USA, the Wealthy Nation

US population is only 5 % of the world’s total population, but they use 25 % of the world’s energy/year, and generate 3.5 kg of trash and garbage/person/day.

From Producers to Consumers

• In the 1700s and 1800s the Americans thought of themselves as producers rather than consumers.

• In the 20th century, the Americans began to • In the 20 century, the Americans began to think of themselves more as consumers than as producers, esp. due to the mass advertising through radio (since 1920s) and TV (1950s).

• American economy greatly depends on consumerism.

How Americans Spend Their Money

Retrieved from: http://www.akpace.com/tag/money

Retrieved from: http://consumerist.com/2008/02/how-you-spend-your-money.html

What American Consumer

Like

Comfort

Cleanli-

ness

Conve-

nience

To compensate

the tough life in

the frontier ages

Puritan’s insistence

on cleanliness;

“Cleanliness is next

to godliness”

Novelty

Driven by Americans’

pride in

inventiveness

Emerged fast-foods,

automatic appliances.

But Americans keep

on being busy in

inventing new things

Effects of Technological Abundance

• Change in TV viewing habits: Besides the commercial TV networks (NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox) many public TV stations offering educational and cultural programs and hundreds of cable TVs offering special sports or entertainment emerged

• Since the public TV stations and cable TV • Since the public TV stations and cable TV channels contain no advertisement, companies promotes their products through the placement of their goods in movies or shows,

• Advertisements are now also placed in internet.

• In 2000, more than 50% of American household had one or more PCs.

• Americans now tend to look at their computer as a TV, DVD player, Stereo set, and communication media.

The Ever-Expanding Pie?

• During the first 200 years have the Americans always thought that North America was an ever-expanding pie. In most other countries in Europe, people believed in that the rich had a larger piece of the pie, but in America they have believed in that the pie just continued to grow and so all people, rich and poor, just could get a bigger piece of a bigger pie. In the 1900’s the bigger piece of a bigger pie. In the 1900’s the Americans believed that the pie would grow bigger and bigger because of new products and techniques, and it would last as long as they could see in the future.

• The belief in an everlasting heritage was a good thing, it made America to an optimistic country and the people had more confidence that human problems could be solved.

Or the Decline of American Abundance?

Over the last few decades the American

economy has had its up and downs. The 1980’s

and 90’s brought a general turn in the economy,

The poor got poorer and the rich got richer, and The poor got poorer and the rich got richer, and

they were not able to live out The American

Dream. Many Americans have problems keeping

up the rising costs, particularly for housing.

What of the Future?

• It is uncertain whether the American position in global economic will remain, especially with the many competitors, crisis’s, upturns, and downturns.

• One thing is certain though; the American tradition and lifestyle of this ever been abundance will remain the values of the American people. values of the American people.

• However, when there is a decline in the abundance, there will arise many positive side effects, such as the global warming situation, which resulted in many Americans now recycling aluminum and tin cans, plastic bags and so on. Children also learn about environmental issues and how to treat the environment properly in school.

References

Althen, Gary. 2003. American Ways: A Guide for Foreigners in the United

States. Maine: Intercultural Press.

Bigsby, Christopher. 2006. The Cambridge Companion to Modern American

Culture. New York: Cambridge University Press

Datesman, M.K., Crandall, J., & Kearny. 2005. American Ways: An Introduction

to American Culture. New York: Pearson Education Inc.