One Nation Two Cultures has been focused on the American culture from the first chapter. Basically, the author divided the book into sections like religion, law, ethics, culture, and explained each chapter in detail and how it reflects the American society as a whole What I liked the most about the book was how Gertrude Himmelfarb looked at the subject as a sociologist, and so, everything in the book has been about how Americans differed from the British, and how Americans treated different classes living in America.
My favorite section was 'The Ethics Gap' because the facts stated in that section did not only take place in the past, but they are bein repeated over and over again. Today, America has two cultures; one where people are poor, common, religious, do not have a lot of education, and one where people are rich, powerful, fashionable, etc.
Some of the things that were successful about the book were the topics she chose to discuss, the way she combined sociology with the culture, and how she compared Americans with others. I think the book would have been a lot more interesting if the author had not extended her points too much. Also, it was comfusing to understand some of the parts because of the way she kept on bringing in the government, and since there were so many quotes in the book, there really wasn't a lot of the author's point of view.
The sociology in the book was totally realistic because every chapter was related to how certain people act in a society. Whether it was religion, ethnicity, power, money, or law, everything was based on the human behavior. Although the book was really hard to understand with all the outside information, I think Himmelfarb made her point clear; one nation two cultures. The name of the book itself gave away the author's thoughs. She believed that the interaction between people was the reason the country was divided into two.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Commentary
One Nation Two Cultures is about people with different cultures, races, religions, etc, and how they live when they immerge with different people. The book mainly compares British with Ameircans, and it also discusses how Americans themselves have managaed to split America intwo two by separating the rich and the poor, blacks and the whites, liberals and conservatives.
Despite the hatred and isolation, Americans were interested in forming their society unlike Europeans. Americans were trying to educate and help the poor class in the hope to overcome poverty and crime. They wanted to make sure that every class was treated equally. The image that Americans made of themselved was of being talened, successful, liberated, self-sufficient, and selfish after the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution changed their cultural ideas about society, family, law, and religion and made them more civilized.
Through a lot of hard labor and struggle, America managed to civilize itself through industrialization, millions of people immigrating for good, Civil War, two World Wars and the Great Depression; a time very hard on every citizen. Regardless the differences between people, Americans survived both the cultural revolution and the cultural war, and it is an honor for Americans to remain one nation despite the division of cultures into two.
After reading the book, I realized how people react towards others and how we decide to live the lives the way we want to without thinking about the society. It was easy to understand the main point of this book after applying sociology to the text since sociology is mainly about how people interact in a group and how they fit in a certain group. The author was trying to prove how the American society was divided by class, race, religion, and ethnicity. While one side was traditional and religious, the other emerged from the counterculture of the late 1960s and has become controlling.
Despite the hatred and isolation, Americans were interested in forming their society unlike Europeans. Americans were trying to educate and help the poor class in the hope to overcome poverty and crime. They wanted to make sure that every class was treated equally. The image that Americans made of themselved was of being talened, successful, liberated, self-sufficient, and selfish after the Cultural Revolution. The Cultural Revolution changed their cultural ideas about society, family, law, and religion and made them more civilized.
Through a lot of hard labor and struggle, America managed to civilize itself through industrialization, millions of people immigrating for good, Civil War, two World Wars and the Great Depression; a time very hard on every citizen. Regardless the differences between people, Americans survived both the cultural revolution and the cultural war, and it is an honor for Americans to remain one nation despite the division of cultures into two.
After reading the book, I realized how people react towards others and how we decide to live the lives the way we want to without thinking about the society. It was easy to understand the main point of this book after applying sociology to the text since sociology is mainly about how people interact in a group and how they fit in a certain group. The author was trying to prove how the American society was divided by class, race, religion, and ethnicity. While one side was traditional and religious, the other emerged from the counterculture of the late 1960s and has become controlling.
Analysis
One Nation Two Cultures by Gertrude Himmelfarb is a book comparing Americans with British as well as the upper class Americans with the lower class Americans and how people have decided to separate themselves. The mainly discusses topics of this book are civil society, family, law, religion, and ethics.
The American Victorian values were similar to the British Victorian virtues except for a few differences. Between the two countries, America's democracy was better for people. By the middle of the 19th century, Americans started to believe in hard work and personal virtues, and they were able to follow these values due to their religious beliefs. Americans were oriented to their old values and beliefs, and so, America was an excetional country. They still believed in Puritanism and did not abandon it. Because of their beliefs, the Founders did not introduce the idea of virtue in the Constitution.
Despite the conditions of the nineteenth-century America, the Victorian ethos in the new country was similar to those in the old country. In both America and England, ethos was shared by both the working and middle class.
America was mosly and agricultural country where people believed in hard work. People were very family-oriented in the past, but that has changed with time. The most common family system in America is nuclear family where there is a wife, a husband, and 1 or 2 kids. Another common one is patriarchal because even today, men are given more power and so, they are the head of the family, and a less common family is matriarchal. Back in the 1920s, child labor was very common but that has changed now. Today, most of the kids get allowances from their parents to be spent for their personal satisfaction. A huge number of marriages end in divorces and it has been estimated that single-mother households are triple the poverty rate of married couples. Also, boys without fathers have more chances of ending up in jail than those living with both their parents.
Although religion in America is very individualistic and personal, it is still emotional and public. Despite following the same religion, many people have different beliefs and different ways of showing respect for their religion. Issues like abortion, prayer in schools, sexual promiscuity are very different from the earlier issues, but they have the same kind of passion except that earlier such things were more personal and looked down upon and today they are very public.
According to Adam Smith, the one moral divide that he saw in his society which is a part of every civilized society was a class divide; separating the rich and the poor, and the people of fashion and common people. Not only has the country separated by money, but also race, religion, ethnicity, cultural background, etc. People with money and power would rather go to parties, and non-religious events than those without a lot of money who are more religious and have high beliefs. Back in the 1900s, college students approved of casual sex and later on they thought abortion should be legal. But not everyone was like that; some kids were rleigious too. 94% of teenagers said they believed in God, but only half of them attended Church. Such obstacles have divided the country into groups of different kinds of people.
If we look at this book from sociology's point of view, we can see how people react in a society, how they think and what they think. It is us, the poeple who have decided to split up into groups. We have made our social circle limited and any sort of changes are not acceptable to us.
Everything that Gertude Himmelfarb has written in this book is related to how a country can be affected by people's behavior, thoughts, actions, etc. As a sociologist, one looks at others' way of acting towards themselves and others, and from the text of this book, it is clearly explained that due to people, the country has been divided into two.
The American Victorian values were similar to the British Victorian virtues except for a few differences. Between the two countries, America's democracy was better for people. By the middle of the 19th century, Americans started to believe in hard work and personal virtues, and they were able to follow these values due to their religious beliefs. Americans were oriented to their old values and beliefs, and so, America was an excetional country. They still believed in Puritanism and did not abandon it. Because of their beliefs, the Founders did not introduce the idea of virtue in the Constitution.
Despite the conditions of the nineteenth-century America, the Victorian ethos in the new country was similar to those in the old country. In both America and England, ethos was shared by both the working and middle class.
America was mosly and agricultural country where people believed in hard work. People were very family-oriented in the past, but that has changed with time. The most common family system in America is nuclear family where there is a wife, a husband, and 1 or 2 kids. Another common one is patriarchal because even today, men are given more power and so, they are the head of the family, and a less common family is matriarchal. Back in the 1920s, child labor was very common but that has changed now. Today, most of the kids get allowances from their parents to be spent for their personal satisfaction. A huge number of marriages end in divorces and it has been estimated that single-mother households are triple the poverty rate of married couples. Also, boys without fathers have more chances of ending up in jail than those living with both their parents.
Although religion in America is very individualistic and personal, it is still emotional and public. Despite following the same religion, many people have different beliefs and different ways of showing respect for their religion. Issues like abortion, prayer in schools, sexual promiscuity are very different from the earlier issues, but they have the same kind of passion except that earlier such things were more personal and looked down upon and today they are very public.
According to Adam Smith, the one moral divide that he saw in his society which is a part of every civilized society was a class divide; separating the rich and the poor, and the people of fashion and common people. Not only has the country separated by money, but also race, religion, ethnicity, cultural background, etc. People with money and power would rather go to parties, and non-religious events than those without a lot of money who are more religious and have high beliefs. Back in the 1900s, college students approved of casual sex and later on they thought abortion should be legal. But not everyone was like that; some kids were rleigious too. 94% of teenagers said they believed in God, but only half of them attended Church. Such obstacles have divided the country into groups of different kinds of people.
If we look at this book from sociology's point of view, we can see how people react in a society, how they think and what they think. It is us, the poeple who have decided to split up into groups. We have made our social circle limited and any sort of changes are not acceptable to us.
Everything that Gertude Himmelfarb has written in this book is related to how a country can be affected by people's behavior, thoughts, actions, etc. As a sociologist, one looks at others' way of acting towards themselves and others, and from the text of this book, it is clearly explained that due to people, the country has been divided into two.
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