American means to be proud. It means to stand up for what you believe in and to fight for it. American also means to have freedom, freedoms to do what you wish, to practice your own religious ceremonies, customs, and beliefs. With these freedoms comes a responsibility, a responsibility to be accountable for your actions. America isn't perfect, but it is one of the only countries that have rights given to people of different diversities and gender.
Most people find it very hard to pull up roots in their native land and move to a strange country. Throughout history, countless millions of people have done so. People forsake their homeland and move to America for various reasons.
America is one of the only countries that women have the same rights as men. In some countries women are still totally dependent on men, and they are still fighting for their voting rights and for their right to obtain education. American women are no longer seen as simply a supportive base for men. Rather they have graduated to the same level as them and in many areas they have already left them in the dust.
America's freedom brings people from all over the world especially from those countries where culture, family or religion does not allow their own people to be themselves. In some countries one is not allowed to wear certain kind of clothes, or have a different hair style, some religions does not even permit the women to get their hair cut. There are also people who feel attracted to people of the same sex, and come to America because they can be punished in their countries.
What most attracts people to America has long been economic opportunity. America is known as the land of opportunity for many immigrants who dare to dream of a better life. Since the beginning of American history, United States has focused more about equal opportunity than any other country. There are many people who strongly believe that once they come to the United States it is almost guaranteed to find success, but to achieve success one have to work hard, persistently, and efficiently. Efficiency is another important value to
Americans, who have recently become obsessed with speed. Americans are a very fast paced culture who loves to have plenty of fast-food stores, quick
internet shopping available and instant messenger.
The history of immigration to America has greatly shaped America's culture. Instead of having one basic set of customs and beliefs, America has so many that there are no dominant viewpoints. America is like a melting pot in some ways, and a tossed salad in other ways. Each immigrant brings some of his homeland's culture with him, and some parts of his culture will melt with others, and some will stay intact (like all of the different pieces of a salad).
As mentioned before, immigrants saw America as a land of opportunity,
and in America we still hold onto the belief that no matter how poor a
person is, they can always work to a higher position in life. It
doesn't matter who you are.
Terrorism in the past decade has brought many issues concerning the immigration into America. Immigration has both positive and negative impact. Immigration contributes to cultural diversity, which enriches many aspects of society, such as cuisine and fashion. Immigration contributes to a more diverse gene pool, which lowers the risks of dangerous genetic diseases. Immigration creates a pool of consumers for a variety of goods and consumers. Apart from these aspects, immigrants also contribute to national economy by paying sales taxes, real estate taxes, auto insurance, home insurance and other contributions. On the other hand, the most fundamental problem of immigration is increase in the rate of unemployment. Immigrants compete with locals for obtaining jobs. Another problem of immigration is increase in population. Increased population leads to various ramifications including shortage of land, water and other valuable resources. Apart from that, more the population more is the damage caused to the environment. States need to provide funding for the purpose of organizing rehabilitation programs to those who had migrated into the country illegally. Other problems include communication gap, terrorism, increased crime rate, racial discrimination and loss of cultural identity.
