American Like Me Pdf Free

[Sear Sommerfeldt]

This Pew Research Center analysis focuses on views of the United States, including views of its political system and its cultural exports, among others. For this report, we conducted nationally representative surveys of 16,254 adults from March 12 to May 26, 2021, in 16 advanced economies. All surveys were conducted over the phone with adults in Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.

This study was conducted in places where nationally representative telephone surveys are feasible. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, face-to-face interviewing is not currently possible in many parts of the world.

The U.S. is also widely recognized for its military strength, with a median of 45% across 16 publics describing the U.S. military as above average and a median of 26% saying it is the best. In addition, American universities are largely praised (43% above average, 16% the best).

However, views about American living standards are mixed. In most countries, pluralities say that, compared with other developed nations, the U.S. standard of living is average, although in Greece, Spain, South Korea and Taiwan, about half say it is above average or the best. In Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia, more than four-in-ten think it is below average or the worst.

The U.S. health care system gets poor reviews: A median of 48% say it is below average and 18% consider it the worst among developed nations. Over the past two years, Pew Research Center polls have found that foreign publics are widely critical of how the U.S. has handled the COVID-19 pandemic, and those who believe the U.S. has done a bad job of dealing with the crisis are especially likely to give the U.S. health care system low ratings.

The survey, which was conducted less than a year after international protests erupted following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, finds widespread criticisms about the current state of civil rights in America. Large majorities say discrimination against people based on their race or ethnicity is a serious problem in the U.S., and in most countries, majorities say it is a very serious problem. And while many say discrimination is also a serious problem in their own countries, they consistently say discrimination is worse in the U.S. than in their country.

Respondents who place themselves on the left of the ideological spectrum are especially likely to say discrimination in the U.S. is a very serious problem. For example, 81% of Canadians on the left believe it is a very serious problem, compared with 66% of those in the center and 52% of Canadians on the political right.

Americans are also critical of other aspects of their society. Roughly four-in-ten (42%) think discrimination based on race or ethnicity is a very serious problem, and 32% say it is a somewhat serious problem. Black (93%) and Hispanic (82%) adults are significantly more likely than White adults (68%) to describe discrimination as at least a somewhat serious problem. Democrats (94%) are also nearly twice as likely as Republicans (49%) to say racial and ethnic discrimination is a serious issue in the U.S.

Roughly half or more in every non-U.S. society surveyed describe American technological achievements as above average or the best, compared with other developed nations. Outside of Germany, where only 52% say this, in all of the advanced economies polled, about two-thirds or more hold this view. In Greece, 45% specifically describe American technological achievements as the best, as do 38% in South Korea and 31% in Taiwan. Few or none describe American technological achievements as below average in any place surveyed.

American entertainment, including movies, music and television, is also well-regarded: Around two-thirds or more in most publics surveyed describe it as at least above average. Around a third in Greece, Japan and Singapore even describe American cultural exports as the best, while around a quarter or more say the same in Spain, Belgium, South Korea and Canada. In no place surveyed do roughly one-in-ten or more say American entertainment is below average.

Roughly half or more in 15 of 16 non-U.S. publics surveyed describe American universities as at least above average. Greeks, South Koreans, Japanese and Singaporeans are particularly effusive, with around a quarter or more calling U.S. universities the best relative to other developed nations. Germans and Australians, on the other hand, offer more mixed evaluations, standing apart as the only two places where fewer than half describe U.S. institutions of higher learning as above average. Still, no more than 14% think American universities are below average in any of the publics surveyed.

When it comes to the American health care system, evaluations are even poorer. In most places, a majority says the American health care system is at least below average, including around two-in-ten in Australia, Belgium, Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, New Zealand and Sweden who say it is the worst among developed nations. Only in Taiwan, Greece, Japan and Singapore do at least a quarter describe it as above average or the best.

When it comes to evaluations of the U.S. across these dimensions, a few patterns stand out. First, younger people tend to be more complimentary than older people. For example, younger people are more likely to describe American entertainment products as above average than older people. Age differences can be substantial: In Taiwan, for example, 84% of adults under age 30 describe American entertainment products as above average, compared with only 39% of those ages 65 and older who say the same.

Younger people in some places are also somewhat more likely to praise the American military, universities and technological achievements. For example, two-thirds of New Zealanders under 30 say American universities are the best or above average, while only around four-in-ten of those 65 and older say the same.

Ratings of the political system in the U.S. are generally lukewarm across the 16 advanced economies surveyed. People are split on how the U.S. political system is functioning, with a median of 50% saying it works well and 48% who disagree. Assessments vary widely, ranging from 80% in South Korea who rate the U.S. political system positively to only 30% in New Zealand.

Yet, despite relatively positive views when it comes to American personal liberties, publics express a great deal of concern about discrimination against people based on their race and ethnicity in the U.S. The survey was fielded nearly a year after anti-racism protests broke out across the globe, sparked by the killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans by police.

Between 82% and 95% in every public outside of the U.S. believe this kind of discrimination is at least a somewhat serious problem, and more than four-in-ten call it very serious. A median of only 9% say discrimination in the U.S. is not too serious or not a problem at all.

The level of discrimination against people based on their race or ethnicity reflects poorly on the political system in the U.S. People who think discrimination is a very serious problem are less likely to think the U.S. government respects the personal freedoms of its people. And in every public surveyed, people who think discrimination is a very serious problem in the U.S. are less likely than others to say the political system works well and to think democracy in the U.S. is a good example for other countries to follow.

In many places, adults under 30 and women are more likely to say discrimination based on race or ethnicity is a very serious problem in the U.S. than older people and men, as are people who place themselves on the left of the political spectrum. A median of 71% of those on the left say discrimination is a very serious issue in the U.S. By comparison, a median of 49% of those on the right hold this view. For example, in Sweden, 60% who place themselves on the ideological left say discrimination in the U.S. is a very serious problem, compared with only 35% on the right who say the same.

I'm not sure anyone knows what the American Dream is; ask a hundred people and you'll get a hundred different responses, like asking a hundred people to define God, or postmodernism. I'm also not sure I'm its target audience, because for all its vague fantasies of universal opportunity and exceptional potential, I'm always more drawn to rebuttals: Noah Cross, all leering terror, absconding with his granddaughter (daughter! granddaughter!) at the end of Chinatown; Daniel Plainview beating a preacher to death with a bowling pin at the close of There Will Be Blood. Or maybe I'm just someone who wants to hear both sides, which would be just one reason that I want to hear The Jackson 5's "I Want You Back," and right now, please.

I consider "I Want You Back" to be the best pop record ever made, by such a wide margin that I can barely entertain a conversation. It's three minutes of shimmering and sustained explosion. I can't remember where and when I first heard it but I've wanted to listen to it forever ever since.

Of course, the problem with three minutes of perfection is that it ends, and "I Want You Back" carries all the disquieting histories that came after it. For starters, the Jackson 5 were the first definitively post-Detroit Motown act ("I Want You Back" was recorded in Los Angeles), and while it's simplistic to draw a connection between Motown's departure and the city's post-industrial decline, the symbolic significance is hard to miss. And it wasn't just Detroit's loss: Motown's westward move marked the label's gradual fall from the pedestal it inhabited for much of the '60s, and the Jackson 5 were the last group Gordy truly "broke" in the way he'd broken so many others. While Motown continued to enjoy success, its luster began to fade, the Sound of Young America becoming the sound of a graying nostalgia.

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