US values list – American Ethos (based on Robin Williams, Jr. 1970)

 

  1. Achievement and success as major personal goals

  2. activity and work favored above leisure and laziness, action/doing over reflection, controlling events and not just letting things happen
  3. moral orientation i.e. absolute judgments of good/bad, right/wrong 
  4. humanitarian motives as shown in charity and crisis aid 
  5. efficiency and practicality a preference for the quickest and shortest way to achieve a goal at the least cost
  6. process and progress, a belief that technology can solve all problems & that the future will be better that the past
  7. material comfort as the US dream
  8. equality as an abstract ideal OR equal opportunity, (not equality of condition)
  9. freedom as a person’s right against the state
  10. external conformity, the ideal of going along, joining, and not rocking the boat 
  11. science and rationality, as the means of masterminding the environment and securing more material comforts
  12. nationalism, a belief that US values and institutions represent the best on earth 
  13. democracy (free enterprise) based on personal quality and freedom
  14. individualism emphasizing personal rights and responsibilities 
  15. racism and group superiority themes that periodically lead to prejudice and discrimination against those who are racially, religiously and culturally different from the northern Europeans who first settled the continent

Work Ethic:

work is a calling, a sacred task, a divine duty as a powerful motive to produce more than what is required to survive;
success is a sign of grace distinguishing those who perform well and those who are lazy or careless, a clear and simple sign of divine favor and inner virtue.
Individuals monitor their own state of grace, responsible for his/her own fate, direct communion with God in Protestanism, never certain that God’s will was being done
Failure must reflect a personal flaw, some lack of moral virtue within the individual
Simplicity in lifestyle, work hard in beginning and then can accumulate capital for investment
Materialism (versus sharing and thus not a universal aspect of human nature), a desire to own and consume goods and services
Conspicuous consumption arose from simplicity as lavish & open displays of wastefulness to impress others

 

 
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Revised: October 11, 2002 .