (2004) argues that the quality and quantity of an individuals material possessions became an accepted measure of success and social status.However, Americans have paid a price, for their material wealth: hard work. Only by hard work could these natural resources be converted into material possessions, allowing a more comfortable standard of living. Hard work has been both necessary and rewarding for most Americans throughout their history. In the late 1700s, James Madison, the father of the American Constitution, stated that the difference in material possessions reflected a difference in personal abilities. (Maryanne et al.2006)Most Americans, however, still believe in the value of hard work. Most believe that people should hold jobs and not live off welfare payments from the government. There were been many efforts to reform the welfare system so that people would not become dependent on welfare and stop looking for jobs to support themselves. Limitations have been put on the number of years a family can remain on welfare. Work values at the crossroads - Equality of Opportunity and Competition As mentioned before, the American ideal of equality of opportunity can be simple statedall Americans should have an equal opportunity to succeed in life, to gain prosperity, and to pursue happiness, as the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness” showed. However, the United States has sometimes failed to honor this value of equality of opportunity. Traditionally, equality of opportunity has not meant equality of results. If a number of people have the same opportunity to succeed more than others, some may succeed more than others. “This traditional interpretation was challenged by affirmative action programs giving racial and ethnic preferences following the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s.” (Maryanne et al. 2006) One example of this preferential treatment is the practice of giving extra points on university admission applications of blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities.Those who support affirmative action argue that it has helped make up for past discrimination against minorities and that it increases the racial and ethnic diversity on college campuses. Those who oppose what they see as preferential treatment believe that everyone should have the same educational opportunities and that no one should get any special advantages. They defend the traditional idea of opportunity and say that they believe in the natural diversity of the United States, not diversity mandated by the government.-Material Wealth and Hard WorkAlthough most people still believe in the American Dream, many are now having a difficult time attaining or maintaining it. Middle-class families are under financial stress. Many of the high-paying manufacturing jobs have moved overseas, and now Americans in the service and technology sectors are worried that their jobs will suffer the same fate.The irony is that in most families both the husband and wife are working. They are struggling for several reasons. Health care and health insurance have become more and more expensive, taking a larger percentage of a workers paycheck. The cost of housing has risen dramatically, but middle-class families still want to have a nice house and two cars. They have come to depend on two incomes to pay for this higher standard of living. They also struggle for paying for a college education for their c