Cultural Diversity Differences in Cultures

Cultural Diversity

Differences in cultures provide the uniqueness that abounds in the world. Countries have variant approaches to living, food, language and other cultural elements. This diversity means that there are multiple approaches to solving problems and forming unions and relationships. In the United States of America, life is shaped by multiple cultural factors however, the dominant elements of the cultural mix stands supreme. In this essay, the culture of China will be contrasted with that of the United States, so that while there are differences an overwhelming similarity is the desire by both peoples to pursue successfully happiness, and better life conditions.

The first element of the culture that will be examined is a material element. The buildings in both countries are different. In America, the buildings are designed in the main to reflect elements of western society so that homes are highly functional and the dominant concepts that permeate western design is a high degree of functionality (Anderson & Taylor 2010 p.41). While both countries have fantastic skyscrapers and the abundant use of glass in business structures, China excels in the areas of ambient environmental elements and space usage. Modern China has a challenge for space particularly in the capital city Beijing. There are places in Beijing where persons rent small cubicles as rooms. That does not happen in America, the usage of space has greater liberality, and even in major cities like New York, these cubicle structures are nonexistent.

Additionally, many buildings in China, particularly the older buildings are designed to represent integration with nature rather than a mastery of nature. The older structures represent a sense of man's attempt to live at one with the natural environment and to make use of natural conditions for lighting and cooling the building. While this occurs in America, it is to a lesser extent. I think that the Chinese approach provides greater balance and harmony. There is rich consideration of the movement of energy and other ethereal elements beyond simple form and structure.

The language of course is different in both places. In China, the dominant or official language is Mandarin. In China, the many ethnic groups speak different languages; the ethnic groups preserve these languages, while there is an official language. In America, the official language is English and while there are, sub-groups who speak other languages these do not approximate to the status of the ethnic languages in China. It should be noted that with the rise in the population of Latinos in America Spanish is becoming increasingly popular as a language. However, English dominates business and government communication. Another difference of note is that in China there is a strong desire by Chinese persons to learn and become proficient in English. There is no comparable desire in America, for Americans to learn Mandarin.

The political system in both countries is also vastly different and is sometimes considered poles apart. The American political system is democratic and is structured on a system of one-person one vote Cobb & Elder, 1972). Each citizen has the opportunity to vote for elected representatives and the president. The system is a two party system and the main parties are the democrats and the republicans. Each party supports a number of candidates in the electoral structure and attempts to gain control of the legislative and executive branches of the government. The other feature of American politics is the private ownership of property and laws that protect private ownership of property.

The Chinese political system is different in that it is a communist system. The communist party controls the government. While there are opposition parties in china, they are not officially recognized and are often persecuted. The people of china do not have any real democratic options and every feature of the country is controlled through a centralized government structure. This means that even the economy is centrally controlled and there is no capitalist system like the United States. While China has made reforms in recent times, the system may be better considered as a managed economy with limited capitalist elements on the fringes. It should be noted that in China protest action is often met with a violent and hostile response from the government. The government does not encourage free speech either through the press or through another agency. Free speech is the protection and balance that is required in a free society and it is painfully absent from china.

Food is another area where the countries differ significantly. The gap between the American diet and the Chinese diet over time has been reduced because of migration and globalization. Chinese can now enjoy American fast foods and other decidedly American foods. American is identified with fast food; these fried and fatty foods form a critical part of the American cultural experience. The Chinese diet is more varied and there is the tendency to eat foods in a close to natural state as possible; with limited cooking (Chang, 2010). The American diet has a greater fat content and more processed foods. The Chinese diet is simpler and contains fewer processed foods and elements that are more natural.