Project: Transnational Crime - Coursework Example

Comparison and Contrast of Cultures with an Anti-American Sentiment Here January 7, The United s of America was built upon the promises of freedom for all, democracy and the understanding that people should have the ability to create and determine their own future. While this sentiment finds favor with many cultures and countries across the world, there are populations in existence that do not agree with the mantra of the United States. In fact, among cultures who do not find favor with the ethical and moral conduct of America, there are certain groups which hold this country in a high degree of disdain for their decisions to promote democracy and freedom for all. With their demonstrated opinions and feelings towards Americans and their country, two of these groups include the land of North Korea and members of the Islam cultures. Throughout this essay, these cultures will be analyzed in a compare and contrast method to identify how these ethnicities have come to develop their feelings of ill-will toward our country. Furthermore, this paper will also determine how each culture’s religion practices as well as their socialization tendencies have helped to mold the beliefs of these cultures. Before completing a compare and contrast analysis of these two cultures, it is first essential to discuss the beliefs and practices of each culture itself. Starting with North Korea, it is important to first establish this country’s unique aspects, religious practices and socialization techniques. Also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, this country was developed in 1948 through a restructuring settlement between the United States of America and the Soviet Union (Culture of North Korea, 2012). Although North Korea originated with a high degree of interaction with the United States, the country has developed its own set of cultural ideals and practices. Beginning with religion, people in North Korea primarily practice either Buddhism or Christianity. Although a socialist country, North Korea does allow people to have religious freedom to follow the spirituality of their choosing. With the religious methods of the country established, the background information on North Korea can transition to an analysis of the country’s socialism tendencies. Having the classification of a socialist country, North Korea only allows its people certain parameters and guidelines for the daily freedoms they can enjoy. With their closed-country policy, North Korea is essentially shut off from the rest of the world. In this way, their socialization with outside cultures is extremely limited. Due to their strict regiments of who they let in to the country, North Korea has been able to create an environment where the government can literally feed whatever information it chooses to citizens (BBC, 2012). An example of this practice in action was seen in 1994 when leader Kim II-Sung died. Upon the leader’s death, the government of North Korea made Kim II-Sung the permanent emperor of the country. By instilling this ideological view of a person into the minds of North Korea’s citizens, the country is maintaining a skewed notion of socialization by focusing on the past instead of moving forward. When translating this fact to the idea of socialization within the country of North Korea, it is clear that the population of this country does not have the opportunity to interact with other cultures. With the characteristics of North Korea established, the initial stages of this comparison and contrast can transition to the characteristics of the culture of Islam. As one of the largest religions in the world, the practice of Islam is followed by people who call themselves Muslims (IslamiCity, n.d.). The religion itself is based on the five aspects of faith, prayer, the zakat, the fast and the pilgrimage. With each of these pieces being essential for the other, the end result for all Muslims is the required travel to the homeland, known as the Hajj. Expanding back from this specific example of Islam, it is clear that this religion is one that requires extreme discipline and adherence to the rules and practices that are required by the doctrine of the prophet Mohammed. In addition to this aspect of Islam, there are also core virtues which are essential to practice of following this religion. For men and women who adhere to this religion, particular moral requirements include women maintaining a high set of ethics in regard to their attire, demeanor and behaviors as well as men acting as the sole head of the household and following the teachings of the Koran (Ashinoff, 2005). Along with these religious characteristics of Islam, their socialization tendencies are distinct to their culture as well. In Islam, the entirety of life is focused on worshiping Allah, or God. With this understanding, Muslims attribute all things, good and bad, to the notion that events transpire due to the will of Allah. Devout Muslims are instructed to not worry about material possessions or status but, to understand that Allah will provide them whatever things they need (Ashinoff, 2005). Through this practice, the socialization aspects of Islam center around social order, status and rank. In Islamic cultures, this notion translates to the political realm with the idea that democracy goes against the teachings of Allah by allowing the general public to cast a vote. According to the principles of Islam, those appointed to the appropriate positions should be the only ones allowed to make decisions for the rest of the people, under the guidance of Allah, of course (Ashinoff, 2005). With the foundations of both North Korea and the culture of Islam established, this analysis can now progress to comparing and contrasting these two groups as well as determining how the cultural identities of both groups help to shape their militant disdain for American culture. Beginning with a comparison between North Korea and the Islamic culture, there are a few immediate and key correlations between both groups. The first similarity between North Korea and Islam is the notion that one person or being is the center of their society. In the case of North Korea, all rulings, worship and leadership is based around the legacy of Kim II-Sung. By focusing so much of the countries attentions and allegiances to this deceased leader, North Korea is consumed with maintaining the memory of their former ruler. For Muslims following the Islamic culture, Allah is the center of their universe. With the understanding that all things are done to worship Allah and that this God provides followers with whatever they will need, the foundation of Islamic cultures is devoted to the praise and glorification of Allah. In comparing both North Korea and Islamic cultures in this aspect, it is evident that their centralized view of religion and moral notions based around one person or God is a similarity between the two groups. Another area of comparison between North Korea and Islamic cultures is the component of socialization. While these populations face the world in different ways, one area where they socialize in a similar fashion is in their self-encompassed manners. As a closed-country, North Korea essentially only socializes within itself and can primarily control what information residents are exposed to. Although not as closed off, Islamic cultures follow a similar pattern in regard to their open socialization with the United States. While this culture is one of the largest religions in the world, their beliefs and practices are not well known among the general public of America. With the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as well as the subsequent bombings in London and wars which followed, the American public has an often skewed view of the Islamic culture. This stereotype has a difficult time being broken with the lacking amount of socialization between the two cultures of Islam and the American public. Along with North Korea, the lack of socialization between these cultures and American leads to increased preconceived notions and false ideals between the opposing groups. After analyzing the similarities and differences between North Korea and Islamic cultures, this analysis can now determine how each group’s foundational practices were influential in determining how they would relate to American culture. With the closed off and ideological nature of these cultures, it is easy to see how the bold and sometimes brash idea of the American dream can cause irritation and disdain. As American lifestyle is in direct violation to important core beliefs of these cultures, these groups attempt to maintain a distant relationship to steer clear of democracy (Ashinoff, 2005). Although this distant relationship is a choice both of these cultures make due to their feelings about American, our country has suffered from a lack of information and speculation about dangerous events including the devastating potential of nuclear war (Tsalayachin, 2010). By having to simply hypothesize and create “what-if” scenarios, the United States has had to exist in a state of fear based upon they hypothetical events and possible attacks they could face from these two cultures. With the expressed feelings of hatred from both North Korea and some Islamic cultures, it is clear that the people of these groups at times are in a position where they are being given skewed or biased information against the United States of America. The reasoning behind this type of behavior can be attributed to the fact that these cultures strongly maintain a closed off relationship with America. Along with distant and adversarial relationships with America, another reason that behaviors and attitudes are shaped as they are within these cultures can be traced back to their defiance for democracy. Both North Korea and particular Islamic cultures exist amid a belief that social class or a caste system rules all as far as society. As they function on a day to day basis with the understanding and practice that some people are better than others and that is a given right, it is clear that such a mentality is in direct contrast to the democratic view of the United States. With backgrounds that do not follow the moral and ethical notions of America, most Americans feel that the reason for other cultures’ disdain for their country is due to a sense of jealousy over the freedoms that democracy gives people of this country every single day (Crabtree, 2001). The false assumption of this way of thinking is that it is not what democracy gives Americans that these cultures do not like, it is democracy itself. After comparing and contrasting the cultures of North Korea and Islam to determine particular reasons why they have issues with America, it is clear that the background and history of these peoples is in stark contrast to nearly every aspect of American culture. The most alarming point of contention with these countries and their hatred for America is that America is one of the few nations in the world where people of both cultures could come to this country and live freely, despite their open disdain for it. References Ashinoff, A. (2005). Why Islam Hates America. Islam Daily Observing Media. Retrieved from http://www.islamdaily.org/en/islam/3296.why-islam-hates-america.htm. BBC. (2012). North Korea Profile. BBC News Asia-Pacific. Retrieved from www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15256929. Countries and Their Cultures: North Korea. Retrieved from www.everyculture.com/ja-ma/north-korea.html. Crabtree, V. (2001). Why People Hate America: A Summary of Anti-Americanism. Retrieved from http://www.vexen.co.uk/USA/hateamerica.html. IslamiCity: Understanding Islam and Muslims. Retrieved from www.islamicity.com/mosque/uiatiml-un_islam.html. Tsalayachin, G. (2010). Western Policy on North Korea and Iran: A Call for Re-Assessment. The Henry Jackson Society. Retrieved from www.henryjacksonsociety.org/stories.asp?id=1754. Read More