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- One aspect of the United States which I think is prevalent is individualism. Individualism is rooted in many aspects of an American’s life: be it the historic view of America being a place of freedom from oppression, the idea that one can make it in America through forging your own opportunities, or even how the design of cities and towns in America encourage driving your own vehicle instead of taking public transportation. The presence and value of individualism is no doubt due to the history of the country and feelings of patriotism.
- My perspective of having such an individualistic society is that it does have the potential, through competition, to create wildly successful individuals. But, also through competition and the strive for success, there is polarization. This polarization is most evidently seen in America’s politics. As time goes on and I learn more about the innerworkings of our political system, the more I come to realize how far parties go to gain the upper hand on a party with an opposing opinion. I do think that there is a healthy amount of individualism, but for too long has America been well over this amount. I am looking forward to learning about and immersing myself into another culture that is not as individualistic and polarized as America.
- A person who is not from the United States could be stunned to see how individualistic our culture is. It is far from unknown that the American culture is such, but to the extent that it is I am not sure. For example, it is unfortunately well-known that the United States suffers from a great number of mass shootings. It is also evident that a way to greatly help this problem is no mystery: gun reform. It is my belief that a large part of why the necessary gun reform hasn’t been incorporated is because of our hyper-individualism. Those who firmly believe that possessing guns equate to having an integral part of their freedom do not want to give an inch to the opposing opinion that values gun reform. Both sides firmly believe in their patriotism. The fact that this political tug-of-war is being played while innocent lives, including the lives of children, are being lost would definitely be shocking to someone who is not familiar with the state of this country.
- This sort of self-reflection on our individualistic culture helps me understand how different life is going to be living in Deutschland. I know from taking German classes that the German culture is a lot more open, interconnected, and communal. And just as that particular aspect of the culture is vastly different, there are surely many more aspects of the German culture that is divergent. I am sure there are plenty of aspects that I am unaware about now that I will have to learn while I am there. This exercise helps me contextualize in my mind the disparity between the cultures and how I should live there with an open mind if I want to become a responsible global citizen.
