True Colors--US values under stress

Since culture is developed so that a group can survive and succeed in a certain enviornment, and since under stress we tend to revert to our most basic (survival) values and behaviors, it is interesting to me to inquire about what the stress of the financial meltdown in the USA tells us about US values. It helps us see our "true colors," so to speak. It is also interesting to question at what point does an envrionmental change become so significant that a cultural value can come into question or a paradigm shift take place. 

With these questions in mind, I have asked friends and observers to reflect on this with me and share their perceptions. The following came from a friend and colleague on the West Coast, Diane Asitimbay. Some of you may familiar with and perhaps use in training newcomers to the US her very fine book, What's Up America?. Diane writes:

"First, I think the American workers' productivity is directly related to job security. In other words, we work so hard because we know that our jobs, and to some extent, ourselves, are a disposable commodity that employers can eliminate at a moment's notice. In other Western industrialized societies where there is more job security, more identity is invested in their job, and so they are out on the streets protesting the employer's practices and lay-offfs rather than blaming themselves. This has to do with the U.S. value of self-sufficiency and it's our fault that we lost our job rather than the forces outside our control or channeling the blame to excessive executive pay or poor labor or investment practices on the part of the employer.

 

"Second, people in the U.S. are so in mired in credit card debt that they feel guilty about this and have their nose to the grindstone working like dogs that they seldom get out on the streets and protest anything in measurable numbers. When people have so much debt, they have less choice, or none at all if they are not willing to risk a great deal.

 

"There is an interview segment in the Michael Moore movie "Sicko" that is particularly acidic and honest when legendary British Labour leader Tony Benn is interviewed by Moore. Benn says: 'Keeping people hopeless and pessimistic--see I think there are two ways in which people are controlled--first of all frighten people and secondly demoralize them.'  

 

"Third, since government help is interpreted not as a good thing but a bad thing by the majority of people worried about losing their individual freedom and choice, most of us have a love/hate or an ambivalent attitude toward government helping them out, even in these economic times. It has to do with our self-sufficiency value again, the idea of " I don't need anybody," whereas the majority of us feel guilty if weneed help. 

 

"More particularly, I love what Obama is doing, given what he inherited from Bush. But I think Obama is riding on his charisma with his government stimulus package and his government intervention. Once this personal halo fades away, a lot of independent, middle of the road people who are currently supporting his policies will probably turn against the government protesting the welfare.  That's not the way I feel but I've heard a lot of business-minded people say negative comments about government regulation for his stimulus packing and in particular, in the banking industry and saying that the government shouldn't be involved at all.

 

"Many middle class people who I talk to say 'Things will get better next year," which to me, reflects that eternal optimism of our people, that it seems nearly impossible to imagine, 'Things could get worse.' I ask them why they think it will get better, and they say, 'It can't get worse.'

 

"Finally, to sum up, our values of self-sufficiency and distrust of government directly influence how we interpret our personal financial failures, foreclosures, credit card debt (guilt, not anger) etc. So an interplay of forces is at work, making it hard to distinguish when one personal value  begins and a cultural value ends. Amen."