American Values

In 1970, a sociologist by the name of Robin Williams brought forth ten core values in which he gave them the name of the "American Values." Values are the standards by which members of a culture distinguish what is desirable from what is undesirable. These values include: Equal opportunity, Achievement and success, Material comfort, Activity and work, Practicality and efficiency, Progress, Science, Democracy and enterprise, Freedom, and Racism and group superiority.

One of Williams' American Values that I disagree with is Equal opportunity. Of course, I do believe Equality and Equal opportunity should be a core value of the U.S. but I do not believe that it is. Even in today's world there are still jobs in which men receive a higher salary than women. And of course there are some careers in which women make more than men. Women have much less of an opportunity than men to find a career in construction, plumbing, electrical and mechanics. Have you ever walked into a mechanics shop and seen a woman working at any other place other than a desk? At least 9 out of ten times, I'm sure you haven't. Another example of the lack of equality in this country is the right to be wed. Same-sex couples have not received that right without fighting for it and even still, it is only legal in 6 U.S. states which include: Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. As a human being, every single one of us deserves to be treated the same. No gender, race, religion, etc, deserves to receive any type of special treatment nor should any be looked down upon.

Similarly to Equal opportunity, I agree that Activity and work should be a core value but once again I feel that it is not. Robin Williams believed Activity and work are favored above leisure and laziness. I do not believe that is true. For example the adult obesity rate in the U.S. is 35.7%. Some may argue that fast food and an unhealthy diet contribute to that

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