When the question of what is something you’ll find or see “only in america” came into play at the beginning of class yesterday many ideas popped into my head. It wasn’t just the positive things but i also thought of negative things that occurred “only in america.” As the class moved along we watched a short interview that brought something very compelling and a point that i hadn’t thought about before. The thought that America was derived from a population that was risk taking and on their feet at all times struck me because of my recent experiences in New York City. I only really noticed in the last year or so how New York City is a constant rush. People running from office to office, the bright lights at any time of the day and how millions of people every day walk the streets without noticing their surroundings. These characteristics of New York are a makeup of the people that live there. The constant drive to do well and succeed as well as the consistent competition is a result of our ancestors and their characteristics. They came from all over the world with a huge risk in starting a new life in a foreign country. Ultimately, however, they founded a country that is dedicated, driven and willing to risk anything to succeed.
-Eli Cattan
Like Eli, my perspective of the statement “only in america” changed after watching the short interview in class. To be honest, when we were first asked to think of something that would you would see “only in america,” I first thought of negative examples. Maybe it’s because of the current state of animosity and chaos that is happening in our country but after watching the video, I was surprised to realize a different perspective. What never really came to my attention was that people who came to America were all risk takers, like Eli mentioned, and that they weren’t going to remain subservient to what they had in their homeland when they wanted more. I do agree with Eli that the hustle and bustle is partly derived from these qualities of immigrants that arrived in America. But I think the statement “only in New York City” would differ greatly from the original statement of “only in America.” Our discussion in class acknowledged that the rest of America isn’t like New York City so we should be cautious in accepting things that would only happen in New York City and that they would happen in the rest of the country too, but this is not always true.
When I first heard of the phrase “only in America”, I immediately thought of the positive things that differentiate America from other countries across the globe. For instance, the first thing that came to my mind was America’s endorsement of many forms of freedom such as freedom of the press and freedom of religion, most notably the freedom of speech. In many countries today people aren’t able to experience the stupendous degree of freedom in their home countries like the Americans, and thus it is appropriate to assume that “only in America” does such endorsement exist. Also, Eli, I want to add that the phrase “only in America” actually varies with time. What used to belong only to America may no longer belongs to it now. For instance, when America sent a man onto the moon in 1969, people from all over the world would say “only in America” does such highly-advanced and innovative technology exists, capable of sending a man to the moon across the distance of approximately 239,000 miles. However, today, other countries such as China and Japan also possess the adequate technological tools and mindset to accomplish such an audacious feat.
Lastly, however, I would like to disagree with you a bit regarding your claim that only in America, especially in NYC, would we be able to see people rushing and running from office to office. Two years ago, when I went on vacation overseas to Hong Kong, I also experienced the same caliber of rushing and hustle there. As I was casually strolling in the morning, there were several individuals right behind me who would say “Excuse me” and “Move faster” in a somewhat sarcastic tone, and rushed to the proximate subway station. One of them even said “People gotta take the subway to work, bro” and shoved me to one side. The constant rushing of people to go to work certainly isn’t the only thing that’s can be seen “only in America”.
I completely agree that the video we viewed in class changed my perspective on the “Only in America” phrase. As shown in our class discussion, the phrase seems to have a mostly negative connotation nowadays. However, only in America do we live in a country that’s entirely built off of immigrants, and that’s truly an incredible thing, considering all that our ancestors have done for us and the country that they’ve built out of their hard work and dedication.