The American Cultural Myth, America - the Land of Freedom and Equality - Coursework Example

The American Cultural Myth, America as the Land of Freedom and Equality Introduction Notwithstanding that the American regulation guarantees equality for every citizen of the United States irrespective of his origin, nationality, gender, etc., the chronicle of the past testifies about slavery, racial discrimination, and intolerance. Certainly, all these prejudices are left in the past for the main part, however new investigations and current events demonstrates that something is still present in the society. For example, women and national minorities can vote and have a right to hold president’s post, but this right seems to be just written on the paper, because they actually never held this post in reality. The given paper will discuss the American myth and reality and prove that the equal rights the United States provides are still to be got by people in a long and difficult struggle. The myth and the reality The question about the reality of American equality is rather controversial. This controversy comes from the miscomprehension of what is meant by equality and freedom and how it is realized in the American society. The myth is that the United States of America represents the place where everybody is “free”, so he can do everything that comes into his mind. In reality, freedom and equality are really present in America, however, people who come to the state usually feel shock because of the official and bureaucratic limitations, and face difficulties on their way to become a part of the American society. During its history, the United States regulation has been doing its best to counterpoise the independence of a person with the welfare of the country and the outcomes of such efforts sometimes appeared to be rather strange and unexpected. Anti-smoking law that states that those who do not smoke have a right to live without smoke that restricts the right of smokers’ to smoke represents the perfect example of this strangeness. Young people who come to America to study are usually unpleasantly surprised by a great number of regulations that controls each step they make. The social principles in America are really strange. They represent a mix of Puritanism and the commonly nonjudgmental American approach that generates a lot of difficulties for newcomers, because they can’t foresee the American society’s reaction to their actions. Furthermore, in America various ethnic groups live one next to another and each group has its own principles that may differ much from the values of other. Consequently, the newcomers often feel that there are absolutely no rules in the United States and appear at a loss. American exceptionalism: the pros and cons During its history, America was considered to be exceptional in its job-related and personal opportunities. America was recognized as the "place of chance", for everybody who would like to get a higher position in the society (Lipset, 1997). However, the opponents of this opinion state that, at the same time as all communities are very different concerning their past and arrangement, the statement that the America is exclusively righteous exaggerate the significance of distinctions between the United States and other developed countries (Ross, 1995). According to them, such statement does not take into account a lot of facts of the United States’ history which is contradictory to the notions of independence and equal opportunities, such as slavery, ghettoisation, segregation and genocide (Lipset, 1997). At the same time, the proponents state that these facts of the American history really testifies about the United States’ failure to correspond to its supposed principles, however the force of these principles make people realize these mistakes and take effort to correct them. They provide affirmative action as an example of this correction (Ross, 1995). American Dream in the works of different authors The controversy about the reality and realization of American principles of freedom and equality found its reflection in the works of different writers. The feministic work of women The work of Susan Anthony and of many other women directed at gaining more rights for women and realization of the already gained, really changed the situation in the society. As a result, today two fair sex representatives have high positions in the American government. Susan B. Anthony states: We are assembled to protect against a form of government existing with out the consent of the governed- to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support (cited by Trefz, 1998). Equal opportunities in the Unites States are very important for the realization of the principles of freedom and equality (Trefz, 1998). However, people are inclined to make a lot of mistakes on their way to this realization and notwithstanding that the equal opportunities are prescribed by laws, people are still not treated equally. The American Dream always presented, however, its realization is highly dependent of the understanding what chances you have (Trefz, 1998). “Into the wild” by by Jon Krakauer The theme of equality and freedom is perfectly described in the famous work by Jon Krakauer “Into the Wild”. The book is about the real young man Chris McCandless from decent and comfortable family, who left his parents, money and perfect opportunities to live in woods of Alaska (Krakauer, 1997). Soon he was found dead in the wood, because the wild world appeared to be much more dangerous that he imagined: S.O.S. I need your help. I am injured, near death, and too weak to hike out of here. I am all alone, this is no joke. In the name of God, please remain to save me. I am out collecting berries and shall return this evening. Thank you, Chris McCandless. August ? (Krakauer , 1997, Chapter 2, pg. 12) Some critics consider the young man to be a dreamer; some of them call him an idiot. However, he is a real representation of a finder of an American dream of freedom and equality (Bryson, 2007). Irritated by what was happening in the society he decided to isolate himself, to live in the wood, where all the people are equal in their opportunities and face no restrictions and bad attitude: You could tell right away that Alex was intelligent, Westerberg reflects, draining his third drink. He read a lot. Used a lot of big words. I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often. (Krakauer , 1997, Chapter 3, pg. 18). “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” In "Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr." Martin Luther King spoke about the racial discrimination in the United States and the significance of equal opportunities. He states that national minorities can not be oppressed forever. Their desire to have freedom and equal rights will win and this can be demonstrated by the example of African Americans. The minorities must be given the opportunities to realize equal rights in order not to provoke them to express their desire to have freedom negatively, through violence. The author insisted on the necessity of series of the non-violent actions directed of racism elimination: In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good faith negotiation (Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.], 1963). Conclusion Everybody who moves to the United States looking for new opportunities to improve his life has a real chance to do it. Nevertheless, it appears to be very difficult to overcome a lot of barriers he met in the American society. At the same time as this is rather distrustful, one’s environment usually forms his personality and his inducement to be successful. If an individual was brought up in a poor region, his knowledge about the world around comes to the struggle of the people with low education for every cent. Consequently, such individual can conclude that the life of the whole world comes to that. However, in the United States the person with any origin has an opportunity to increase his standard of living. In other states a person is doomed to the social position he is born with. America provides poor people with financial help, so they also can receive education. That is why the United States of America is considered to be a country of equality and freedom, however those people who want to have a success still must go through a long a difficult struggle with the standards of their childhood they is associated with. Another problem is the prejudices which are still present in the American society. They should not surprise anyone, because our past influences us a lot and it is not easy to eliminate prejudices and Puritanical views. However, these prejudices prevent American dream from its full realization and create good environment for existence of such phenomenon as racial and gender discrimination. The American principles of equality and freedom have different aspects. American people’s insistence is a shelter that defends these principles. Only they and their efforts can help the American society get rid of the racial and other kind of discrimination in favor of equity and freedom. Bibliography Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Anchor Books, 1997 Krakauer, Jon. Death of an Innocent: How Christopher McCandless Lost His Way in the Wilds. Outside Magazine, January, 1997. Bryson, George.Theories differ on the cause of McCandless death. Anchorage Daily News, October 7, 2007. Lipset, Seymour Martin..American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword. W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 Ross, Dorothy. "American Exceptionalism" in A Companion to American Thought. Richard W. Fox and James T. Kloppenberg, eds. London: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 1995: Trefz, Allison. American Dream: myth or reality? 1998, available at http://www.fundus.org/zip.asp?ID=10657. King, Martin Luther Jr.Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.], 1963, available at http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html Read More