An individualistic country, the USA?
Individualism is defined as societies in which ties between people are loose meaning individuals are only responsible for themselves and their immediate family. That as opposed to a collective country. In collective cultures people are born into a group. They remain members of that cohesive group for their entire lives. Their identity is shaped by their "in-group" and throughout their lifetime belong to strong, cohesive in-groups. Although America tends to Individualistic, I believe that both terms would well represent portions of our culture. Below is a link that might help :)
Is it true that many European countries dislike the U.S.?
it is true. I am Canadian and Like four different travel agencies have advised me to plaster my backpacks and luggage with Canadian flags so people don't mistake me for an American and act rude. It has nothing to do with World War Two, people value the contributions of all the men and women who gave their lives to fight but i think most people are unwilling to say "Americans won the war for the world!" every life given was equally valuable. . . and also the U.S entered the war a lot later than other countries and only after they were bombed at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. At the time people resented them for staying out of the war so long when their vast military machine could have helped end things a lot sooner, and saved millions of lives. . . but this has nothing to do with why you are disliked. Most people dislike Americans because you are perceived as loud, ignorant, self centered and proud. people in most other countries consider themselves human beings rather then "British" or "french" . people feel Americans know and care little for the rest of the world and it is this superior attitude people resent. Largely these assumptions are false when i have traveled in the US i found the people there to be Exceptionally caring, kind and thoughtful. unfortunately you guys have got a bad rap the only way to fight it is to prove people wrong. Take an interest in the places you travel to. Learn their history, and about the way the people there live. Respect other peoples customs and be open minded. Praise people for things they do well in the place they live in. be kind and polite. If you do these things as a traveler you will be accepted and treated with kindness no matter where you go or where you are from!
What makes you think the US is individualistic? Certainly, the Puritans who arrived in Massachusetts were not; they were communitarian. Likewise the Quakers who settled the Delaware Valley were not; they too were communitarian.The Cavalier class, primarily from Wessex, who settled the Tidewater region were a bit more independent, a planter class, but were firm believers in hierarchies of every type, devoted to God and country.It was the fourth wave of Anglo immigration that brought individualism. It arrived from the rugged shores of the Irish Sea, that is, Northwestern England, Western Scotland and Northeastern Ireland, and settled on or roamed the frontier states. When they settled, their idea of good relations was "you stay on your side of the hollow, and I'll stay on mine, and we'll get along jes' fine."It just so happens that a disproportionate number of our legendary, larger-than-life characters come from that fourth immigration wave: Kit Carson, J. E. B. Stuart, Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, "Stonewall" Jackson, Calamity Jane, Sam Houston, U. S. Grant, Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Hatfields and McCoys, Belle Starr (a Hatfield on her mother's side), Butch Cassidy, the Earp brothers, Jim Bowie, John Muir, Wild Bill Hickok, Buffalo Bill Cody, Jim Baker and Billy the Kid.And there you have about eighty percent of the mythical men (and women) of action--our lawmen, our outlaws, our fighting generals, our explorers, our showmen--responsible for the idea that we are a nation that prizes individualism, which we do... in our movies. Because of that, perhaps we tolerate it better overall than some other places.
If you believe researcher Geert Hofstede, and I almost always do, the answer is Great Britain (89), which is just behind the USA (91) and Australia (90) Clearly Cultural. The second highest scoring European country is the Netherlands (80) followed by Italy (76). Portugal (27), on the other hand, is far and away the lowest in individualism, which means that it measures high in collectivism. The individualistic countries tend to stress individual responsibility for one's success or failure rather than seeing things in terms of family cohesion. They tend to be places that have stronger populr and youth cultures.
What countries have US military bases in Europe?
England, Spain, Italy, Portugal(Azores), Belgium, Greece, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iceland, and Germany. There is also a NATO base in Belgium that US members can be stationed at. There is also a couple bases in Turkey, but that can be considered Asia because although they are on both continents, the majority of it is in Asia. Turkey is also trying to become part of the European Union, so who knows. NOTE: This list is from a map I received in 2006 so there might be a base that has closed recently. There are 2 Air Bases in Spain: Rota(which Navy shares with us), and Moron.
I read 2 interesting articles the other day about that but I lost them! If I find them again I’ll link them here. It got me so interested I decided to write about it in my blog.I am gonna talk about France and the USA cause that’s the only two countries I’ve lived for more than one year. The USA seems very sociable, people are doing a lot of small talk and interactions with grocery store cashiers, post office clerks, etc.When I came to the US as a student, I was a freshman, and we had an entire week of freshman orientation, with activities and “get to know each other games”. I thought “great! I’ll make friends very easy!”And in class, we do a lot of group activities and tell a story that happened in our life that is somewhat relevant to the course. The purpose is so other students can relate and maybe become friends.What’s the problem with that you ask? It is forced friendship. From my point of view it seems to me people Americans are forced to socialize, they don’t want to do it anymore. They’ve done it all their lives. And it’s a very individualistic culture, and sharing too much about one’s self might be seen as a weakness.Often when I try to connect with someone after class or a freshman orientation activity, I realize we don’t have much in common and we actually don’t even know to interact with each other.Whereas in France, we don’t have as much activities like to get to know each other. Most of the socialization happens outside of class, at parties, student’s home, and others. And the friendship seems more real because the person is legitimacy interested in pursuing a friendship with you.Something else that caught my attention in the article was American focus more on activities rather than discussions “let’s go to the mall, to the movies, a concert…”.This answer is obviously an exaggeration, which mostly comes from my exasperation of struggling making friends here. I know not all Americans are like that. I would conclude by saying Americans are social on a school level, but at home they prefer being left alone.
It supposedly mean that we care more about our own individual personal well-being and only want change when it offers some benefit to us directly. While some countries in Europe are seen as more collectivist because some have universal healthcare, more assistance to the poor, and gun control, a lot of Americans see this as detrimental because it supposedly gives “free” things to people who don’t “deserve” it or takes away the power of the individual to offer justice as they see fit.Here is the thing: there a lot of Americans that don’t think this way (me included). This, plus things like Medicare, makes me think that America is somewhere in between (where I am from is truly individualistic, and let me tell ya, it ain’t pretty).Does this mean that the US is selfish? OF COURSE. However, I don’t think that automatically makes some of them bad people. It makes them HUMAN, living in a world where I, my loved ones, and those around me are the most important people.Does this mean that European countries are babying their citizens? Maybe. I haven’t been to those countries. Citizens of welfare countries, I would appreciate your comments on this.At the end of the day, you have to choose: give to the unfortunate with the possibility that you are also giving to the undeserving, or keep your hard-earned money with the possibility that you are letting unfortunate people die or live miserably for reasons outside of their control.I choose the former. What camp are you a part of?
Russians don’t trust each other at all compared to other Nothern European countries. That’s why we couldn’t build a local version of Scandinavian socialism. Highly individualistic. But only people’s culture. It’s just my opinion, of course. People are so into tall-poppy syndrome they treat is as a good tradition. E. g. Putin was surely not the smartest guy in Russia. He knew that when he came to power. He was modest. But tall-poppy syndrome cultures dictated to Putin his future behaviour. But he willingly was playing a role of generally approved macho leader or local Lion.For sure, he’s not an evil person. But he promised to go for good from Presidency after 2008. And he returned to power in 2012, poisoned by it like Golum from “Lord of the Rings”. And he let this power to corrupt his vision to make him blind to the modern world - very similar to Alexander I. This tzar was a liberal in the beginning and later became very much un-liberal. Highly individualistic power pattern, no trust to colleagues, even Medvedev. Putin almost doesn’t care about USD/RUR, sanctions and common people dreams in Russia. He cares about HIStory and glorification in future textbooks. And he certaintly didn’t read Tolkien.
Is the USA a Materialistic, Individualistic and Hedonistic society ?
Yes to materialistic and individualistic, and I would add that we are extreme cases of these. Yes also to hedonistic, but I would say we are hedonistic compared to some societies but not most. We are incredibly materialistic, and you can see that in the rates of consumption that we have. We spend lots of money on useless things simply to have the latest and greatest, regardless of whether they serve any function or not. I work with this girl (we make about $10 an hour... and we have college expenses to pay) who bought a $700 hand bag! That is insane! We also fetishize people who amass material things as well (Cribs? My Super Sweet Sixteen? C'mon!). We do this so much, that many people overwork themselves beyond what they would have to if they didnt buy so many cars, TVs, electronics, and clothes. We are incredibly individualistic. There is no sense of the collective in the United States. This comes from our capitalist economy, whereby it is assumed that competition (whereby you outdo your fellows in any way you can, basically) is beneficial to society as a whole. You can see this in things like the Enron situation, where a group of individuals screwed over everyone else for their own personal gain. You can also look at the health care system in the US, that is burdened by elderly people clinging on to life despite debilitating illness... increasing the cost of health care for everyone in the process... when their European counterparts would go home and spend their last days with dignity with their families rather than dying in a hospital bed around strangers. Now, as for hedonism... I dont think we are more extreme than any other society except for maybe the Middle Eastern countries and probably less so than Japan and Europe (which are good analogs due to the fact that they are developed to the same degree that we are), due to the fact that religion still has a massive impact here. I think the media paints a distorted view of how most Americans are... most Americans dont engage in Paris Hilton-esque antics nor do they condone them.
Yes it is, depending on what you consider “significant.” I run 3-day workshops on culture differences; that is how much there is to say about the topic…See also my book “Leading Across Cultures in Practice.”In a nutshell: on the surface, life among developed countries does not look very different. When you look at a deeper level (core values) life in Western Europe is very different among the countries that are located there. These differences refer to how people work together, how they communicate, what is considered a priority, how do teams work, and more.Picking up on the countries you mentioned: US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ all speak English, though with different accents and a somewhat different vocabulary; and they all have very similar core values. All these countries are basically egalitarian, individualistic, performance-oriented, ambiguity-accepting, short-term focused and normative.Europe, however, is quite diverse in terms of core values.Scandinavians and the Dutch, by contrast, are not as performance-oriented as the other countries mentioned previously. The Germans are different in a different way: they are much less comfortable with ambiguity than all the other cultures mentioned. Look to the Portuguese and the Greek and you will find that they are hierarchical, not egalitarian; and collectivistic, not individualistic. The French, on the other hand, are individualistic AND hierarchical, demonstrating that they have some things similar and some things quite different from most others.Culture is a bit like Google Maps: when you zoom out, everything looks similar. When you zoom in, you begin to see the differences.