Paradise for American Men - Two Centuries of Storms and Sunshine in the United States

Author: Beiwen (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-10-01
Features: "As long as we can dream it, we can achieve it!" This is the declaration inscribed on the west gate of the Kennedy Space Center in the United States, and also the indelible mark in the hearts of every American citizen. For a full century, the United States has stood proud as a global superpower. In 1978, China and the United States reopened the door to bilateral relations. Today, the two countries are comprehensively building a constructive partnership in the 21st century. Without a doubt, the United States, as China's most important diplomatic counterpart globally, is the most prominent external force influencing China's economic development, national security, political stability, and national unity. On the other hand, the United States is also China's largest economic and trade partner, engaging in close and frequent cooperation and exchange with China in fields such as education, science and technology, and culture. By the mid-1990s, the shadow of past American imperialism had already faded from the eyes of the Chinese people. Today, for many, the United States embodies three meanings—America in the context of popular culture, a paradise for enjoying life, where Hollywood movies, the NBA, McDonald's, and KFC sweep across China's major cities with their unique charm; America in the context of education and culture, the pinnacle of the ivory tower, where TOEFL, GRE, and GMAT have become hotly pursued goals for many Chinese, with over a hundred thousand Chinese students flocking to the United States, making it a dream destination for young Chinese; and America in the context of political culture, a symbol of "freedom and democracy." In reality, America is simply America. The people of the United States, after over two centuries of hardship and trials, have forged a unique national character and philosophy of survival. Today, Americans are no longer Europeans, even though they once were. Since the landing of the Mayflower at a place called Virginia, Americans have continuously distanced themselves from Europe. Seeking freedom, the Puritans and other small groups deemed heretical by the British voluntarily emigrated, and in their pursuit of religious faith, they shaped the core concept of American culture—"freedom." The cultural ideal of freedom and religious pluralism gave Americans a courage they had never known before. These factors enabled them to establish a completely new nation in 1776 on the basis of the "social contract." The Declaration of Independence explicitly granted all American citizens the right to "pursue happiness," with no one excluded. Together with the Constitution that followed, it established the American capitalist system and laid the foundation for American political culture. The flower of democracy from Europe bloomed fruitfully in the United States. After gaining independence, the United States entered a period of self-shaping, taking shape through political integration during the Civil War. Subsequently, the United States became a world economic superpower with unrestrained capitalism. Its rapid rise also demonstrated the pioneering spirit of the American nation and deeply rooted this trait in the hearts of Americans. In 1918, President Wilson entrusted the United States with the duty of promoting democracy and free trade: this kind of "democratic imperialism" has continued to push the United States toward today's "liberation of Iraq" war. The "melting pot" and "mosaic" have also become characteristics of American national culture, reflecting the contradictions of fusion and conflict in American culture. Issues such as racial problems in American society, American-style chauvinism, and xenophobia can all be explained through this lens. American culture is a product of the continuous conflict and integration of diversity. Foreign cultures, whether introduced through immigration or other means, are not assimilated or fragmented in the United States—this is the charm of American culture. Engels once remarked on his impression of the United States: "America is a new world. 'New' here does not only refer to the time of its discovery but to all its institutions. This progressive nation, which experiments with every new improvement purely from its own practical interests, implements it almost the next day if it is deemed good. In America, everything should be new, everything should be reasonable, and everything should be practical." Valuing science, education, and continuously advancing technological innovation have been powerful driving forces for the U.S. economy. The highly developed and sustained growth of the American economy relies on the long-term stability of its political system. However, problems such as unequal distribution of social resources, racial discrimination, high crime rates, and drug abuse can also be traced back to the U.S. political system. The decentralized political power in American society also ensures that while maintaining political stability, the country must undergo self-regulating mechanisms to achieve certain social changes, update laws and administrative regulations, and mitigate social conflicts and tensions. The U.S. leadership group and various strata of society engage in fierce debates over policy issues. However, the mainstream ideology of the United States maintains a high degree of consistency and continuity through these ideological clashes. The American nation has a very strong sense of national identity and deeply loves their country. In the United States, any citizen can criticize any aspect of the country's system, culture, traditions, policies, or leaders, even with harsh criticism, which directly contributes to the of American hegemonic consciousness. Their hegemonic form is not only backed by military power but also involves promoting the export of goods and capital with one hand while advancing ideological expansion and religious-cultural penetration with the other, complementing each other until today. Can the United States be considered a civilization?—a leading or a lagging one? But there is no doubt about its enterprising spirit. Wherever we are, we can feel the real presence of the United States. In China today, we often consume American products, and this almost omnipresent, hard-to-refuse "American culture" both stirs our passion and makes us deeply reflect—when it comes to these American-made goods, we can only choose to like or dislike them, but we have no right to refuse. The measure of a nation's civilization—does not lie in how many dreams its children have had, but in how many of those dreams have been realized today. Whether it is the American Dream or the Chinese Dream, we believe that humanity's pursuit of happiness is the same. In light of this, we have planned and published the "American Storm and Turmoil in Two Centuries" series (including "What Did the War Give to America," "America's Redemption," "The American Spirit," "The Key to Truth," "Heaven, Hell, and Battlefield," "America, the Paradise of Men," "America, the Unforgettable Sin," "The Backbone of America," "Life in the Left Hand, Faith in the Right," and "The Birth of a Super America"), with the aim of introducing a comprehensive picture of the United States from different perspectives. Everything about the United States has its own standards. We are not trying to flatter anyone; we merely wish to use the principle of "a stone's throw can help one's own garden" to inspire our fellow countrymen.