America truly is an amazing place. It is a nation of wealth and technology - one of the wealthiest in the world. American culture and ideas are evident in almost every other country in the world. One would be hard pressed to find a place with no McDonalds, no Starbucks and no American television.
Anthony Dick of the Cavalier Daily (University of Virginia) wrote on Jan. 19, "Western science and philosophy together have been the two greatest forces responsible for improving mankind's station in life. We owe Western civilization our ideals of democracy, civil rights, religious toleration, women's liberation and intellectual freedom, even for those who want to destroy the West. War, slavery, exploitation and alienation are not unique to the West but are common problems that have plagued human history. What is unique to the West, rather, is the development of an intellectual tradition that has led to the abolition of slavery, the seeking of international peace, the establishment of human rights and a standard of living greater than that imagined even by kings only a few centuries ago."
Technologically, Americans are advanced beyond most other countries. According to an Oct. 25, 2000 CNN report, 66.9 percent of Americans use the Internet. Just over half (54.6 percent) use e-mail. CommonSenseMedia.org reports on a study done by AOL & Digital Marketing Services in October of 2003 that said 60 percent of kids between the ages of 6 to 8 have access to the Internet, an increase from 27 percent in 2000.
However, despite America's impressive wealth, education and technology, its citizens are still far behind many other nations when it comes to cultural awareness.
Despite living in a varied and diverse country, most Americans have difficulty looking beyond the Pacific and Atlantic oceans to the countries on the other side. Canada and Mexico buffer American vision so that no matter where they look, all they see is their own reflection.
Americans live on their own island and more often than not forget about the rest of the world. Americans, from President Bush to the average citizen, are criticized by the international community for their lack of knowledge of the world (and their own country, for that matter) and their insistence on their supremacy. This attitude is evidenced through politics, the military, capitalism, the media, entertainment and the overall saturation of American culture throughout the world.
While American culture and technology does have much to offer the rest of the world, at the same time Americans need to learn to embrace other cultures. While American methods may be the best ways to deal with national problems, it seems the American mind is closed to the possibility of other options. By neglecting to study other cultures and ideas Americans are closing themselves off from learning valuable lessons from the rest of the world.
Other cultures - languages, ideas, attitudes, beliefs - all have something to offer. Americans just ignore the possibilities. Instead of learning through others, Americans try to force their way of life, without thinking of the consequences. Instead of respecting and embracing differences as ways to learn about themselves and others, too many times Americans take the easy road and live within their own sphere, with little regard to the outside world.
For vacations, we want to go somewhere warm and tropical, not a place where customs and traditions are different from our own so much that we might feel uncomfortable adjusting. Instead of learning about new places, we tend to remain inside our comfort zone, frequenting places not far from our native land.
Even within the United States, Americans tend not to travel. By staying put in one location, it is easy to miss all that is in the middle of the country: the prairies of Kansas, Pike's Peak in Colorado, White Sands in New Mexico, Yellowstone and Yosemite National Parks, the Grand Canyon and many other national treasures. There are regions of the United States that are just as varied and interesting as regions of Europe. If a trip out of the country is impossible, try somewhere new and different within this country.
Traveling is the fastest and easiest way to learn of other ideas and cultures. The opening of eyes and ideas is something best done by seeing new and different ways of doing things, instead of reading in a magazine or book. A New Yorker can learn just as much from a trip to rural Virginia, as a native Texan can learn from a trip to Boston. An American can learn just as much from a trip to Slovakia as a Bosnian can learn from a trip to America.
It's hard to ignore the correlation between Americans not traveling around their own country and Americans not knowing about the world. If the rest of the world has an advantage over America, it's that they are better traveled than Americans. They have experienced firsthand things Americans only read about. As a result, most of the world is better able to understand themselves in the context of the world, not just the place they were born. Americans who refuse to accept their countrymen and learn about customs in another part of the country will find it impossible to grasp the customs and ideas from an entirely different continent.
This inability of Americans to accept and understand others only leads to discrimination and racism. The sooner we learn that we are all just people who come from different backgrounds and customs, the sooner we can get on with our lives. It is impossible to force multiculturalism on Americans. Instead, it must be an awakening that is sparked by increasingly open minds and an awareness of other cultures, which ultimately creates a willingness to learn and study things different from us.
Internet Doesn't Isolate Most People (U.S.)- Media Awareness Network: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/research_documents/statistics/internet/internet_doesnt_isolate.cfm Rohde, Laura, "Internet used by 56 percent of U.S. population." February 19, 2001 http://archive.infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/01/02/19/010219hnsurvey.xml?p=br&s=5 Statistics and Quotes about Media: http://www.medialiteracy.com/statcity/statcity.htm#tech Dick, Anthony. "A flawed multiculturalism," Cavalier Daily (U. of Virginia). Jan. 19, 2004.
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