What's changed?

A quick look at the daily headlines or the recent news reveals that modern American culture has mostly discarded many of the values that colonial America, especially Puritans, emphasized. Starring on the headlines of newspapers, magazines, and websites are scandalous incidents, materialistic ads for new gadgets and widgets, murders and robberies, and political arguments that go back and forth for months and months. What is generally accepted as 'OK' is also moving further and further from Puritan values; this is evidenced by the hook-up culture of college students, a general increase in promiscuity, and is backed up by the overbearing stereotype that Americans are fat and lazy. However, this cursory glance actually misses several aspects of American culture that are harder to measure.

Despite this modernization of culture, caused by industrialization and an increase in materialism, the Puritan value system actually remains in the minds of Americans. The most prominent of Puritan values outside of being deeply religious were salvation, anti-promiscuous-sex, and hard work. The first value is seen in the large population of Americans who identify themselves with a religious group. The specific religion itself does not matter so much, more so the fact that they believe in salvation is important. The second value may be a bit harder to see through all the media jazz and influence. Despite this, studies have shown that a statistically significant portion of the American public, chosen at random, is still against overly revealing clothing, being sexually promiscuous, and still hold conservative beliefs on the issue. These values are shown on not only native born Americans, but also those who have lived in this country for an extended period of time, and have had the culture and beliefs of those around them rub off onto them. The first value, hard work and especially good work, can be seen in the American dream and how it has developed throughout history. The dream itself may have faded through the decades, but the goal behind it and the reason for it are still strong. This belief in working hard for a good life traces itself back to Puritans and their beliefs.

So despite what headlines might say, traditional values are still deeply ingrained into American society and have shown and will continue to show themselves in history.

Stereotypes: We're Stuck With Them

What kind of people use stereotypes? The answer may be startling: every kind of people. Psychologists once believed that only bigoted people used stereotypes, however, the study of unconscious bias has shown that everyone uses it, all the time, and mostly unconsciously. "We have met the enemy of equality, and the enemy is us" (Annie Paul).

In the early 1990's, researchers who studied stereotyping conducted experiments that only tested the conscious side of stereotyping: those that a person chooses to exhibit. Their style of experimentation led to inevitable bias, as its highly doubtful that a majority of people would express their inner thoughts on such a topic. Thus, what was recorded in their 'statistical studies' was actually just scratching the surface of prejudice.

Later, psychologists began to understand the error in this source of data - that the unconscious plays a much greater role in a persons biases and stereotypes than their surface feelings do. A study was then conducted in order to test this theory. Participants were given a random list of names, characteristically 'white' or 'black', and a list of positive or negative adjectives. These were given in pairs, and participants clicked a button to disagree or agree with the matching and the response time differences were marked down to analyze the subliminal influence of stereotypes. By a statistically significant margin, the white-positive and black-negative correlation was shown in both Caucasians and African Americans. Other studies showed a that when given a list of names and chosen to find 'famous people', men are chosen at 2-to-1 ratio to females. As surprising as these findings are, they confirmed many hunches human behavior. Because of these unconscious influences, a person who seems to be a 'bleeding-heart liberal' might be just as biased as a 'neo-Nazi skinhead'.  

These unconscious responses are the main influence in stereotypes. They are based upon our past experiences and situations, or the bias and prejudice passed down onto us from others. Some scientists believe in the truth of stereotypes because of this; however, most argue vehemently against it. "Even if there is a kernel of truth in the stereotype, you're still applying a generalization about a group to an individual, which is always incorrect," says Bargh, Ph.D., of New York University. Whether they are true or not, stereotypes are an unavoidable part of our lives, created and influenced by unconscious choices and reactions we make. 

Good v Evil

What is the basic nature of people : Good v. Evil

People are inherently good. This can be seen in the nature of young children, who have net yet been greatly influenced by the world around them, and are nothing but curious, innocent and good. It is circumstance which influences people to make bad choices and become dubbed as 'evil'. Under the influence of ignorance and confusion, humans act in ways that are deemed evil, but they will strive to be the greatest, kindest, and fairest possible.

This can be seen by Huck's actions and decisions in Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck's personal sense of justice and truth come into conflict with societies views and 'morally acceptable' practices - slavery. Huck, being a semi-improvised white child, has some prejudices against slaves but they aren't nearly as strong in him as in others. Thus, his moral dilemma is such that he is uncertain whether he should help Jim escape with him as he is heading down the Mississippi. Society tells him that he is aided a criminal, and his prejudices tell him he should turn Jim over. However, his own moral beliefs argue against this, and Huck decides several times to help Jim out and not turn him over to the authorities or slave catchers.Thus, he goes against societal views and relies on his own inner good to guide him to the right course of action. This is also witnessed in Huck's attempt to foil the duke's and dauphin's plan of scamming some naive sisters. He tells Mary Jane, one of the sisters, about the swindler's plan to steal the sisters' inheritance, and gives her instructions on how to get their money back. This decision shows Huck's growing maturity and innate moral goodness as he acts on his conscience and takes concrete steps to thwart evil intentions.

Aside from Huck's actions, people in history have also believed in the inherent goodness of people. The transcendentalists, led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, were among the largest group of such people. They emphasized spiritual well-being over all others, and stressed the innate goodness that existed in humans. Despite this, there is much evil in the world, which is evident from the records of history - can all of it be attributed to circumstance?