Since its founding, the US has
always been clear on how they want to be viewed. America wants to be seen as a
shining city on a hill for the rest of the world and as an example of an
exceptional community. But what is America’s view on places outside of its
country? The US’s views on the rest of the world extend only to how the rest of
the world affects America or whatever limited exposure Americans receive back
in the States.
To
understand why this is true, we have to see where America is in the world. The
US occupies a huge chunk of North America , and this limits how Americans view
the rest of the world because they isolated are so far away from everyone else.
The only foreign exposure Americans get is when they affect the US directly and
from what we are told. The US’s only neighbours are Mexico down south and
Canada to the north and Americans generally don’t have a complete perspective
of even them.
Everyone
can see how the US views the world when a big crisis occurs. For example, during the Cold War,
Russia and the US were on the brink of nuclear war, as a result of tense
relations.This caused Americans to see everyone that was Communist in
the world as a threat. We can also see this behaviour after 9/11 and during the
War on Terror. Suddenly the Middle East was viewed as an evil place full of
terrorists and there was incredible prejudice against Muslims. Sometimes it
doesn’t even have to be conflicts like war, but things like economic crises.
China is a huge economic opponent of the US and it undercuts America with its
lower wages. Now whenever Americans think of China they think of cheap
factories that exploit their workers. Without these type of events Americans do
not usually have any views about the rest of the world at all because the USA
is so isolated and self absorbed they simply don’t have to care. These views
sprout up after being threatened and when the rest of the world comes kicking
the US’s door down.
Since the
US is a melting pot of people from different backgrounds, they also affect the
way Americans view the world. How do Americans view Japan? The general American
thinks Japan is full of sushi, robots and computers. This is because there are
many sushi restaurants in America set up by Japanese immigrants in the US.
Americans also buy lots of technology from Japan. How do Americans view Mexico?
They think of it as full of drugs, beans and burritos. Although there are
diverse cultures in the US, Americans’ view of the world is still limited
because the average American is exposed to only a part of the the culture. This
affects how Americans view the world both positively and negatively. It gives
Americans a taste of the rest of the world in their isolated country which is
better than being completely oblivious. However, by not painting a complete
picture of a place to the average American, he or she will have a restricted
view and start forming generalisations.
Because the
US is introverted, Americans views on the rest of world are based on how
foreigners affect them and the partial picture its immigrants give them. This
is a self centered way to view the rest of the world and creates a breeding
ground for stereotypes, but the world is a big place and its hard for one to
see past and leave the hill, especially when there is already a city on top.
-Jerry Huang
Great job in supporting your thesis! You included a plethora of evidence (US and Russia, US and Japan, US and Mexico, etc) as well as brought up a lot of good points. I agree with that America can only view the world depending on what America has been exposed to, which is actually quite limited. You mentioned that the "self centered way to view the rest of the world" creates a "breeding ground for stereotypes". Do you think that if America expanded its horizons, stereotypes could cease to exist? What are some steps that America could take to gain a wider perspective concerning other nations?
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. I found it very informative, true, and something the reader can easily connect to-especially if the reader is an American. I thought that how you used specific events involving the U.S., and pointing to the formation of certain stereotypes that are prominent in the American culture now was clear and enhanced your argument. Moreover, I found your reference to John Winthrop’s “A City on a Hill” speech insightive and fit into your cause nicely. You tied the essay together especially well using the city on a hill mentality to show how many Americans are narrow-minded and self-centered. With this being said, do you feel all Americans have this stereotypical mentality of other nations or only certain Americans? Also, do you think that other countries have American stereotypes?
ReplyDeleteJerry, I thought the way you wrote your essay was very organized and each paragraph was focused on its individual point. I thought it was interesting how you tied in some of the many stereotypes that Americans tend to place on other cultures. Why do Americans seem to bring up these generalizations and assumptions concerning other cultures? What do you consider a “complete picture” of a place or country to be? You could try to go more in depth and expand when thinking about why the average Americans are limited in their exposure to other cultures.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this piece of writing. I liked your perspective on how society affects people and how they view those around them. I feel like you should have used the phrase "United States" at least once. Also, be careful of word or phrase repetition. How does the way that you view society affect you as an American, or visa versa? I thought that all of your ideas were very interesting and made me think about the society we live in. Good Job!
ReplyDelete