<< Understanding America >> If three American people are talking together, and a fourth one joins the conversation, he will gregariously interrupt the conversa

<< Understanding America >> If three American people are talking together, and a fourth one joins the conversation, he will gregariously interrupt the conversation to talk about himself. Why? In America, everything is about individualism. People are supposed to be different from each other. Everybody may not have a job, but people understand it as 'The American Dream', just one of the ways in which people dream of being more different by being successful. As a result, not everybody has money to live, but this is understood as a necessary sacrifice. American individualism means that people love guns and are okay with each other having guns. Often times this means that people will live apart from each other in the country in large mansions and in seeming happiness. People also live together in large interesting cities, like New York or San Francisco, but when they do so, they make a point to appear different from each other. How have they achieved this? To understand the American way, you must understand a few concepts that are deeply rooted into the culture. < Cowboy role model > The Cowboy adhered to a way of life, ethics, rules, and a code that spread to all branches of society, and even today affects the way the American thinks. - The Horse offered the Cowboy a sense of independence and self-sufficiency. - The Frontier taught them to be ruthless and self-motivated. - The Town taught them diversity and how to interact with many different kinds of people, including bartenders, sherrifs, outlaws, townspeople, and other cowboys. - Justice, and honor are central. Toughness, manliness, concealed emotion, independence, and resourcefulness are important key values. Though the cowboy no longer exists, this way of viewing life is ever-present in society. Students quit school early to seek independent projects they call 'Entrepreneurs'. Workers within a company see each other as opposing cowboys. The American is independent, performance-oriented, and mercenary at work. He/She tries to improve themselves every day and to move from company to company, just as the cowboy galloped across different terrains in their time.