Myth and American Values

• L. Robert Kohls’ “Values Americans Live By”

THE PREMISEKohl presents a list of common values he says fit most Americans. (Do they fit you?)

THE PREMISE

• “The different behaviors of a people or a culture make sense only when seen through the basic beliefs, assumptions and values of that particular group.”

• “A foreign anthropologist could observe Americans and produce a list of common values that would fit most Americans. The list of typically American values would stand in sharp contrast to the values commonly held by the people of many other countries.”

• Dr. L. Robert Kohls, Director of International Programs at San Francisco State University

MYTHIC BACKGROUNDOf American Values

MYTHIC BACKGROUND:PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC

• Max Weber: http://hirr.hartsem.edu/ency/Protestantism.htm

• Puritan belief (based principally on the Old Testament book of Proverbs) asserted that God would reward in this life those whom he had elected to eternal glory, who lived according to his laws.

• If people strictly followed biblical teachings and they succeeded in their businesses, this would be a sign of their salvation.

• They were to invest all their income beyond the necessities of a frugal lifestyle, in so doing make even more money, to invest similarly all the days of their life.

• The Protestant “work ethic” and capitalism: not merely an economic philosophy but a lifestyle.

MYTHIC BACKGROUND:PROTESTANT WORK ETHIC

• Protestant Work Ethic:

• The individual is religiously compelled to follow a secular vocation with as much zeal as possible.

• A person practicing this worldview was more likely to accumulate money.

• It effectively forbade wastefully using hard earned money

• Identified purchasing luxuries as a sin.

MYTHIC BACKGROUND:

• Frontier Thesis (Frederick Jackson Turner)• The advance of American settlement westward

through “free land” was the central story of American history. • This idea continually renewed American ideas of

democracy and individualism.• It shaped not just the West but the nation as a whole. 

MYTHIC BACKGROUND: FRONTIER THESIS

• Frederick Jackson Turner:• “What the Mediterranean Sea was

to the Greeks, the retreating frontier has been to the United States.”

MYTHIC BACKGROUND: FRONTIER THESIS

• Turner’s key features of the frontier:

• Breaking the bonds of custom • Offering new experiences• Calling out new institutions and activities

MYTHIC BACKGROUND

• Key “myths” like the Protestant Work Ethic, and the defining narratives of America’s frontier have influenced many common American values

AMERICAN VALUESKohl’s list of defining American features

PERSONAL CONTROL OVER THE ENVIRONMENT

Most Americans find it impossible to accept that there are some things that lie beyond the power of humans to achieve. And Americans have literally gone to the moon, because they refused to accept earthly limitations.

CHANGE

Change is linked to development, improvement, progress, and growth. Many cultures consider change as a disruptive force. Such societies value stability, tradition, and an ancient heritage—none of which are valued as much in the United States.

TIME AND ITS CONTROL

To a foreign visitor, Americans seem to be more concerned with getting things accomplished on time than they are with developing deep interpersonal relations. Schedules, for the American, are meant to be planned and then followed in detail.

EQUALITY/EGALITARIANISM

Many highly-placed foreign visitors to the U.S. are insulted by the way they are treated by service personnel (waiters in restaurants, clerks in stores, taxi drivers, etc). Americans have an aversion to treating people of high position in a deferential manner.

INDIVIDUALISM AND PRIVACY

American resist being thought of as representatives of a homogenous group.. They may, and do, join groups—many groups—but somehow believe they’re just a little different, just a little unique, just a little special, from other members of the same group. And they tend to leave groups as easily as they enter them.

SELF-HELP

In the U.S., a person can take credit only for what he or she has accomplished by himself or herself, i.e. no credit whatsoever for being born into a rich family. Americans pride themselves in having climbed the difficult ladder of success to whatever level they have achieved—all by themselves.

COMPETITION AND FREE ENTERPRISE

• Free Enterprise: Americans value competition, and devised an economic system to go with it.

• Americans feel strongly that a highly competitive economy will bring out the best in its people and, ultimately, that the society that fosters competition will progress most rapidly.

FUTURE ORIENTATION

• Valuing the future and its promised improvements often means that Americans devalue that past and are, to a large extent, unconscious of the present.

• Even a happy present goes largely unnoticed because Americans have traditionally been hopeful that the future would bring even greater happiness.

ACTION/WORK ORIENTATION

• Americans routinely plan and schedule an extremely active day. • Any relaxation must be limited in time, pre-planned, and aimed at

"recreating" their ability to work harder and more productively once the recreation is over.

• Americans believe leisure activities should assume a relatively small portion of one’s total life.

• People think that it is "sinful" to "waste one’s time," "to sit around doing nothing," or just to "daydream."

INFORMALITY

Americans are one of the most informal and casual people in the world. If you come from a more formal society, you will likely find Americans to be extremely informal, and will probably feel that they are even disrespectful of those in authority. For example, American bosses often urge their employees to call them by their first names and even feel uncomfortable if they are called by the title "Mr." or "Mrs."

DIRECTNESS, OPENNESS AND HONESTY

Many cultures have developed subtle, sometimes highly ritualistic, ways of informing other people of unpleasant information. Americans, however, are likely to be completely honest in delivering their negative evaluations. If you come from a society that uses the indirect manner of conveying bad news or uncomplimentary evaluations, you will be shocked at Americans’ bluntness.

PRACTICALITY AND EFFICIENCY

Will it make any money? Will it "pay its own way?" What can I gain from this activity? These are the kinds of questions that Americans ask in their practical pursuits. They don’t often ask: Is it aesthetically pleasing? Will it be enjoyable?, or Will it advance the cause of knowledge? Americans pride themselves in not being very philosophically or theoretically oriented. If Americans would even admit to having a philosophy, it would probably be that of pragmatism.

MATERIALISM/ACQUISITIVENESS

• By any standard, Americans are materialistic. • Americans would like to think that their material objects are the

natural benefits of hard work and serious intent• This means that they value and collect more material objects than

most people would ever dream of owning

COMPARISON

American Values• Personal Control over the Environment • Change • Time & Its Control • Equality • Individualism/Privacy • Self-Help • Competition • Future Orientation • Action/Work Orientation • Informality• Directness/Openness/Honesty • Practicality/Efficiency• Materialism/Acquisitiveness

Values in Other Cultures• Fate• Tradition• Human Interaction• Hierarchy/Rank/Status• Group’s Welfare• Birthright Inheritance• Cooperation• Past Orientation• “Being” Orientation• Formality• Indirectness/Ritual/"Face"• Idealism• Spiritualism/Detachment

CONFERENCE QUESTIONS

• What's your take on Kohls' "The Values Americans Live By"?

• Do you agree or disagree? Why? • What TWO aspects of Kohls' construct were MOST

impactful to you? Why? • What ONE aspect in Kohls' construct was the LEAST

meaningful or the LEAST clear to you? Why?

Sources

• Kohl’s essay: http://www.claremontmckenna.edu/pages/faculty/alee/extra/American_values.html

• Images• Man holding rock: http://www.impactlab.net/2009/11/15/top-10-photos-of-the-week-102/• Change map: http://live-the-solution.com/mindmaps/• Man holding clock: http://www.mindperk.com/resources/articles/32/1/157/Take-Control-of-Your-Time.html• Equality: http://blog.pappastax.com/index.php/2010/06/19/the-equality-lie/• My Way sign: http://www.dominican.edu/academics/osher/images/Individualism.jpg• Light bulb: http://samingersoll.com/lifestyle/general-self-help/• Capitalism Coke: http://standupforamerica.wordpress.com/2011/04/21/capitalism-v-communism/• Workaholic: http://www.pollsb.com/polls/p6969-workaholic• Language of Dance: http://www.flatworldknowledge.com/pub/1.0/organizational-behavior/28876#• Baby in sink: http://springsrealestatenetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/baby-in-sink.jpeg• Materialism: http://leftwingconspiracy.com/2007/11/27/materialism/