Individualism in America?

Question

I have to interview folks for my American Culture class. Can you help?

Age
Sex
Occupation
Ethnicity
Race

1. What is the role of the individual in American Culture?

2. Which is more important, the individual or the state?

3. How much freedom is there for the individual?

4. What makes you a unique individual or personality?

Answer 1

I'd be glad to help.

Age: 20
Sex: Male
Occupation: Military Fiction Author
Ethnicity: I think you mean what nationalities my ancestors were. If so: English, German, Scottish, Irish, Czech, and Japanese.
Race: Caucasian

1. The individual is the main unit in the American culture. It's the single person who does stuff and makes our culture great.
2. The individual is more important because they give the state its power by electing leaders.
3. I think the individual gets quite a bit of freedom. The government has to restrict some of that because of national security and other reasons we don't need to know.
4. I'm a military fiction author who's designed numerous weapons and two of the best military commands possible. I use that knowledge to support the war effor in a unique way and to also try to persuade people that this is the way to go.

Answer 2

Age: 23
Sex: M
Occupation: Electrical Engineering
Ethnicity: European American?
Race: Caucasian

1. What is the role of the individual in American Culture?

The individual is of utmost importance. Its all about personal rights, liberties, and the pursuit of individual happiness. Even though this flies in the face of our official religion, it is still the dominant attitude.

2. Which is more important, the individual or the state?

Obviously the individual.

3. How much freedom is there for the individual?

A very large amount. The better question is, what freedoms don't we have?

4. What makes you a unique individual or personality?

I probably differ from the average American in the sense that I do not feel very connected to a particular ideology or group of people. I'm also not a Christian, making me a minority in the U.S.

Answer 3

Age: 62
Sex: Male
Occupation: Hi-Tech Research/Engineering Consultant
Ethnicity: Mixed. Samauri, Navajo, Celt
Race: Human. Sub-catagorization of 'H Sapiens' is a silly-αssed exercise at best, and a good way to start lots of problems at worst. If it helps, all of my precedents were from Ireland.

1. Individuals don't really seem to -have- much of a role in American Cultire. Everywhere you look society is trying to turn out 'sheeple'.

2. The individual. Without the individual, there -is- no State.

3. A helluva lot less than there was 50 years ago.

4. I refuse to tolerate any s.h.i.t. on any subject from any body (or organization) in any way.

Doug

Answer 4

Age: 25

Sex: Male

Occupation: Spiritual/Mystic writer and guide.

Ethnicity/Nationality: Africans (from which region I don't know), indigenous Natives of America, and I suppose English (I don't really know).

Race: Black/African American. (The Ethnicity question is a difficult one for blacks because of slavery days, it is quite difficult to know from whence places our ancestors actually came from. I only go by what I was told from my grand parents, my Grandmother was mixed, her mother was half white and Native American and her Father was black, but she looked more predominately Native American, my grandfather is similar in that way (he looked African American though), but the Native and white aspect is further back. I don't know much about my Fathers side of the family. You wouldn't be able to tell this much by looking at me, because obviously the more dominate genes are African).

1. To be a consumer, that's what it is when you strip it down to its basis. But the individual can be much more then that, if they apply their rights imbued by, "Natures laws and God's laws."

2. The individual, always. If there was no subject there could be no state. The individual is more important, because the individual actually has more power, they are the power of the state.

3. Depends on how much the individual limits ones self. In America there is probably the greatest opportunity of freedom in the world, but how one utilizes this opportunity means everything.

4. My spiritual/Mystical inclination and philosophical nature.