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America's geography has contributed to its value upon rugged individualism. Geographical expansion in American initially seemed limitless, when Americans were faced with the promise of prosperity in the Western territories. The availability of land in West also cemented the American ideal of working hard and the need for rugged, masculine independence. A lack of federal control, a freedom from landlords (unlike Europe, which boasted smaller amounts of land under heredity control) created a high toleration of uncertainty and a value placed upon risking everything for profit. The promise of the West made Americans even more resistant to federal control than in 1776. The architect of the Frontier Thesis Frederick Turner wrote that to understand Americans, one must understand the West: "So long as free land exists, the opportunity for a competency exists, and economic power secures political power. But the democracy born of free land, strong in selfishness and individualism, intolerant of administrative experience and education, and pressing individual liberty beyond its proper bounds, has its dangers as well as its benefits. Individualism in America has allowed a laxity in regard to governmental affairs which has rendered possible the spoils system and all the manifest evils that follow from the lack of a highly developed civic spirit" (Turner 34) Although B -- and I have known one another for a long time, I still chuckle every time we have political discussions, because his point-of-view is so predictable. "It's the government," he says. According to B -- if the government 'got out of our lives,' there would be no problems, no complicated bureaucracy, and no need to worry about political correctness and no taxation. The old ideal of 'don't tread on me' lives on in tea parties and a lack of toleration even for universal access to healthcare, if the government has something to do with it. Of course, many protest that American government has made many positive incursions into human life, but the ideal of independence affects American's self-perception and American's more direct communication style. The American style can seem disrespectful, careless, and insensitive to an outsider from a higher-context nation.
Works Cited
Geert Hofstede: Cultural dimensions -- United States. Geert Hofstede.
October 25, 2009 at http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_united_states.shtml
Interview: B. (personal friend). October 21, 2009.
Interview: S. (acquaintance). October 20, 2009.
Turner, Frederick. The Frontier in American History. BiblioBazzar, 2008.
Works Cited
Geert Hofstede: Cultural dimensions -- United States. Geert Hofstede.
October 25, 2009 at http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_united_states.shtml
Interview: B. (personal friend). October 21, 2009.
Interview: S. (acquaintance). October 20, 2009.
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