worth pointing out that gratuitous violence is a constant theme in U.S. entertain-
ment media, such as movies, television shows, and video games.
According to Bender, expansion has also been an important part of U.S. history
and began when the early English settlers
took possession of lands they alleged to be empty and unused.... Americans came to
associate the meaning of America with anentitlement to unrestricted access to land
and markets. Land, freedom, opportunity, abundance, seemed a natural sequence, which
nourished something of an American compulsion to use new lands and opportunities to
achieve wealth.^24
This perspective was prominent in the United States’adoption of the concept of
Manifest Destiny, a philosophy embraced in the early 1800s to justify an aggressive
campaign of westward expansion and territorial acquisition. Although originally used
to dispossess American Indians and Mexicans, this philosophy stressed that Americans
were the people“who would inevitably spread the benefits of democracy and freedom
to the lesser peoples inhabiting the region.”^25 The frequent U.S. calls for human rights,
free market access, and democratic reforms in other nations can be construed as a con-
tinuing application of Manifest Destiny.
Notions of freedom and independence were continually reinforced during the
formative period of the United States, as settlers unceasinglypushed westward into
new territories. The challenge of developing sparsely populated virgin land also pro-
duced a culture with a strong love of change and the notion of progress. Today,
change is commonly associated with progress, especially when economically
driven.^26 The ability to conceive new ideas and innovative ways of accomplishing
tasks is regarded as a highly desirable attribute. The expectation of frequent changes
designed to improve products, processes, and individual conditions represents nor-
mality among U.S. Americans. The desire for change and innovation pushed early
settlers across the vast wilderness of the North American continent and produced a
national restlessness that now sends men and women on explorations of space. This
can be seen as a continuing manifestation of a cultural heritage that emphasizes
egalitarianism, independence, pragmatism, frequent change, and a willingness to
engage the unknown.Contemporary Social Issues
The United States currently confronts a host of social issues with cultural roots
that could ultimately have an impact on established societal norms and also carry
considerable potential for intercultural conflict. The first is immigration, which is
significantly changing the ethnic composition of the population. Data from the 2010
census show that, collectively, minorities now constitute the majority in many
parts of the United States. Members of different ethnicities, particularly those newly
arrived, usually bring with them worldviews and practices dissimilar to those of
the established majority. This population shift clearly carries the possibility of inter-
cultural discord as new ways and ideals begin to impinge on established cultural
norms. A second prominent source of disharmony is the pronounced ideological
differences behind a number of social issues that are proving exceptionally divisive.
Three of the most contentious are the right to life versus freedom of choice debate,
the argument over same-sex marriage, and the question of school prayer. TheContemporary Social Issues 167Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).