The Is Not Destroying American Culture - 1219 Words

Americans today thrive in a culture obsessed with proving honesty, yet riddled with falsehoods. Through the constant barrage of social media and new technology, opportunities to lie have grown exponentially, and ways to catch someone in the act have only been amplified. However, this is not all new to Americans. Since the birth of this nation, up to the present, and for the foreseeable future, the dance around truth and lie will continue. Everyone is a liar, but nobody wants to be called one. Contrary to the belief of modern naysayers, this philosophy has helped to shape and dictate American life and culture since the Founding Fathers first laid pen to paper for this nation. Dishonesty is not destroying American culture, it is intricately intertwined into the very basis of its identity. A nation cannot function without a healthy level of dishonesty. Contradicting Immanuel Kant’s unwavering optimism in human nature, people are selfish. As with any generalizations, there are exceptions. Of course there are a select few people somewhere in this country that are altruistic, the vast majority of people fall somewhere on a spectrum of egotism. With this in mind, it is wholly impossible to function as a nation with complete honesty. In Kant’s â€Å"On a Supposed Right to Lie for Philanthropic Concerns† he attempts to refute an argument regarding his own dogma of complete honesty being an essential moral code. The challenge to his absolutist statement asserts that if a murderer isShow MoreRelatedWhy I Am My Friend1240 Words   |  5 Pagesthe way our culture has formed. The concept of deception isn’t new to society; lying has been around for ages. People tend to hope that others are telling the truth; nevertheless, most American people have accepted that nearly everyone lies and therefore, that everyone is lied to. Deception is a part of American society and culture, so dishonesty is not destroying America; what’s destroying America is the way in which American people use dishonesty. If we turn to recent affairs in American society,Read MoreAn Analysis Of Sherman Alexie s The Powwow At The End Of The World 1383 Words   |  6 Pagessomething important I was missing, especially since forgive is used a lot and the story of the Native Americans didn t end well. I found that the author, Sherman Alexie, is a Spokane Indian. This is his response to the collective group you, which refers to the European settlers mostly but also encompasses other groups who think the Native Americans should forgive the destruction of their land and culture. This poem expresses how forgiveness isn t something to be expected; the person has to choose toRead MoreCultural Awareness Of Afghanist Afghanistan1122 Words   |  5 Pagesstrongholds can be seen in nearly every aspect of the land, including that of the Taliban. However, the true culture of the land is not a topic that comes up very often. Yet, it is very complex and has spread to regions throughout the world for centuries. Afghanistan is in central Asia and borders several countries including China, Pakistan, and Iran, to name a few. Over the course of centuries, the culture of Afghanistan has grown from the influence of Greek, Buddhist, Persian, and Islam into its own uniqueRead MoreEssay on Race in Silkos Ceremony628 Words   |  3 Pagesthat the American Indians faced at that time in history. She displays this struggle between good and evil in several parts of the book. One is the myth explaining the origin of the white man.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As common in Indian cultures they create a myth to explain why the white people came to them. The author begins to show the Indians feeling of hopelessness by showing in the myth, on pages 132 - 138, that there was no way the Indians could stop the white people from destroying the Indian culture. â€Å"EntireRead MoreThe Bluest Eyes By Toni Morrison Essay1114 Words   |  5 Pagesthe primary struggles African Americans contended with. However, in Toni Morrison’s novel, The Bluest Eyes, it reveals struggles not commonly discussed about, such as internalized racism within black society and the internal conflict with one’s own blackness. Throughout the novel, characters repeatedly try to consume whiteness as a mean to escape their own blackness. They submerge themselves with the notion that the white, Eurocentric culture is the superior culture, and being white means being beautifulRead More Welfare - Greedy Mothers and Lazy Families Essay819 Words   |  4 PagesWelfare - Greedy Mothers and Lazy Families   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Millions of Americans are signed up for welfare; the program designed to aid poor and needy families. Unfortunately, it has now become a way of life for many. Many argue that welfare is not destroying our culture and creating a dependent people who have learned to abuse certain privileges that come with living in America, but history has proven that this is not true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When President Clinton signed the welfare reform bill, he said TodayRead MoreChallenging the Modernity of American Culture: The Howl by Allen Ginsberg1165 Words   |  5 Pagesmodernity of American culture, which enforces the â€Å"best minds† (1) to give up their freedom to conform to the desired sense of normality. Ginsberg states â€Å"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked/ dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix† (9). His expression of Moloch The angry fix is what all of these â€Å"best minds† look for after being stripped of their freedom to conform to the new American culture after World WarRead MoreAnalysis Of The Right Road To America By Amy Chua816 Words   |  4 Pagessociety, it can become a dilemma. Chua expands the idea that foreign languages could be â€Å"destroying our national identity,† (335). Chua’s opening statements draw in the reader’s attention by giving a conflict that could be solved. Chua achieves â€Å"revealing key information† by explaining the conflict in the beginning of the story. By stating â€Å"are too many Third World, non-English speaking immigrants destroying our national identity?† (335), Chua establishes the story’s stakes by informing the audienceRead MoreWild Bees by James K. Baxter1218 Words   |  5 Pagesquestions while reading the â€Å"Wild Bees† by James K. Baxter. The poem addresses a group of boys attacking a beehive in a horrific way, reminiscent to that of genocide. Similar to people devaluing one another, the boys devalue the bees and wind up destroying the beehive. In the poem, Baxter uses the scenario to address people’s tendency to define another individual’s worth and how the affects may lead to violence. Baxter addresses the negative side effects of determining someone else’s valueRead MoreThe Bridge Betrayed And The Buddhas Of Bamiyan1239 Words   |  5 PagesBosnia-Herzegovina, the Serbs and Croats wanted to destroy the Bosnian Muslim symbols, culture, and population. In Afghanistan, the Taliban destroyed the Buddhas of Bamiyan, and in turn, changed the identity of Bamiyan forever. The practice of cultural eradication is not limited to these two cases. Cultural eradication has taken place throughout history involving one group’s desire to transform, absorb, and destroy a particular culture and its’ values. The desire for destruction may seem similar, however, the