I believe Wike is correct in assuming that the values gap is shrinking in some areas, especially so with the coming of age of the younger generations. I can see within my very own family how this is true. While my parents are not so accepting of same sex marriage and hold their nationality to be above all others, my siblings and I are the complete opposite. I wonder if this difference in values occurs because of the completely different ways and circumstances we were brought up in.
For example, most of my ideas and values were shaped by the things I learned in school and the things I was confronted with both in and outside of it -- which wasn't much as I grew up in a time of peace. My parents, however, grew up in times of war or immediately after where propaganda was rampant and patriotism to one's country was absolutely essential -- where the man was a "man" and the woman was a "woman."
In certain aspects discussed where Americans and Europeans differ, I am confused and at a loss. Perhaps this is the way I was simply shaped, molded out to be, but I don't understand how most Europeans can believe that "success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control." It doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it's because I am "American" and have been raised with the opposite mentality all of my life where success means striving for a goal and doing everything you can to obtain it, where your failure is determined by how much you alone have yet to sacrifice for your goal.
After reading Wike's article, however, I wonder if this mentality, if this particular form of individuality, is "correct" or if there is even a correct way to think in this respect at all. It has made me view myself in respect to other lands and wonder if my values and ideologies are as right as I was initially led to believe they were.
For example, most of my ideas and values were shaped by the things I learned in school and the things I was confronted with both in and outside of it -- which wasn't much as I grew up in a time of peace. My parents, however, grew up in times of war or immediately after where propaganda was rampant and patriotism to one's country was absolutely essential -- where the man was a "man" and the woman was a "woman."
In certain aspects discussed where Americans and Europeans differ, I am confused and at a loss. Perhaps this is the way I was simply shaped, molded out to be, but I don't understand how most Europeans can believe that "success in life is pretty much determined by forces outside our control." It doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it's because I am "American" and have been raised with the opposite mentality all of my life where success means striving for a goal and doing everything you can to obtain it, where your failure is determined by how much you alone have yet to sacrifice for your goal.
After reading Wike's article, however, I wonder if this mentality, if this particular form of individuality, is "correct" or if there is even a correct way to think in this respect at all. It has made me view myself in respect to other lands and wonder if my values and ideologies are as right as I was initially led to believe they were.
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