Should we get rid of the American way of life?
Yes
Side Score: 8
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No
Side Score: 9
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Moving towards the American way of life necessarily means the slow decay of individual national cultural identities. As these valuable and historically significant cultures vanish, the world will lose cultural diversity - such as in art, music, and literature - that has so enriched humanity’s history. In a world where the borders between states are becoming increasingly symbolic, the loss of diversity between countries will also mean a loss of choice for human beings with the desire to settle in a country that suits their tastes. As America’s culture becomes universal, Americans and others lose their ability to choose, even in the context of that great patriotic American slogan “America, love it or leave it!”. Side: yes
2
points
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No culture in the world can survive in unchanging. In order to survive, the cultures of the world have always - and must always - adapted to new conditions and realities. As America’s global authority increasingly becomes a reality, cultures will begin to slowly move towards the American way of life not as a product of force, but rather as a natural consequence of increased contact with America’s dominant culture. Some cultural institutions will be lost, others will survive, and still others will become altered in reaction to it. Resisting the evolutionary impact of the American way of life would only serve to counteract an extremely important process in the histories of the world’s cultures. Side: No
There's no such thing, and never really was. In 1764 the American way of life was to own a slave, have a wife who couldn't read and spent all day doing dishes and cleaning, and to wear giant wigs because lice was rampant. A hundred years later you couldn't own a slave, but if you weren't a white male you still couldn't vote and it was generally accepted that if you weren't a white male you were just kind of dumb. We went through periods where it was normal to live in a home with a single income. We went through periods where over 30% of the population didn't have a penny to their name. Every five or six years or so fashion changes, music changes, manner of speach among the youth changes. America contains every religion on earth, and you can find a church for every religion on earth in America and America was founded by a group of people who by and large did not believe in religion at all. People have different diets, even those of the same skin color. Within the next few years if it hasn't already happened, there will be no single ethnic majority in America. This idea that there is some kind of American "way of life" is nothing but a bumper sticker and a slogan used by those ignorant of history or who have some altered view of what our history is. So I say no we should not get rid of it, only because it never did, and never should exist. And I believe this is by design. Side: No
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