Traditional American values and beliefs

American Ways: chapter 2

Reliant Being dependent on someone

Constitution A set of basic laws, principles that a democratic county is governed by
Welfare Money paid by the government to people who are very poor, sick, not
working…
Foundation A basic idea/principle
Ethical Relating to principles of what is right and wrong
1. Racial, ethnic, religious and cultural diversity
1. The USA has great diversity, but it also has a national identity.
great diversity: Native Americans, Spanish settlers, French missionaries, black slaves…
* provided language + foundation for the political/economic systems
= fact of life; accepting: practical choice
national identity: 6 basic values: Individual
freedom, Equality of opportunities, Material
wealth, Self-reliance, Competition, Hard work
* hold the USA together
3: Why immigrants have been drawn to America.
2. What holds the United States together is a common set of values.
* John Zogby

2. Individual Freedom and self-reliance

1. The early settles came to the North American continent for individual freedom – the
most basic of all the American values.
escape: controls by kings and governments, priests and churches, noblemen and aristocrats
1776: Declaration of Independence = individual freedom
* free from the power of kings
* power in hands of the people
1787: wrote Constitution for their new nation
Individual freedom: desire + right of all individuals to control their own destiny
* no interference from the government etc.
2. The price for individual freedom is self-reliance.
= Individuals must learn to rely on themselves or risk losing freedom
* take responsibility
* financial/emotional independence form their parents
Today: a traditional American value
* appear to be self-reliant; even if it’s not really the case
e.g.: return to live home after a failed marriage =
temporary

3. Equality of opportunity and competition

1. Immigrants have always come for equality of opportunity – the belief that everyone
should have an equal chance to success.
Chance to succeed: lack of a hereditary aristocracy (passed on within the same family)
no formal class system: titles of nobility are forbidden
“old country”: determined by social class
millions of the immigrants succeeded
* believe in equality of opportunity
meaning: ≠ equality; = equal chance to success
* Everyone should have an equal chance to enter the race and win.
 = ethical rule
* ensure that the race is fair
* “fair play”
2. The price for equality of opportunity is
competition. Start in childhood → retirement
* learning to compete successfully
* competition =
encouraged Constant emotional
strain
* retirement = no competition
* feel useless
* not much honour + respect
* not competing = not fitting in to the mainstream

4. Material wealth and hard work

1. Immigrants have traditionally come for material wealth – the chance for a higher standard of
living.
= to have a better life
reason USA? abundant natural resources
“Going from rags to riches”
* slogan for the American
dream came true for many immigrants
achieved material success + attachment to material things
* Material wealth became a value
Materialism = offensive
* material wealth = widely accepted measure of social status
= substitute for judging social status
* rejected European system of hereditary aristocracy
* godliness = Puritan work ethic
2. The price for material wealth is hard work.
US rich in natural resources: resources were undeveloped
hard work → material possessions
material possessions = natural reward for hard work
from industry-based to service- or information based
decline in high-paying jobs for factory works
harder to go “from rags to riches”
* What happened to the American dream?

5. American values and the State of the American dream

1. Many Americans believe that with hard work their dreams of success can happen.
American dream = by working hard, parents can enable their children to have a better
life.
ideal of upward mobility still exists
Reality: e.g. equality of opportunity?
not always put into practice
born in a rich family = more opportunities
2. Even though many of the traditional values are ideals that may not describe the reality
of American life, they still influence every facet of American life.
The American religious heritage
American ways: chapter 3

1. The United States a religious nation

1. Religious preferences in the US
- 90% says they believe in God or higher power/universal
spirit diverse beliefs + practices
- Majority are Christian
all major religions are practiced
- Secular areas
fewer people active in churches
- Young people
don’t belong to any church/religious
group “spiritual” not “religious”
2. The landscape of religion
- complicated + constantly changing
* very important aspect of the culture
- 6 basic values: strengthened by nation’s religious heritage
- historical context
shaped the nation’s religious heritage
helped produce/reinforce cultural values
3. The Catholic faith
- by the Spanish in 1500s
Catholic missionaries + settlers from Spain + Latin America to Florida, California, Southwest
- Cities named after missionaries + settlers: San Francisco, Santa Fe, San Antonio
- French Canadian Catholic
missionaries came with explorers +
traders
from Quebec to New Orleans
- European settlers establish
colonies 1600s
++ Protestants + Catholics
Protestants: strongest
effect

2. The development of Protestantism

1. The Protestant branch
- broke away from Roman Catholic Church
* differences in religious beliefs
* religious persecution
Religious freedom in
America
- Denominations
= separate churches
* not agree among themselves about many beliefs

Catholic pope + priests Protestants

The role of parent Individuals stand alone before God
Told people right + wrong “Priesthood of all believers”
= responsible for own relationship with God
Granted forgiveness for sins Seek forgiveness directly from God
 2. Desire for religious freedom
- reason why colonial settlers came to America
* lack of any established nation religion
* appealing
- large number of Protestant denominations
* hoped to force their views + beliefs on others
* colonies were too large
- separation of state and church
- Constitution adopted in 1789
* national church = forbidden
* no denomination favoured over the
others government + church remain separate
* guaranteed freedom of religion
* denominations grew + “live and let
live” acceptation of diversity

3. Self-reliance and the Protestant Heritage of self-improvement

1. Self-improvement = outgrowth of self-reliance
- Protestants are left alone before God
* improve themselves
* ask God for guidance, forgiveness and grace
- encouraged strong + restless desire for self-improvement
- e.g.: being “born again”
opening your heart to Jesus Christ + God
* changed their lives
* being “born again”
2. Need for self-improvement
- further than the purely moral + religious sense
- today: in “self-help”
books often bestsellers
* how to stop smoking
* how to loose weight
- “God will help those who help themselves”

4. Material success, Hard Work and Self-discipline

1. The achievement of material success
= form of self-improvement
- most widely respected
* nation’s Protestant heritage = responsible
- mixing materialism and religion
± contradictory
religion: concerned with spiritual matters
2. European Protestant leaders >< American religious leaders
European Protestant leaders American religious leaders
Recognised in the world by material success Never encouraged gaining wealth
Work of all people = holy Work of a priest = holy
Capacity for self-discipline
= holy characteristic blessed by God
3. “The Protestant work ethic” or “The Puritan work ethic”
- = the belief in hard work and self-discipline in pursuit of material gain
- influence far beyond Protestant church
- industrialised country with no legal requirements for works for paid vacation days
 * 2 weeks/year
* working after being retired at age 65/66
- proud “workaholics”

5. Volunteerism and Humanitarianism

1. The idea of improving oneself by helping others
- contributing some of their money
to charitable, educational or religious causes
designed to help other
- = volunteerism or humanitarianism
2. Generous contributions by wealthy Americans
- Andrew Carnegie
= businessman
$300 million
support school + universities
- John D. Rockefeller
= businessman
large sum from his private fortune
establish a university
- Julius Rosenwald
= part-owner of Sears Roebuck company
building of 5,000 black school
- Motivation?
part idealism and part self-improvement
* desire to be acceptable in the eyes of God
* desire to be acceptable in the eyes of other Americans
3. The spirit of charitable giving and volunteerism today
- contribute 10% of what they earn to church +
charities belief of some religious faiths
- tax deductions
- in businesses
* encourage their employees
e.g.: working in an animal shelter in their spare time
- “raise a child who gives back”
* teach value of volunteering
* includes giving money to charity
6. September 11, 2001, and the National Religion
1. World Trade Centre and the Pentagon
- terrorist attack
- outpouring of love, charity +
patriotism around the country
- limit numbers to volunteer
raise of millions of dollars
huge surge of pride and
love
- 80% displayed the American flag
- Spontaneously singing “God bless America”
= patriotic song
more popular than the Nation Anthem
- mixture of religion and patriotism
= “national religion”
2. National religion
 - “old countries” dominant values were supported by an organised national church
- provide support for the dominant values of the nation
- can have harmful effects
disagreement with current national practices is discouraged or not tolerated
e.g.: during the war in Vietnam “America – love it, or leave it”

7. The Religious landscape today: Polarisation vs. Pluralism

1. How religion divides and unites us

Religious polarisation
between evangelicals, conservatives and secular liberals

- Evangelicals
strictly following the teachings of the Bible
frequently attending worship services
more conservative
e.g.: against abortion + gay marriage

Religious Pluralism

- reason: great diversity of ethnic backgrounds

- most of the religions of the world are practiced
- Muslims = Jews in the US
Hispanic origin: ½ Catholic
Church Hinduism + Buddhism
Asian immigrants: Daoism, Confucianism, Shintoism
Native American religions
2. The Census of American Religious Congregations
- tracking 236 different religions
- every 10 years
- Muslims + Mormons (Latter-day Saints) are fastest growing
- most dramatic development
people who say they have no religious affiliation
almost 20% of adults = unaffiliated/”nones”
- other dramatic development
decline in the membership of traditional mainline Protestant churches
4/10 Protestant denominations
- rise in the number of non-denominational evangelical
Protestants not affiliated with traditional denomination
community churches by dynamic religious leaders

8. Religious diversity in the United States: a spiritual kaleidoscope

Spiritual kaleidoscope = people move between faiths, sometimes creating their own collection
of beliefs drawn from a number of different religious traditions.

- there are many paths to God

- their religion is not the only valid faith
- broken traditional lines: marry people of different
faiths mostly younger Americans
- religious freedom must be protected
right to practice religion without interference from the government
- cultural and religious
pluralism context of tolerance
different religions living peacefully within a single nation
The frontier heritage
American ways: Chapter 4

1. The impact of the American frontier

American civilisation took over and replaced the frontier
* frontier heritage is still evident
* shaping of American values
* fascination
President Ronald Reagan (1980s) image of frontier life
* western ranch
* chopping wood
* riding a horse
President George W.
Bush
* reinforced cowboy image
* Texas ranch
Frontier experience = romanticised
* popular movies + television shows
* cowboy heroes fighting Indian villains
* little attention for Native Americans (American Indians)

1. The beginning of the frontier experience

- 1600s-1890
* last western lands were settled
- American frontier = relatively unsettled regions
* western part of the country
- Land + life were rugged + primitive
land was settled? moving farther to the next area
* Americans moved across an entire continent
* their destiny to control all of it
* that’s what they did
- Native Americans moved to reservations
* small portions of land to control
2. How did the frontier help to shape the basic American values?
- inspiring examples of hard
work forest → town →
large city
- competitive race
rush for gold in California
rush for silver in Montana
fertile land: race to claim the best land
3. Daily life on the frontier
- Less dramatic than the stories
- exemplified national values
* purer than more cultivated areas
- Individual freedom, self-reliance and equality of opportunity
* most closely associated with the frontier heritage
- Frontier settler = model of the free individual
 * less control
* few laws + established social/political institutions
- frontier = idealised
a basis for a nostalgic view of the early US
simpler time → lost due urbanisation

2. Self-reliance and the rugged individualist

1. Self-reliance
- denied many of society’s comforts and conveniences
* constructed own houses
* hunted
* grow gardens
* own clothing + household items
- Rugged individualist
= classic American male hero
* physically tough + rugged
* skilled with guns + other weapons
* no help: alone, unmarried, without children
* strong enough: extend his protection beyond himself
2. Two types of heroic rugged individualists
- man against the wilderness
e.g.: Daniel Boone = best-known hero
captured by Native Americans: impressed with physical strength + skills
* member of their
tribe made a daring
escape
* master the harsh challenges of the
wilderness survivor + conqueror ≠ fighter
- man against man
cattlemen + cowboys fought against farmers outlaws + Native Americans
physical violence = frequent: law/order not well established
frontier = Wild west
hero = fighter
admired for his ability to beat other men
physical prowess + defeat 2/3 ordinary men
a defender of good against evil
e.g.: Jesse James; Wyatt Earp
* more influence than Daniel Boone

3. American macho heroes

common ability to demonstrate their strength through physical violence
* the model for this hero was used in other settings
e.g.: soldiers in battle; detectives;
policemen

1. The image has been criticised

- overlooking many factors that played central
part importance of self-reliance
importance of pioneer women
emphasis on violence + the use of guns to solve problems
* on the frontier: guns to hunt + protect themselves
>< glorified gunfights
2. Impact of entertainment heroes
- desensitised to the sight of violence + killings
 - 20th century: guns are critical issue
* shootings in several public schools
* too easy for teenagers to get guns: more at risk of being killed
* particularly in inner cities: young gang members
* metal detectors at the entrance
- long history of owning guns
having a gun = important
right
* guaranteed by Second Amendment of the
Constitution over 200 privately held guns
mostly by people who enjoy hunting, target practice or gun collecting
* usually more than 1
gun gun for protection
* after 9/11 sale of guns rose
3. The issue of gun control
- very controversial
- stricter government controls >< National Rifle Association (NRA)
* prevent gun control legislation from passing
- gun control organisations “Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence” named after Jim Brady
* shot + paralysed
* sb tried to kill president Ronald Reagan

4. Inventiveness and the can-do spirit

1. Inventiveness
- need for self-reliance encouraged a spirit of inventiveness
* provide daily essentials
* constantly facing new problems + situations
* learned to experiment
- impressed observers from other countries
Lord Bryce: pioneer’s skills enabled them to succeed at tasks beyond the abilities of ordinary
men
* frontiersman’s ability to invent useful new farm tools
* pioneer woman’s ability to make cloths, soap,…
- western frontier: spreading the spirit of inventiveness
* national character trait
2. Can-do spirit
- = a sense of optimism
- willingness to experiment + invent
- a difficult problem can be solved immediately
* impossible one may take a little longer
- sense of optimism about themselves + their country
- source of pride and inspiration
5. Equality of opportunity
Frontier = purest (most extreme) expression of freedom, self-reliance and equality of opportunity

1. “What’s above the ground is more important than what’s beneath the ground”
- frontier offered a new beginning
little attention was paid to family background
Disappointment, failure? move to the west
* new beginning
* constant need for farmers, labourers, merchants, lawyers…
- fewer differences in
wealth rich >< poor
people dressed, lived, acted more alike
don’t show material wealth/act superior
* treated politely
- equality?
shared by hired helpers
* refused to be called “servants”
2. The American frontier may not be “the key” to American development.
- one major factor
- frontier: provided space + conditions
* helped to strengthen American ideals
* enlargement of ideals and made workable
The heritage of abundance
American Ways: chapter 5

1. A history of abundance
America = “throw-away” country
* 4,5 pounds of trash per person each day
* >20% of the world’s energy/year

1. This abundance is a gif t of nature

- rich, fertile farmland
* abundance of animals + trees
- relatively few Native Americans living on this land
* no weapons/organisation to keep European settlers out
2. Aristocratic European nations
- hereditary aristocracy
rich stayed rich: guaranteed by birth
poor stayed poor
3. Early years of the US
- wealth + social status ≠ permanently determined at birth
* equality of opportunity
- less certain for rich and
poor rich: lose wealth
poor: increase wealth
* protecting material possessions + looked for ways to acquire more
- Tocqueville
believed: no matter of greed; insecurity
* material wealth could change rapidly upward or downward
concluded: important to increase personal wealth
* entire population joined in the task of increasing the nation’s material abundance
visited US: 50 years after independence from England
* impressed with great progress; such sort time
* despite early stage of development + not much money: trading + manufacturing
= world’s second leading sea power + longest railroads
worried: about the effect of all this material success
* materialism = moral value?
* became reality
“Unlike many other countries where the love of material thing was seen as a
vice or a mark of weak moral character, in the US it was seen as a virtue.”
* proud of their nation to produce material wealth
* maintain high standard of living

2. From producers to consumers

1. Producing wealth and maintaining a high standard of living
- developed over a period of time
1700s-1800s: producers instead of consumers
farmers produced food → factory workers
th
20 century: consumers instead of producers
due to mass advertising
2. The development of mass advertising
- 1920s radio broadcasts
businesses payed for or sponsored radio programs
* short commercials advertising their
 products reach large number of Americans: buy their
products
* emphasis on consuming
- 1950s television programming
- 1960s studies on the effect of mass advertising
David Potter: mass advertising = important in size + influence
* should be an institution
1) Sponsors had control over the content of television
programs business did not like the content? stop
sponsoring
2) successful advertising techniques
change attitudes, behaviour + beliefs
e.g.: government’s ads to urge teenagers not to use drugs
- 2007: mass advertising is out of control
“Anywhere the eye can see, it’s likely to see an ad”
e.g.: everchanging billboards; video screens in public elevators…
- 2008: the internet from mass advertising → target marketing
= ads for individual users; using digital info about their use of digital media

3. What American consumers like

Max Lerner

1. Comfort
- frontier experience: created strong
desire tough life; very few comforts
- today: furnish their homes, design their cars + travel
e.g.: how you choose a mattress: lie down on several mattresses to choose the most
comfortable one
2. Cleanliness
- Puritan heritage = strict Protestant church
group need to cleanse the body of dirt and all
evil
* including sexual
desire “Cleanliness is next to
godliness”
- Today: keep body, house, cars, pets clean + smelling
good offended if you don’t follow standards
e.g.: Febreze that destroys odours
3. Novelty
- Pride in their inventiveness
improving old products + inventing new ones
advertisements encourage people
* get rid of old products and try new ones
* not enough money? credit card: “Buy now – pay later”
4. Convenience
- 1900s: increase in labour-saving devices
e.g.: dishwashers, food processors, microwave ovens...
- concepts of fast-food
e.g.: McDonald’s; KFC

4. An abundance of technology
1. Technological devices can engage us 24 hours a day
- increased the pace of life
 - changed the way we receive + exchange
information e.g.: cable or satellite tv >< hundreds of
TV channels
- TV viewing audience has become more
fragmented smaller % watching any given program
mass advertisers use other ways
e.g.: the hero drinks Coca-Cola
- the Millennials
= young people who came of age at the start of the new millennium (2000)
desirable market group
* targeting them on the Internet
2. Where does advertising money go to?
- Internet
fewer people watch TV
e.g.: smartphone, iPad, laptop…
- TV, newspapers + news magazines: lost advertising revenue
* serious consequences
* big city papers have gone out of business: no ads = no money for publishing
* some news magazines: online publishing online
* news organisations had to downsize
* fewer staff reporters
* hard to get in-depth coverage + analysis
3. Desire for instant reporting and explanation
- factual mistakes + wrong interpretation
* superficial/silly
- attention to lives of celebrities
“infotainment” or
“newsertainment”

5. An abundance of knowledge: big data

1. 2012 presidential election
- first contact with Big Data
Obama’s campaign purchased huge quantities of digital info = Big Data
* collected from many sources + carefully analysed
* presidential campaign in a whole new way
* deep understanding of potential voters
* win them over vote by vote
2. “The human face of Big Data”
- Rick Smolan + Jennifer Erwitt
big data = more info than can fit on a personal computer
big data = more than just the quantity of the information
* tools that allow us to see patterns + make use of the knowledge
- important questions
What happens to all this info?
How will this info about us be stored?
Who owns our personal info, and who decides how it can be used?
- identity theft
= big problem on the internet
terrorists could get control of important national infrastructure
e.g.: defence networks; power systems
3. How does humanity use all this new information?
- before computers
 lack of knowledge
- now
too much information
computing power doubles every 18 months
* increasing exponentially
- double-edge sword
positive: enables us to solve important problems + benefits to humanity
negative: overwhelm us + cause to make a poor decision
* part of our brain shuts down: too much information
* focus on the last part; forget about the rest
* wait before making a decision; let our subconscious run through the data
4. Big Data has to be
managed to be useful +
valuable
- rely on experts to analyse large amounts of data
* tell us what’s
important too much data
* overwhelms the experts
- “crowdscience” or “citizenscience”
we no longer load information on a computer and tell it what to do
computers talk to each other and generate their own information

6. Redefining American abundance

“The US has always come from a culture of abundance, not scarcity.”
Bono observed: Americans avoid the “curse of natural resources”
* Americans learned how to develop the enormous natural resources + use them

Abundance = powerful supply of ideas that can help bring solutions

* relative definition, but universal agreement about the
basics The sharing of Big Data + networking technology
* tools to meet the basic needs + “a life of abundant possibility” to all
* not automatically; obstacles to overcome
e.g.: pollution, scarcities of food; bad decision by the government
* some individuals are dedicated to make it happen

American wealth = an ever-expanding pie

* Always enough pie for everyone
* pie expands + provides large pieces for everyone
* high standard of living was rewarded
Today: worries that the economic pie might not expand
* we simply make more pies
The world of American business
American ways: chapter 6

1. The characteristics of American Business

1. Private + profit
- owned + operated by private individuals
* to make a profit
2. Public + non-profit
- government owned-and-operated
- churches, charities, educational institutions
≠ businesses

2. How business competition reinforces other values

1. Competition protects individual freedom
- ensuring there is no monopoly of power
businesses compete against each other for
profits
1 business: treating customers bad loses against 1 business: treats customers fairly
* theoretically
- government = monopoly
* leaders chosen by the
people business = more supportive of
freedom
* leaders not chosen
- free enterprise >< capitalism
2. Competition strengthens the ideal of equality of opportunity
- business = a race open to all
success + status → swiftest
person
* regardless of social class
- = American alternative to systems
based on family background
- business = an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity
>< aristocratic ide of inherited privilege
3. Business competition encourages the value of hard work
- winner: the one that works the hardest
- hard work = habit

3. The dream of getting rich

1. Careers in business offer to rise from poverty to wealth
- through successful business careers
 great private nations in the nation: careers
* many of whom started life with very
little 35% of the Forbes 400: raised poor/middle
class
(fun fact: Donald Trump #248; Bill Gates #1)
- inherited fortunes from their family
e.g.: Donald Trump
- Business over farming
business: getting rich more quickly
farmers: ran small businesses to add to the money they made from farming

2. Americans distrust a government-run system of production and distribution of goods

- monopoly of power held by government
* eliminates competition
- preferred to limit government’s control
* let free market work on its own
- role of government ><
business providing services
e.g.: health care, retirement benefits…
universal health care ≠ guaranteed
* tied to employment since 1940s

4. The entrepreneur as business hero

1. Entrepreneurs are respected because they succeed in building sth great out of nothing
- heroes of the frontier days
* vast wilderness and turned forests into farms
etc rugged individualist
* reinforced values of freedom, self-reliance, hard work
th
- 19 century entrepreneurs
common people → “self-made” millionaires
= perfect examples of the idea of equality of opportunity
2. The early entrepreneurs may be compared to the hero of the frontier
3. Americans were influenced by Horatio Alger’s novels (Ragged Dick)
- poor city boy: shines shoes
* Richard Hunter: wealthy + successful businessman
“from rags to riches” + fulfils American
Dream
4. Americans also respect entrepreneurs’ dislike of submitting to higher authority
- business + life without taking orders
- “I am my own boss”

5. The corporate CEO/CFO

CEO = Chief Executive Officer
CFO = Chief Financial Officer

1. CEOs do not create new businesses, they manage existing business corporations
- built in 19th century → new leader 20th century
* powerful + acquire great personal wealth
* not the image of a hero
* managing someone else’s business
2. Americans have lost respect for CEOs
- CEOs have come under severe attack
* multi-million-dollar-a-year salaries
 * self-serving management decisions

6. The middle class vs. the one percent

1. Middle class Americans became discouraged about finding a good job + paying mortgage
- income had remained the same for 25 years
* money out of retirement accounts
* stock market fall of 2008
- Misery Index: highest ever
= data on unemployment, credit card debt, inflation of essentials
- homes went into foreclosure
owners couldn’t pay the
mortgage banks took the houses
back
2. They were angry because their income didn’t change over the years
3. The gap between rich and the rest had been growing since the late 1980s
- Rich (1%) had gotten richer during the economic crisis
CEOs made fortunes downsizing companies + buying companies in trouble
- tax structure
investment income = taxed lower >< earned income
e.g.: Warren Buffet’s secretary paid more taxes than he did
4. Books were written about how to save/restore the American Dream
e.g.: Third world America: How our politicians are abandoning the middle class and betraying
the American Dream
- warning about what could happen
- middle class: “getting the short end of the stick”
- rushed to rescue Wall Street, forgot Main Street
- broken political system

7. Redefining the American Dream

1. Americans are truly resilient
- frontier heritage
pull themselves up by their bootstraps in times of trouble
- strong belief in self-reliance + individual freedom
* redefining the American Dream
* for themselves
- MetLife: studies the American
Dream significant shift in priorities
* DIY American Dream >< resilient + adaptive Americans
close relationships with friends + family > additional material possessions
2. There is a high value placed on creativity
- Gary Shapiro
innovation in business = critical
* creates new jobs
* creates new industries
- Richard Florida
role of innovation + creativity = rising
* 1/3 workforce = “the creative class”
* create new ideas, technology
* create content: science, education, design, the arts…
* engage in solving complex problems: law, finance, health care…
- strong, positive impact
3. They are compassionate and are searching for meaning
 - “Abundance: the future is better than you think” by Peter Diamandis + Steven Kotler
* DIY innovator= marriage of self-reliance + technology
* force for spreading abundance + force for good
* crowdscience techniques: creating drones $300.00/piece
* carry supplies to areas with little/no roads
- Technophilanthropists
e.g.: Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk (PayPal)
* fortunes in new fields of technology
* changing the face of philanthropy
4. The technophilanthropists are changing the face of philanthropy
- Traditionally
* giving money to charity
- Technophilanthropists
* millionaires before the age of 30
* turned to philanthropy right afterward
* think big: solutions for “impossible” problems
e.g.: providing clean, safe drinking water to everyone on the planet

8. The future of American business

1. Many Americans still choose to start their own business
- business venture in their spare time
- government encourages small business start-
ups SBA: Small Business Administration
over 23,000,000 small businesses in USA
* fewer than 500 people
* creators of most new jobs
* employ ½ all American workers
2. The Internet has given individuals the tools to collaborate
- www.quirky.com
* develop idea for new invention
submit an idea and online crowd votes on whether they think it’s an invention worth brining
into life
* find support
- global connections
* interaction with potential customers
Government and politics in the United States
American ways: chapter 7

1. A suspicion of strong government

Why are Americans suspicious of a strong government?

- Government = natural enemy of freedom

* even elected by the people
* bigger + stronger = more dangerous to individual freedom
- leaders of American Revolution 1776
government of Great Britain: discourage freedom + economic opportunities
* excessive taxes + other measures
* benefit the British aristocracy + monarchy

2. The organisation of the American government

What are the 4 possible things that can happen once Congress sends a bill to the president?

Congress = legislative or lawmaking branch

2 houses: Senate (2 senators of each state) + House of Representatives (435 representatives)

President = executive branch

carry out laws

The Supreme Court = judicial branch

settles disputes about the exact meaning of the law

* Bill of rights: protects specific individual rights + freedoms from government interference

- The president agrees with the bill

* becomes law
- The president disagrees with the bill (veto)
* send back to Congress with reasons for refusing
* 2/3 of both the House + Senate vote to override the president’s veto
* becomes law
- The president takes no action
* after 10 days
* becomes law
* no signature needed
- Congress adjourns before 10-day period is over
* president nor signed, nor vetoed
* defeated
= pocket veto
3. The election of the President and the Congress
What is electoral college? How does it work?

Electoral college = collection of 538 votes that determine who the president will be

- 538 votes = 100 senators (2/state) + 438 Representatives (distributed by population)

* not given to citizens directly
* divided among the states
- every state gets 3 votes to start (150 votes)
the rest are divided among the states according to population
* The more people it has, the more votes it
gets Bonus for the smaller states
- e.g.: Florida: 29 electoral
 votes majority gets all the
votes
- Win 270/538 votes to become president
- Missing: 11 million Americans not living in states
600 thousand living in the district of Colombia: not a state
* capital: free of voting for politics
* 1964-now: D.C. can vote
4.4 million people living in the territories: no votes
* not states
* no constitutional amendment
6.3 million Americans who don’t live in the states
* abroad: send a postal vote to the last state you lived in
* territories: you lose your vote
- How does it work?
citizens vote for electors; electors vote for a candidate
electors aren’t required to vote for what the citizens want
* never swung an election
* 87 voted against the wishes of the citizens
- Why does it work like this?
Electoral college was founded in the 1700s
passing information = writing it down + giving it to a man on a horse
* passing info was slow
* electors settled in D.C.
* might seem a little outdated because we sent info through a beam of lights

4. The ideal of the free individual

What effect did the two ideals of the free individual have on the development of the government before
the Great Depression of the 1930s? Why?

- Before the Civil War of the 1860s

the frontier settlers + the small farmer
Jefferson glorified farmers
* rely on themselves
* most honest of citizens
- The end of the Civil War until the Great Depression of the
1930s successful businessperson replaced farmer + frontier
settler
* government should not interfere with business

5. The development of big government

What major effect did the Great Depression have on the government?

- weakened the businessperson’s position

* big businesses lost respect
- need for emergency government action
* idea of small government was abandoned
- assumption that individuals could not be expected to rely on themselves
* government helped individuals meet their daily needs
* government helped to provide economic
security Democratic Party: Franklin Roosevelt
“New Deal” for the Americans
* number of changes

6. The controversy over entitlements

What are entitlements and why are they controversial?

- Entitlements
= a government program providing benefits to members of a specified group
- Controversial
o economic security provided by government
* weaken self-reliance (individual freedom)
Americans dependent on government instead of on themselves
* less accepting of social programs
e.g.: President Obama was accused of being a socialist (liberal stands)
o government should provide a “safety-net”
e.g.: temporary loss of employment, natural disaster damages, retirement
“welfare” >< entitlements
Welfare: unemployment benefits, food stamps, Medicaid Entitlements:
Social Security, Medicare
* working Americans + employers pay into these systems
* being entitled to have this aids

7. The role of special interest groups

What are special interest groups? Why are they formed and whom do they represent?

- special interest groups

= “lobbying groups” or “pressure groups” effectively
influence the actions of government
- National Rifle Association (NRA)
= power full + effective lobby
* mostly people who own guns
receives money from business corporations that manufacture guns
* opposes all government restrictions on the sale of all handguns etc.
- Whom do they represent?
all social + economic classes of Americans
* to take advantage/protect themselves from the actions of government

8. The new individualism: interest-group government

How do special interest groups affect how the government operates?

- focus on one issue

more important to their members than all others e.g.:
abortion should not be legal in the USA
* vote for candidate: stand on the abortion issue
members feel strongly: members will vote for a candidate that supports their issue
- contribution of large sums of money to election
campaigns candidates mostly rely on private funding
* interest groups fund their campaign

9. The political landscape in the 2000s: red states vs. blue states
What are the traditional beliefs of the Republican and the Democratic parties? What are three
important differences?

- The racial divide

historical event: Barack Obama’s winning in 2008
* African-American
President Obama’s re-election in 2012
 * winning 2008: not a fluke (happened because of
chance/luck) Democrats: more support from non-white Americans
Republicans: support from white Americans
* in search of a new direction
* appeal to Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Americans…
- The ideological divide over the role and size of the national government
Republicans: big government = inefficient + endangers individual rights and
freedoms Democrats: more government regulation of financial institutions
➔ higher taxes on upper income Americans
* full implementation of the new health care law
- The cultural divide of values, morality and lifestyles
Republicans: an alliance with religious conservatives of all faiths
* mostly evangelical Christians
* limiting access to abortions + some birth control methods
* opposition to gay
marriage Democrats: (example)
Obama
* more rights for gays: military, marry…

10. Finding the way forward

What do the two political parties believe should happen in the future? What is the balance needed
between their two ideologies?
Republicans Democrats
The believe that they have the roadmap that will lead the US to a safe and prosperous future.
Economic problems = spending problem Economic problems = income problem
Entitlements weaken individual freedom Entitlements protect individual freedom
Americans are living beyond their means Widening gap between rich and poor
Ethnic and racial diversity in the US
American ways: chapter 8

1. Melting pot or salad bowl

- Assimilation
= the process by which these many groups have been made a part of a common cultural life with
commonly shared values
- “Melting pot”
= various racial and ethnic groups have been combined into one culture
- “Salad bowl”
= the various groups have remained somewhat distinct and different from one another, creating a
richly diverse country
- The truth lies somewhere between “melting pot” + “salad
bowl” Since 1776: enormous amount of racial + ethnic
assimilation
* some groups: sense of separateness from the culture as a whole
* bilingual and/or bicultural groups
* consider themselves Americans, but want to retain their original
language/culture whites from different national + religious backgrounds assimilated into the
American culture
* some exceptions
e.g.: American Jews
result of the long history of persecution in the Christian countries?
anti-Jewish feeling >< strong feeling of ethnic pride

2. The establishment of the dominant culture

- First census, 1790, counted about 4 million people
most of whom were white: 8/10 ancestry in
England
20% African Americans: 700,000 slaves + 60,000 “free negroes” no
accurate count of Native Americans: only the tax-paying
- White population = majority
numbers + money + political
power
= defining the dominant culture
largely English, Protestant + middle-class
* WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants)
* insulting term
- The dominant American culture
= English-speaking, western European, Protestant + middle-class
* established basic values
Immigrants with these characteristics were welcome
3. The assimilation of non-Protestant and non-Western Europeans
- Immigrants with different characteristics
= a threat
mostly the millions of immigrants during 19th + early 20th century
 * poverty-stricken nations
* languages other than English
* mostly Catholics + Jews
Americans were fearful
* not understand American values
* change the values?
- American teachers
* teach basic Americans beliefs
teachers disapproved homeland traditions
* little help in meeting the most important needs: work + home + food
- “Political bosses”
= important function
saw to many practical needs
accepted different homeland traditions
* destroying values as self-reliance + competition
self-reliance: immigrant depended on them, not on themselves
competition: monopoly of power by immigrant’s votes
in exchange: the immigrant’s votes
corrupt: stealing money from the government + other illegal practices

4. The African-American experience

- Enslavement of African Americans
= contradiction with basic American values (freedom + equality of opportunity) Two
different sections:
1) the southern states: slavery = basis of economy
2) the northern states: slavery = against the law
- Abraham Lincoln
basic values: apply to everyone
* southern states left the union
* new nation based on slavery
- Civil War (1861-1865)
between north + south
= bloodiest + most destructive
North = victorious; black slavery ended
- Slavery’s legacy continued: not readily
assimilated remained in the South
* not allowed to vote
* legally segregated from whites
e.g.: separate schools; inferior education
caught in a cycle of poverty
5. The Civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s
- Martin Luther King Jr. = black Protestant minister
late 1950s – 1968 (assassination by with
gunman)
* nonviolent marches
* demonstrations against segregation
* other forms of racial discrimination
Goal: great assimilation of the black
people Two major civil rights laws
1) segregate public facilities = illegal
2) deny black people the right to vote = illegal
- Malcolm X = black leader
 goal: rejection of basic American values + complete segregation American
values = “white men’s values”
* own society, with own
values Christianity = “white” religion
* “black Muslim” faith (1930)
- Civil rights laws
significant degree of assimilation
affirmative action: employers had to seek black employees + universities black students
* increased late 1960s + 1970s
- Today: African Americans
in 2008: Barack Obama first black President
= sports + entertainment heroes
= lawyers
= university professors
= medical doctors
= entrepreneurs
= reporters
sizable black middle class + number of wealth African Americans

6. Diversity in the twenty-first century

- Civil rights movement
benefitted: African Americans + all minorities
racial discrimination in employment + housing = forbidden
advanced: women’s rights
reinforced: the ideal of equality of opportunity
- grossly underrepresented in Congress: Hispanics + African Americans
median income of a black married man is significantly less than that of a white married man
whites: live in suburbs; schools in better condition + better education
ethnic minorities: cycles of poverty, unemployment, violence + despair
- believe in the ideal of equality of
opportunity American Dream still attracts
immigrants
- Sonia Sotomayor = first Hispanic Supreme Court
Justice low-income housing
part-time jobs during the school year + full-time in the summer
excellent student, surprised by full scholarships offers
benefited from the affirmative action law
7. A universal nation
- 1965: important changes in its immigration laws
* allowing more immigrants: non-white + non-European
* majority: Asia + Latin America
* significant numbers of illegal immigrants
- Ben Wattenberg: new immigration will be of great help to the nation
* universal nation: first in the world
= large numbers of people from every region living under one government
- “Mosaic”
= If one looks closely to the nation, the individuals are still distinct + recognisable