What values do Americans hold dear? What happens when real-world situations cause those values to conflict? To better understand the intellectual map of how American society works, Arthur G. Neal and Helen Youngelson-Neal analyze values prominent in American word and deed. These values appear in our nation's formal documents-rights and privileges prominently emphasized in the US Constitution and inscribed on the Statue of Liberty. They have shaped the historical destiny and, indeed, include those values most extensively propagated by the general population. Using these criteria, the authors identify individualism, the pursuit of happiness, freedom, consumerism, materialism, equality of opportunity, technology, mastery of the environment, quality of marriage, and national unity as the core American values. Core values provide the raw materials for the construction of contemporary society as a moral community, wherever that community is located. Such values are clusters of ideas that are central to self-identities; they generate a sense of collective belonging and membership. As such, core values define the existing social order and advance a set of ideas for depicting a desirable future. The analysis presented here helps us understand contemporary conflicts inherent in the American value system and the problems confronted by Americans as they try to live within the limitations and contradictions of value systems.

Value Full Life is a framework of eleven core values encouraging us to come together and work toward the growth and development of possibilities and aspirations. These values combine respect for oneself and one’s world, encompassing the development of esteem and honor for our unique individuality and all that surrounds us. Value Full Life is a concise expression of philosophies for living, along with core values that have been relevant to the success of the United States of America. Value Full Life emphasizes a blend of natural science, human history and behavior, and clinical competencies that are relevant from a personal and social system perspective. The author incorporates a historic legacy of wisdom from spiritual traditions, Native Americans, the Founding Fathers, and other American leaders to define a value system that can help bring us together and secure a stronger foundation for future endeavors. The United States, and we as individual citizens, are at an intersection with history. Value Full Life takes into account the many factors that contribute to the urgency of our times including the challenges facing the world today, the political divide in the United States, pace and scope of change, volume of exposure to information, and unprecedented complexity of our modern world. The values emphasized in Value Full Life are stepping stones and belief systems that can inspire healthy perspectives and life competencies.

A sobering account of a disenfranchised American working class and important policy solutions to the nation’s economic inequalities One of the country’s leading scholars on economics and social policy, Isabel Sawhill addresses the enormous divisions in American society—economic, cultural, and political—and what might be done to bridge them. Widening inequality and the loss of jobs to trade and technology has left a significant portion of the American workforce disenfranchised and skeptical of governments and corporations alike. And yet both have a role to play in improving the country for all. Sawhill argues for a policy agenda based on mainstream values, such as family, education, and work. While many have lost faith in government programs designed to help them, there are still trusted institutions on both the local and federal level that can deliver better job opportunities and higher wages to those who have been left behind. At the same time, the private sector needs to reexamine how it trains and rewards employees. This book provides a clear-headed and middle-way path to a better-functioning society in which personal responsibility is honored and inclusive capitalism and more broadly shared growth are once more the norm.

The American society has changed dramatically since the two World War ended. Grab a copy today to find out more! This book is a narrative of the changes in America's values, primarily since WWII. When atomic bombs announced the arrival of science that challenged the security of Newtonian mechanics and as technology distracted us from the importance of ethics and morality, we abandoned or redefined our traditional goals. As we became aware that what we call knowledge is merely an acceptable and useful idea and not a substantial truth, we grow anxious. I offer no absolute plan, but a direction. I intend to reveal some of the many strands of our confusion and thus help clarify the issues that divide us. It is not my intention to tell you what to think but to give you concrete examples to think about. Each chapter focuses on a specific face of American life; together they present a narrative of America's current social dilemma. Like all stories, my book has an "exposition" (Not Too Long Ago, People Knew What They Were About), a "complication" (Then, They Succumbed to the Lures of Technology and Materialism, a "rising action" (And Fell Victim to the Conflicts of the Times), a "climax" (Finally, They Experienced A Fundamental Revolution in Knowledge), a "falling action" (Therefore, We Need to Retool our Minds), and a "resolution" (And to Reestablish Grounded Values). American history, then, especially since WWII, is a dramatic illustration of our ideas about knowledge, ignorance, and faith. It also reveals the confusion rooted in our denial of the paradoxical nature of reality, and by our casual disregard of mortality

Indhold: Introduction: Understanding the Culture of the United States; Traditional American Values and Beliefs; The American Religious Heritage; The Frontier Heritages; The Heritage of Abundance; The World of American Business; Government and Politics in the United States; Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the United States; Education in the United States; How Americans spend their leisure time; The American Family; American Values at the Crossroads;

An inspiring and nonpartisan guide to the ten uniquely American attributes that lead to a better life-just in time for elections! America is a great country, a fact that is often overlooked with all the bickering and negativity in our culture today. And what makes us great, states Bill Halamandaris, are ten core values that have always been found in the spirit of the American people: Compassion, Opportunity, Responsibility, Equality, Valor, Ambition, Liberty, Unity, Enterprise, Spirituality. In 10 short chapters, Halamandaris explains why each of these values forms the foundation of our country, from our Founding Fathers to today's popular culture. He then shows how and why each of us should instill these values in our daily lives, not to return to an outdated ideal or to throw back history, but to step forward together into a brave new world. At the end of each chapter, Halamandaris tells the story of 4 to 5 contemporary Americans who are inspiring examples of lives well lived. Some of these people are famous; most are ordinary people who have chosen to do extraordinary things, like the school girl who has served 350,000 meals to the homeless and the man who has made it his business to hire only people no one else wants. The Heart of America is not about philosophy or finger-pointing at either side in the culture debate; it is a call to arms to be the best we can be every day. The Heart of America Foundation is a national non-partisan, nonprofit humanitarian organization whose mission is to teach the values at the heart of America and to help people, particularly children, learn that they can help themselves when they help others. Their programs include: The Youth Ambassador Program uses dynamic, service-minded youth leaders to inspire children in schools around the country to recognize their potential for social service. Heroes of the Heart recognizes and honors individuals and corporations who perform remarkable volunteer services. The Heart Corps offers financial credits for college to middle school and high school students who volunteer in their communities. Books from the Heart finds books that are not being used and distributes them to needy children and school libraries. Speaking from the Heart is a professional speakers bureau of more than 200 active youth and adult speakers, with all proceeds going to charity. The National Community Fund is an umbrella organization that donates to worthy charities promoting public service around the country.