The American way of life is an expression that refers to the "lifestyle" of people living in the United States. It is an example of a behavioral modality, developed during the 20th century. It refers to an nationalist ethos that purports to adhere to principles of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It has some connection to the concept of American exceptionalism.

During the time of the Cold War, the expression was commonly used by the media to highlight the differences in living standards of the populations of the United States and Russia. At that time, American popular culture broadly embraced the idea that anyone, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth, could significantly increase his or her standard of living through determination, hard work, and natural ability. In the employment sector, this concept was expressed in the belief that a competitive market would weed out talent and in a renewed interest in entrepreneurship. Politically, it took the form of a belief in the superiority of a free democracy, founded on a productive and economic expansion without limits.

Today, the expression has again become pervasive in popular culture, in part because of its use by President George H. W. Bush (senior), who has stated that "the 'way of life' of the Americans is not negotiable." The expression has come to be associated with over-consumption, exploitation of natural resources, American exceptionalism, and other negative aspects of American culture, and it has negative connotations in many parts of the world.

NARA Director 1999 states: "We are different because our government and our way of life are not based on the divine right of kings, the hereditary privileges of elites, or the enforcement of deference to dictators. They are based on pieces of paper, the Charters of Freedom - the Declaration that asserted our independence, the Constitution that created our government, and the Bill of Rights that established our liberties."

Historical use

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Our way of life is an expression that finds in all the main documents of American history.
Let us see the use of the american itself use this terminology:

• executive Order 10631 Eisenhower August 17, 1955
  

Code of Conduct for Members of the United States Armed Forces:
1)I am an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.
I amended by EO 12633 of Mar. 28, 1988, 53 FR 10355, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 561

• In the 1998 a Powerful Documents Inspire a Nation By Senator Trent Lott:
  

"When the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired, it signaled one of the most significant changes in the human history. "The shot heard ‘round the world" started a struggle for independence not just from England, but from despotism. Our Founding Fathers were literally the first people in history to fight and die for their God-given right to self-determination. When those out-manned revolutionaries beat the English, a bold new way of life was born."

• ethnographic and wildlife Alaska from the early 1920s:

"This extraordinary collection was selected for this preservation project because it is well organized, identified, documented, and published. Photographically, the images are beautifully composed, are in sharp focus, and have been well exposed. As American history, this collection is an important contribution to the chronicle of the time and region, its wildlife and native populations. These photographs document a people and a way of life on the brink of change, just prior to the modern era. We can see a way of life that changed quickly and completely when the radio made possible rapid communication and the airplane became a common means of transportation across such vast distances. Bailey's keen observations led to an outstanding archive of cultural information. His unique visual and documentary record is essential as it comes at a time when the traditional economies and belief system were beginning to change to heavy reliance on objects and behaviors brought about by schools, tourists, the military, and oil field developers."

American way of life in the culture

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Comics

The comic book superhero Superman fights for "truth, justice and the American way." In some modern comic books it has been changed to "truth, justice and hope". However, after the events of "Infinite Crisis," the "Up, Up and Away" story arc firmly re-established Superman's slogan as its original manifestation of "truth, justice and the American way."

American Way is the name of a mini-series being produced by Wildstorm that explores an America where Super-beings exist, but are being used as propaganda by the American Government.

Writers

A lot of American writers describe or refer to the American Way of Life:

In the 1600, Thomas Morton (1579?-1647?), Roger Williams (1603-1683) and Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643).

In the 1800, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), Herman Melville (1819-1891), Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Mark Twain (1835-1910).

In the 1900 Jack London (1876-1916), Theodore Dreiser (1871-1945), Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941), Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953), Clifford Odets (1906-1963), Thomas Stearns Eliot (1988-1965), John Dos Passos (1896-1970), Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) e Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956).

From 1900 to 1950, Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), William Faulkner (1897-1962), Henry Miller (1891-1980), Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), John Steinbeck (1902-1968), Richard Wright (1908-1960), William Saroyan (1908-1981), Nelson Algren (1909-1981), Paul Bowles (1910-1999), Jerome Salinger (1919-vivente), Norman Mailer (1923-vivente), Gore Vidal (1925-vivente).

From 1950 to the present, Jack Kerouac (1922-1969), Allen Ginsberg (1922-1997), William Burroughs (1914-1947) and others.

Music

So some songs of Woody Guthrie (1912-1967) are about the American way of life.

Film

A lot of films show the American way of life. Some of these are:

• Hair, 1979, by Miloš Forman
• JFK, 1991, by Oliver Stone
• Nixon, 1995 by Oliver Stone
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, 1998 based on the book of the same name by Hunter S. Thompson, is self-described in a seemingly-cynical tone as "A Savage Journey to the heart of the American Dream."

Television

• The Simpsons

See also

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• American Way Magazine
• Culture of the United States
• People for the American Way
• Richard Hamilton (artist)

External links

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• American family 1958

American culture | American society

American Way of Life | American way of life | American way | American way of life