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Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Speaking as an outsider, it seems that American society is particularly competitive: there's such a strong emphasis on being a 'winner', being a 'success' and making it, and such a huge stigma towards 'failures', and 'losers.' It's ingrained into children from a young age - in school they're called 'losers', 'failures' and this really wrecks their self-esteem. I was talking to one of my American friends about this, he doesn't have a 'regular job', and he thinks that Americans in general tend to look down a lot on say poor people, and say it's usually their own fault. American is said to be the land of opportunity, where anyone can make it, but it's also a land without much of a safety net, where if you're not running hard enough you can fall behind.
I think the spirit of independence is a double-edged sword. On one hand it gives us great individualism and innovation, but on the other, it cares less about the collective wellbeing. It seems in many nations your entire self-worth is tied up in financial success - but in Western nations, this seems particularly the case in the United States. In the world, it seems nations like Korea and Japan are up there. I hear time and time again that Americans are a nation of workaholics, and that if you don't get the right education it can 'ruin your life.' 'You'll ruin your life' is a threat much leveled at high schoolers. Do you think it has gone too far in the US? Has the GFC shown that it's not all about individual effort/merit? Do you think socially speaking American society places far too much emphasis on being a 'winner' that EVERYTHING becomes a competition? Who has the highest paying job, the biggest house, the fanciest car, whose kids are the best in school. Is this just as symptom of individualism taken to the extreme? I see this in religion too. There's a huge emphasis on 'personal' religion in the states, and on things like the 'prosperity gospel' which are foreign in other parts of the world.
I notice this trend increasing in Australia. There's so much pressure on kids, and for many years we've tried to adopt a more 'American' business model. Still, we're not really at the same extreme, with a bit more of a lifestyle/work balance. It's a pity, the US is a great nation, that Americans are only afforded so little time to see their country.
In general, I would agree with your OP. In America, those who don't believe in God simply want to earn as much as possible; those who say they are Christians consider financial success as God's blessing to the obedient (even though many are poor themselves).
Yet many of the uber rich are rich only through rigging the system, through tax evasions, through stock market investments..which are all "trick" ways to get rich. There is a general perception that greed is good, and the more money you have, the better you are morally, the more successful you are, the happier you are...
I believe it started back in the 80's, with the hippies-turned-yuppies. (Not all hippies became yuppies, however.)
There is also a tradition of rugged individualism, and the idea of not asking for help. Weakness as seen as the result of sinfulness, and therefore the poor are pretty much left to themselves. (Of course there are charities, but working for a charity organization is not what most people consider a job to strive to achieve.)
In addition to all this, is the deception that "everyone can make it big." --Incredible, but people still believe it.
The success of our economic system goes to "creative destruction". A new computer, software, car, whatever, will wipe out the previous product that was there or invent a whole new industry. Ford made cars cheaper than owning a horse and cheaper than many other car makers. So he wiped them out, but created a whole new more efficient product and made the car industry more efficient. Microsoft nearly wiped out mainframe computers, not entirely, but took a huge percentage of their business. It could be considered a negative but in the end, creative destruction works to improve our economy and generate jobs.
The success of our economic system goes to "creative destruction". A new computer, software, car, whatever, will wipe out the previous product that was there or invent a whole new industry. Ford made cars cheaper than owning a horse and cheaper than many other car makers. So he wiped them out, but created a whole new more efficient product and made the car industry more efficient. Microsoft nearly wiped out mainframe computers, not entirely, but took a huge percentage of their business. It could be considered a negative but in the end, creative destruction works to improve our economy and generate jobs.
It also works to eliminate jobs.
And, Microsoft is a really bad example. Windows has been created as "closed source," meaning that you cannot modify it, improve it, share it... Microsoft wants you to depend on them (kind of like drug users rely on addiction to stay in business).
As long as people believe that they have to depend on Microsoft, they are not truly free to do with their computer as they want.
No. Losing means that we can learn more ways to improve ourselves, which is noble.
Peace,
brian
Problem is , many dont learn from losing.
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