Blog #7: Overgeneralization of American Values

           In the chapter titles "American Values and Assumptions" from American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United States, Gary Althen talks about a number of different American values and how they differentiate us from other cultures. The first value he discusses is individualism. Althen states that Americans “are trained from very early in their lives to consider themselves as separate individuals who are responsible for their own situations in life and their own destinies” (5). After reading this, I found myself analyzing how this value of individualism, that Althen says most Americans inherently have, is both true and false in my life.  Being only a high school graduate in my first semester of college, I am expected to pay for all the costs of attending university on my own. My brother, who is two years older and attends UCI, is expected to do the same and already has about sixty thousand dollars of debt. Although, my parents did not put this burden on us simply to teach us accountability for our own money. But also because they could not afford to send all of us (me, my brother, and my twin sister) to college at the same time. Sometimes Americans are forced to be individualistic because of our circumstances, not just because our society values it.

            Going on in his description of individualism, Althen says that foreigners seem “excessively concerned with the opinions of parents, with following traditions, or with fulfilling obligations to others” (6) from an American’s perspective. Although Althen is claiming that this mentality is not that of an American, it is for many Asian-Americans who are brought up with these values. Being Filipino-American and surrounded by other Asian-Americans growing up, I understand parental pressure when it comes to performance in school and extra circular activities. I was raised to greatly value the opinions of others, specifically my family and friends. I also grew up knowing that I should eventually fulfill the obligations I have to those who have helped me find success and deal with failures. So, because of my mixed background, I am considerably different from Althen’s description of an individualistic American.  

            Althen moves on to discussing American’s value of time as a resource. He states that Americans value time so much that foreigners view us as “unhuman creatures who are so tied to their clocks, their schedules, and their daily planners that they cannot participate in or enjoy the human interactions that are the truly important things in life” (10). Maybe because I have not been truly exposed to the “real” world yet, I think that this description of Americans is too cynical. But I can already see how this is true for adults. Even as a student, I feel myself getting caught up in this typical American lifestyle where there is never enough time. From high school, where it feels like a competition to define our positions in this society by getting into a good college, I felt myself devoting too much time to studying and extra circulars in order to strengthen my college applications. And, as I move further along in my first year of college, I can see that a majority of my time will be dedicated to my studies and preparing for my entrance into the work force. This American value of time affects the I way live because I want to reach my goals as desperately as anyone else, which requires balancing schoolwork, extra circulars and hanging out with friends and family.

            Althen outlines a number of American values, but not every American holds all of them to the same extent. He overgeneralizes these values by categorizing them as "American" because not every United States citizen is the same. Depending on their ethnic background, amount of wealth, way in which they were raised, and endless other variables, Americans have different values that influence their lives in varying ways.