The Young The Rich And The Famous Sponsel

“The Young, the Rich, and the Famous: Individualism as an American Cultural Value,” written by, Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel relates to values and beliefs of different cultures. These include greetings, jobs, relationships, welfare, and even finances. I have never realized how different some cultures really are. Individualism is strongly touched upon in this short story. My first reaction when reading this was disbelief. I could not understand or believe how different we really are from other cultures. The main topic of this text is individualism between American and Thai cultures. I would also say that the main audience intended for this text would be Americans. The author effectively states that individualism truly has been valued immensely in America.

First off, it is simple to believe that everyone in the world is the exact same.

When I grew up as a kid, I never would have guessed that other cultures were so unbelievably different from us, Americans. From the beginning of this text, it kind of set me off guard. I never realized that greetings are actually that important to others. For example, when I walk past someone that I do not even know, I ask, “How are you?” However, I do not ever expect their full response on how they really feel. It is simply a polite gesture to make. Continuing to read throughout this text, kind of made me step into reality though. Honestly, if you look at the average American families, everything mentioned about individualism of Americans is partially true! I would have to say that the author made some strong points in her message that she was trying to

convey.
Secondly, I felt little emotion while reading this text. I felt a little disgust in our American society for the way we just let go of one another so easily. I think we should be more family oriented. So, when I look at the text in that way, it throws some sadness into play. I have never been one to experience these things as an American. Although, most families do take part in several things mentioned in this text. Another emotion this takes me into is curiosity. It makes me step into reality and really question things such as, “Why is our culture so strong on individualism?” However, I think to myself, how can anyone even answer that question? Does anyone even think about it? Or are we all just taught to live this way? I do not think that the author intended to bring these emotions upon readers. I think that she was just trying to inform them of how different people really are. Yes, there are a lot of similarities, but who knew that there are that many differences as well?
Lastly, I believe that Poranee Natadecha-Sponsel wrote one strong, informative story. In the text, she stated, “one’s personal life and one’s income are considered to be very private and even taboo topics.” (Page 706) This is a good statement she made because a lot of Americans never want to talk about their personal lives. I think that this story was great and the author was very ethical. She really showed the differences between the two ethnic groups. She went about her topic in a greatly strong way. However, her ethnicity went down for me just a little because she started talking about teens having to have jobs or parents making their children be involved in activities. This is because my family was never this way and I am full American. My siblings and I always had the choice if we wanted to play sports or not. We wanted to because it was something we enjoyed. However, our parents told us that as long as we kept our grades up, that we did not have to get a job. I have a job right now because I chose to want extra money for myself. Now, back in regards to Poranee’s ethnicity of her story, it went right back up. This is because when our parents wanted us to clean and help out, they would offer us money to do these things. So, overall, Poranee really nailed her points and arguments in the text. I would not have changed a thing about it.
In conclusion, each group rally “does its own thing.” (Page 710) I never realized how true this is until now. I think that the purpose of the text was to inform people of the differences of individualism and beliefs of other cultures. “Individualism as one of the dominant values in American culture is expressed in many ways.” (Page 712)