An aspect of American culture I would like to talk about is American individualism. This aspect of U.S. culture emphasizes personal and moral worth of the individual. individuals are seen as independent and self-reliant and should aim to seek personal benefit. This concept encourages people to pursue their personal goals and values, often prioritizing personal achievements and independence over collective objectives thus resulting in personal achievement and no collective obstacles. In the American Society this presents itself in the workplace and school as a focus on personal career advancement and innovation and healthy competition. In American politics, it influences the emphasis on individual rights and freedoms. Economically, it is reflected in the Invisible Hand theory by seeking personal interest the collective people benefit.
In my perspective this is not an aspect I enjoy in American culture. Outside of America some countries have a focus on the collective and family, individualism is not part of the culture. Thus being a son and grandson of immigrants, this American individualism does not bode well with my roots therefore in some scenarios my family cannot understand choices I make and things I do however sometimes I also make choices or adhere more to the collective. Being a branch between my family origin and America, I find myself to be a balance of the two ideologies, individualism and collectivism. I am definitely more collective leaning because I like values of family, thinking about more than myself, how my actions might benefit me but harm others. These are values important to me that still shock me when I meet Americans through and through who are very individualistic. When I hang out with my friends who are children of immigrants I get to be comfortable with my collective side and we very commonly fight, do sneaky things, in order to pay the bill. However when it comes to more individualistic individuals, when the waiter asks for the check they say separate, I say all on one. Then when the one bill comes they say let’s split however what I order is a lot less in value so split does not make sense to me however this is where my collectivism comes in because I pay for the whole bill and I enjoy that. These are values that are small but I cherish. I also am very dear to my family and a support system and thus American individualism has you moving out when you are 18 and stop providing support, for collectivism you usually get to stay around and get support from your family as long as you need it and I love family and spending time with my family.
I asked my grandmother how she views this cultural aspect and she told me since she lives primarily in a community with just immigrants and only hangs out with family she never gets to see it. However she thinks emphasizing the family and collective benefit instead of the individual is important to run a household and makes for a better society. This exercise helps prepare me for my time abroad because it puts me in an outsider’s perspective of America so I can try to represent both school and my country proudly and not offend anyone over there.