Introduction
The purpose of this book is to help international visitors to America to understand the native culture - the ideas and attitudes that underlie their actions.
(EN: Any why should an American read such a book? For the very same reason. The notion that a person who lives in a given place innately understands the culture is often based on the egocentric belief that he is typical of his countrymen, and all of them are like himself. And it is very often wrong. Especially in any profession where one interacts with "the public" through a medium that reaches millions who live in various places, it's worthwhile to consider other perspectives.)
ON UNDERSTANDING
The author disclaims propaganda: his purpose is not to encourage foreigners to visit, or even to sell the culture to encourage imitation or influence sentiment - merely to equip the visitor with a level of understanding that will facilitate interaction with the natives by giving them a "reasonably accurate" description of the culture. If anything, it's to counteract the bias of myth, misconception, and misinformation.
An example is given of a foreign (Egyptian) student living with an American host family, who weekly visit an elderly relative is in a retirement home. Given his own culture's value of family and reverence for the elderly, this seems selfish, callous, and reprehensible - and naturally, this could be an issue that causes hostility between himself and the host family.
If he were aware of the cultural factors that motivate this behavior (the elderly relative's desire for independence, to be among people her own age, etc.), he would likely have a better understanding of the situation and, while he still may find the notion distasteful, he would at least understand that it is appropriate to the culture and better able to interact with his host family, with the understanding that it's normal for the culture rather than specific to the individuals involved.
In essence, understanding behavior from a cultural perspective can help a visitor to a country to better interact with individuals he encounters, and have better and more productive relationships with them, by his ability to understand the cultural elements - to be more tolerant of individuals, even if their cultural values are objectionable.
HOW MUCH GENERALIZING IS ACCEPTABLE?
Any statement about "Americans" is a generalization. American is a nation of 300 million people, spread out over some 3.5 million miles of territory. It began as a nation of immigrants, each bringing to the nation the culture of their homeland, and remains so to this day - even today, 12.6% of the population is first-generation immigrants who, now more than in generations past, seek to preserve elements of their native culture in their new homeland.
It is the most racially and ethnically diverse nation on Earth, and the natives have a wide array of religious and political beliefs. There are rich and poor, and much mobility among the social classes as well as geographically - a poor farmer in rural Minnesota can become a wealthy businessman in New York City (or vice-versa) in a very short amount of time.
Given this diversity and mobility, is it possible to say anything meaningful about Americans in general? Probably so, the author asserts, "if one is careful." In a basic sense, all humans are alike - we occupy bodies that are largely similar ("the pancreatic gland knows no political persuasion") and have the same basic needs and motivations to some degree.
In terms of psychology, every person is in some ways unique. Two neighbors, or even two children raised in the same household, exhibit markedly different personalities, attitudes, and beliefs. And in some ways, groups of people resemble each other - especially those in similar situations or professions. One can find a certain similarity, for example, in a group of individuals of the same profession, social class, or religion, even if they come from vastly different cultures. The same degree of similarity can be found in individuals who live within a given nation.
In terms of nationality groups, most members share common experiences that result in similarities among them. While a group of Americans from various locations, professions, religions, etc. might all seem different from each other, their similarities become entirely clear when you contrast them with a group of Japanese.
What is often touted as "American" culture derives largely from the behaviors of a distinct (and shrinking) subset of the population: wealthy, Anglo-Saxon, protestant males (EN: henceforth "WASP") whose culture dominated the society through the first three-quarters of the twentieth century. Until fairly recently, such individuals comprised the majority of the country's most influential positions in politics, business, and education and exerted, intentionally or otherwise, their culture on the rest of society.
Obviously, not all Americans fit into that group, not are accepting of the cultural norms they attempted to enforce. Catholics, African Americans, women, and other disenfranchised groups have become noticeably more integrated into society in the past fifty years or so, and the demand that they suppress their own culture to gain acceptance is abating.
The shift to a more diverse culture has already had some effect on the general culture, and an increasing number of non-WASP individuals are gaining admittance to influential positions in society and bringing with them, however timorously, tolerance and acceptance of non-WASP culture. It's noted that international visitors will, more often now than in previous generations, find Americans who actively oppose the ideas and behaviors of WASP culture.
(EN: From personal experience as a non-WASP, I'd say this was a fair assessment. There is still great hostility from the WASP contingent, and a sense of panic as they feel themselves losing power to control the culture, largely evident in anti-immigration sentiments and the demand for legislation to enforce protestant morality. Physical violence gave way to verbal abuse, and have in turn given way to a more passive-aggressive and indirect approach to use social pressure to "encourage" others to adopt their cultural values. The pressure is still applied, but much weaker and more intermittent now than even a decade ago.)
And so, there are differences that can be pronounced. Culture in the southern states is much different than the northeastern area of the nation; there are ethnic enclaves in virtually every populated area where the people, even second- and third-generations born in America, have a markedly different culture. The members of a Catholic church and a protestant one in the same town have different values. And there are marked differences among racial groups, such that the African American community has its own distinctive cultural features. And of course, there are even individual differences, such that two people whose profiles are almost identical will have different attitudes and belief.
As such, generalizations such as the ones in this book are to be taken as exactly that: such observations may bear out in reality, but are subject to many conditions and exceptions. As such, readers of this book are cautioned not to believe that they will gain a comprehensive understanding of all Americans - merely a general idea of the prevalent culture, at this point in time, that can serve as a basis for considering what they observe and how they interpret their observations of the individuals with whom they interact in the cultural context.
ON ASKING "WHY?"
The intention of this book is to serve as a practical guide for understanding culture. It is not intended as a philosophical work that plumbs the depth of culture, nor as a political book to propone a given way of life. It barely considers the question of "why" people do what they do - merely observes that they do so. And while it seeks to draw a correlation between action and underlying beliefs, it is not systematic in its approach and is definitely far from comprehensive.
There are numerous resources that attempt a more comprehensive anthropological survey of culture, and many of them come to different and conflicting conclusions. There is yet no single answer to the question of "why" that is true in all circumstances, or markedly superior to all others. Even principles of culture that have gained general acceptance are not universally applicable.
In many instances, the reasons are indeterminate and the question "why" may ultimately be unanswerable. People act the way they act, often without much deliberation, and if asked, they may not be able to explain the motivations for their own behavior. The question of "why" will lead to another question, then another, then another - and ultimately to the exasperated answer of "just because."
While it may be interesting to speculate about the answers to the "why" questions, understanding the ultimate explanations isn't necessary to the daily interaction with people in a culture. However, a basic understanding, admittedly superficial, will suffice in most practical situations when dealing with a strange culture.
HOW AMERICANS SEE THEMSELVES
Most American's don't perceive themselves as representatives of their country, but as individuals who are largely different from all others. This does not preclude patriotism or pride in being "American," but merely that they do not perceive themselves as members of a culture.
Americans do not feel they have any culture, as they perceive culture to be a collection of "arbitrary customs" to be found only in other countries. They believe that they have chosen their own values rather than having values imposed upon they by society, and generally do not accept the notion that there is such a thing as American culture.
Moreover, Americans tend to resent generalizations that others make about them - not only the hostile stereotyping by critics of American culture, but also by the mere suggestion that they are part of a group. Even generalizations such as the ones made in this book may be disturbing and offensive to them.
At the same time, Americans will readily generalize about others, including subgroups within their own country. Northerners have a strong stereotype about Southerners, and vice-versa. There are widespread and generally accepted stereotypes of every race, ethnicity, religion, regional group, geographical area, etc. But they obstinately refuse to accept the stereotypes others may hold about themselves.
HOW AMERICANS SEE FOREIGNERS
Americans, like people anywhere else, are taught by their culture to have certain attitudes about other countries and the people who live in them. Parents, educators, and the media are principal sources of information and attitudes about foreigners and foreign countries.
Americans largely maintain that their own nation is superior to others, as evidenced by their economic success and global influence of their nation. They maintain that their democratic system is the best possible form of government and protects citizens from arbitrary rule. Americans generally believe that democracy and free-market capitalism has given them one of the highest standards of living. Even in times of turmoil, Americans believe they are better off than those in other nations and remain optimistic about the future.
And as they consider their country to be superior, it follows that they consider other countries to be inferior: foreigners are less intelligent, hardworking, and sensible. Political systems in other countries are inadequate, wasteful, and plagued with corruption. People from other countries are regarded as underdeveloped or imperfect, prevented by their primitive cultures and economic systems from achieving what they could if they were Americans.
They assume that people in other nations desire to become Americans, or to imitate American culture; and this perception is backed by the fact that millions of foreigners do seek to enter the US, and billions of foreigners seen to readily adopt and imitate American culture.
As such, visitors for abroad may find Americans to be condescending to them, and threat them as naive or unintelligent. International visitors are encouraged not to take this personally, as it's again a matter of cultural rather than personal values, and what comes off as patronization is merely their way of being polite and accommodating.
One exception seems to be that Americans will show admiration for a foreigner who has demonstrated some skill, personality trait, or intellectual capability that commands respect. And there are positive stereotypes that give Americans a positive opinion of a German engineer, a French cook, a Kenyan runner, etc. that grant them automatic credibility.
Naturally, there are many exceptions to these general observations. There are Americans who have traveled abroad or interacted more extensively with members of other cultures have been able to form first-hand impressions that lead them to reconsider the teachings of their culture.
ON DESCRIBING AMERICANS
Describing how Americans differ from foreigners can be difficult. If you ask a foreigner whether Americans think and act the way people in their home country do, they will be quick to answer "no," but if you ask to explain the differences, the answer will generally come with quite some stammering.
It is difficult to explain how one cultural group differs from another, even when the differences are readily enough perceived. Even among professions such as psychology and sociology, there are various approaches to explaining the distinctive features of a culture.
The approach in the present book is divided into three parts: to consider differences between American culture and others, to consider the characteristics of American culture in and of itself, and to provide guidelines for dealing with situations in which cultural differences may come to bear.