Through the several interviews I have had about the American way of life, many of the responses were negative. Regardless of the person’s background, majority of them would have a negative tone. Even so, it appears that there were differences in responses. And it depended on how that individual viewed themselves.
Judging on how they spoke of Americans, it was clear how they saw of themselves. There were primarily two groups of people; those who referred to Americans as “we” or “us” and those who called Americans “they.” People who used the terms “we” or “us” were generally those who had tiny and specific things to say about the AWOL. Those people have a first person perspective, therefore were talking about specific activities that are done in America and called those activities the AWOL. When I interviewed my cousin, he described the AWOL as “not a very productive way of life.” He admitted that he played video games and many other non-productive activities. He also added that “we are able to enjoy life in America.” A woman who seemed middle class had a similar response. She said “here in America, we can do whatever we want and that causes for us to not make such good use of our time…Although we waste our time, people here seem to be a lot happier than any other people outside of America.” Both these people lived through the AWOL first hand and were able to point out specifically why this way of life was “not very productive.” But since they live the AWOL (or at least see themselves as living the AWOL), they had some very positive things to say about it. It almost seem as though they did not want their way of living to appear to be all bad. If the person classified themselves as Americans, they would have more positive things to saw about the AWOL, but still openly admit the flaws of it.
The “non-Americans” are not necessarily immigrants, but they are those who do not believe they fit their definition of AWOL or those who try to distant themselves from it. Both groups of people believe that there are positives and negatives found in the AWOL. When my parents were asked about the AWOL, they said “Americans do too many unnecessary things.” Similarly, a male teenager said that the definition of the AWOL was consumption, “Americans are taking up too much of everything that is not necessary.” Both my parents and this teenager have the same perspective. Even though my parents are first generation immigrants and the teenager is a second generation immigrant, both of them try to distant their ways of life from the AWOL. Besides having similar views of the negative aspects of the AWOL, they also have similar positive aspects of it. While my parents talked about the environment, the education, the benefits and the opportunities, the teenager said “The good aspect of the AWOL is that everyone achieves their end ‘goals.’” They both agree on the opportunities that are provided in America.
On the topic of the AWOL, I also interviewed some of my relatives about the the U.S. government. I asked about capitalism and democracy, and whether or not America truly followed those two ideas. Based on my interviews, it seems that ideally these two systems would be mostly good. When I interviewed my older cousin, she stated that both of these allow “people to have equal chances of making money” and “the people can actually express their opinion and have an input on how to benefit their way of living.” Besides showing her view of the two systems, it demonstrates a person living “outside” the AWOL see the AWOL as “equal chances,” being that she referred to Americans as “they.” Out of all the interviewees, no one referred to America as “we” when the topic of government was brought up, which indicates that everyone is somewhat ashamed for the government here in America. Majority of the people believe that capitalism and democracy are both ideally good, but as my cousin said, “America likes to think they’re capitalist and run by true democracy but they’re not.” Most people would agree with this, and that is why some many people try to distant themselves from “Americans” when it comes to the government. Generally speaking, when the topic of U.S. government is brought up, there is one common response: capitalism gives the people equal opportunities to get rich and democracy gives the people a voice, but these do not apply in America.
As shown in these numerous interviews, the responses of each individual can be determined by their reference of Americans. Almost everyone would agree on the flaws of the AWOL, which is the lack of productivity. But when it came to the positive aspects of the AWOL, the responses could be divided into two groups. The people who saw themselves as Americans talked about happiness and enjoying their own way of life. For the people that did not believe they followed the AWOL, they saw positive side of the AWOL as being the governmental benefits and the given opportunities. The difference in optimistic views of two groups of people about the AWOL almost defines the AWOL itself. It appears that the AWOL would be life of the people who see life as an enjoyable experience, which was the typical response of the “Americans.” And for those people, the government was about “expressing their opinions,” which is also not a necessity but more of a privilege. The responses of those who do not follow the AWOL show that America is a place for opportunities and its government was present for that purpose, but having the opportunities was a different story and not a part of the American way of life.
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