What Being An American Menas To Me

What Being An American Means to Me

I believe the term American applies to the entire hemisphere, from Alaska to Chile and Argentina, assuming that all people fall under the same culture as the conventional United States. Basically I feel like it means being a small part of a huge diversity of people.

As an infant, like all other infants, I started with no culture and slowly learned the cultural values of the United States of America. These cultural values seem almost oblivious as I look back on it now, but as I have matured I have come to understand what it means to be an American. If I have the chance to travel some I believe I will have a stronger sense of what being American means to me. I think this is because it would give me a more realistic view of the world with regards to other countries. With diversity comes learning, understanding the differences between people and myself. It often seems that people simply think that their values are the right ones, but I would like to think that it is within the potential of every person to go beyond this. I believe that there is probably always a better way, we just have to find it. I think it is important to learn not to attach a good or bad label on a culture, but to realize that life is not that simple. Being American is a privilege and there are many connotations to being American.

I also think it is important to stand for what you believe in, but also be accepting of other possibilities without judgement. We all have to realize that there are differences and that is what makes this world such a great place to live in. Sometimes I believe that Americans feel they are so powerful and elitist and do not appreciate the wonder of other cultures in the world. I think being an American means the right to have rights, the freedom to be different. I would also say it means having the ability to control your own life, your destiny.