United States values

   For this entry we had to read THE ´VALUES AMERICANS´ LIVE BY (L. Robert Kohls, Ph.D). This document resumes in 13 values how USA citizens behave or what they believe, although I believe that the article talks more about attitudes instead of values, also is to contradictory and is a lie because first they said that in this country all people are seen as the same, which is a total lie but paragraphs later they mention that they love their individuality and they are all seen as individuals instead of a group, so?

To resume the lecture, here are the 13 ´values´ with a briefly description.

1. Personal Control over the Environment/Responsibility. Man should control Nature, rather than the other way around, also they said that people believe that every single individual should have control over whatever in the environment might potentially affect him or her. 
2. Change Seen as Natural and Positive. change is seen as an indisputably good condition, USA citizens have considered them to be true and have acted as if they were, thus, in effect, causing them to happen.
3. Time and its Control. delayed gratification. Language is filled with references to time, giving a clear indication of how much it is valued because considering time to be important allow them to accomplish more than if they  “waste” time.
4. Equality/Fairness. Assertion that all people have an equal opportunity to succeed in life.
5. Individualism/Independence. They resist being thought of as representatives of a homogeneous group., they do join groups but they still believe they are just a little different, just a little unique, just a little special, from other members of the same group and finally they leave those groups.
6. Self-Help/Initiative. A person can take credit, only for what he or she has accomplished by himself or herself without any outside assistance, also this is something reflected by the more than 100 words as: self-aware, self-confident, self-conscious, self-contented, self-control, self-criticism, self-deception, self-defeating, self-denial, selfdiscipline, self-esteem, self-expressions, self-importance, selfimprovement, self-interest, self-reliance, self-respect, self-restraint, self-sacrifice, etc.
7. Competition. They believe that competition brings out the best in any individual.
8. Future Orientation. Future would bring even greater happiness.
9. Action/Work Orientation. Plan and schedule an extremely active day, it seems reasonable to speak about the “dignity of human labor,” meaning by that, hard, physical labor. In America, even presidents
   of corporations will engage in physical labor from time to time and in doing so, gain, rather than lose, respect from others for such action.
10. Informality.They represent this by the way they dress (jeans, sneakers, t-shirts) and also by they greetings (hi).
11. Directness/Openness/Honesty. They preferred the most direct approach possible. They are likely to be completely honest in delivering their negative evaluations, and to do so publicly.
12. Practicality/Efficiency.  extremely realistic, practical and efficient people. The practical consideration is likely to be given highest priority in making any important decision in the United States.
13. Materialism/Acquisitiveness. They value and collect more material objects than most of the world’s people would ever dream possible to own. It also means they give a higher priority to obtaining, maintaining and protecting their material objects than they do in developing and enjoying interpersonal relationships with people.