The Young The Rich And The Famous Sponsel

“The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural Value,” written by, Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel relates to values and beliefs of different cultures. These include greetings, jobs, relationships, welfare, and even finances. I have never realized how different some cultures really are. Individualism is strongly touched upon in this short story. My first reaction when reading this was disbelief. I could not understand or believe how different we really are from other cultures. The main topic of this text is individualism between American and Thai cultures. I would also say that the main audience intended for this text would be Americans. The author effectively states that individualism truly has been valued immensely in America.

When I grew up as a kid, I never would have guessed that other cultures were so unbelievably different from us, Americans. From the beginning of this text, it kind of set me off guard. I never realized that greetings are actually that important to others. For example, when I walk past someone that I do not even know, I ask, “How are you?” However, I do not ever expect their full response on how they really feel. It is simply a polite gesture to make. Continuing to read throughout this text, kind of made me step into reality though. Honestly, if you look at the average American families, everything mentioned about individualism of Americans is partially true! I would have to say that the author made some strong points in her message that she was trying to