Writing across culture
On page 13, the author discusses the contradiction between the United States and sweden in terms of honesty and it's expression. In Sweden, there is a strong commitment to social welfare, but can seem cold on an individual level. In the United States, we have little concept of true community yet are generous when it comes to helping out our neighbors.
My response to this was one of agreement. I have traveled throughout a few collectivistic cultures and felt this perceived coldness. After reading this passage, it makes total sense to me that the system in a given country would have a major influence upon how the individual citizen responds in social interactions. My father is from England and when I visit my family there and they visit here, I notice this stark difference in culture. This was strange to me at first when the foreign culture speaks my mother tongue, that there would be so much difference. For instance, when I was in England in the early 1990's for the first time, I had only met one of my cousins and my aunt before. I relied upon them for guidance through the country, just as an american would give a tour in the United States. But they did not give me any such tours, and I was left alone often to figure out the system there myself. I was in deep culture shock and totally relieved when I got home to the U.S. Nowadays, I know to ask for help from the whole community rather than just a few individuals.
The other concept which caught my attention was the the different definitions of freedom on page 15. The Swedes, and in most Nordic countries, see freedom as being free from a certain lot in life, whereas, the U.S. sees freedom as having the freedom to act how one wants as long as no one gets hurt.
This latter belief has created so many problems worldwide that I don't even know where to begin. There is a problem here because there is always a means to justify the ends. In other words, if you can find a way to make the way you are acting feasible and necessary, (i.e. the Vietnam and Iraq wars), than an individual with a low sense of social responsibility combined with low morals is going to do whatever they please.
My response to this was one of agreement. I have traveled throughout a few collectivistic cultures and felt this perceived coldness. After reading this passage, it makes total sense to me that the system in a given country would have a major influence upon how the individual citizen responds in social interactions. My father is from England and when I visit my family there and they visit here, I notice this stark difference in culture. This was strange to me at first when the foreign culture speaks my mother tongue, that there would be so much difference. For instance, when I was in England in the early 1990's for the first time, I had only met one of my cousins and my aunt before. I relied upon them for guidance through the country, just as an american would give a tour in the United States. But they did not give me any such tours, and I was left alone often to figure out the system there myself. I was in deep culture shock and totally relieved when I got home to the U.S. Nowadays, I know to ask for help from the whole community rather than just a few individuals.
The other concept which caught my attention was the the different definitions of freedom on page 15. The Swedes, and in most Nordic countries, see freedom as being free from a certain lot in life, whereas, the U.S. sees freedom as having the freedom to act how one wants as long as no one gets hurt.
This latter belief has created so many problems worldwide that I don't even know where to begin. There is a problem here because there is always a means to justify the ends. In other words, if you can find a way to make the way you are acting feasible and necessary, (i.e. the Vietnam and Iraq wars), than an individual with a low sense of social responsibility combined with low morals is going to do whatever they please.