The
development of a country depends on the prosperity of the people. Also, it
depends on human resources that the people have. In developed country like
America, the citizens have their own values and assumptions which make them the
best country of all countries in the world, some of which are individualism,
privacy, time, competition, directness and assertiveness, and future, change
and progress. However, some of the values and assumptions are suitable for the
Indonesians, and some are not. It is because the values and assumptions of the
Americans which are not suitable for the Indonesians are not suitable with
Indonesian culture as well. If we want to apply significant values and
assumptions of the Americans, then we should consider the good ones. Trying to
apply the good values and assumptions to the Indonesians may still cause pros
and cons, for such values and assumptions are totally different from the
Indonesian culture. For some reasons, such values and assumptions are
beneficial for the Indonesians to make Indonesia more developed and compete
with others in International scale. The status quo of the Indonesians is
getting worse. There are hundreds and even thousands of people out there having
no courage to make Indonesia better. They have no faith in Indonesia that this
country will raise up. To make our nation better and believe in the Indonesians
in building this country, then we can take the good values and assumptions of
the Americans to be applied to the Indonesians, three of which are time,
directness and assertiveness, and competition.
To
begin with, American value of time is very important to apply to the
Indonesians. Those who think that the American values and Assumptions are not
suitable for the Indonesians think that the people in Indonesia have their own
culture. Meanwhile, they will appreciate their culture. For instance, in
Palembang, when the people have a meeting with some clients, they tend to come
late. They think that those who come on time will be considered rude. It is
because they have some reasons for this case. However, we live in modern era
where businessmen and businesswomen want us to come on time. Once they have a
meeting with us, we have to come on time. Otherwise, they will consider that we
are capable of cooperating each other. And in this case, they will surely
revoke their cooperation with us. In the status quo, many Indonesian people
tend to be tardy. Such condition will not make any changes to the Indonesians
as well as the country. Therefore, we need to imitate Americans. In America, on
the other hand, the Americans tend to be punctual. They do not tolerate
tardiness. Once you get caught tardiness, they will not consider you a good
person and rude. Studies show that the Americans appreciate much about time. It
is because they think that time is very important. They do not underestimate
time, for it is precious. And in virtue of this reason, America becomes a super
power country.
In
addition to time, the Americans also appreciate directness and assertiveness
values. These values are not acceptable for some people in Indonesia. They
think that the Indonesians are reluctant to express their opinions and feelings
and speak up in front of public. They do not want to express their opinions in
front of public because they feel ashamed (Margy Bresslour, 2013). Such values
are also important to apply to the Indonesians. Statistics shows that in
2009-2013 the number of people who are reluctant or feel ashamed of expressing
their opinions in front of public has reached 65%. This indicates that there
are so many people in Indonesia who still have no directness and assertiveness
in expressing their ideas as well as opinions that their voice will not be
listened. In America, we will not see such behavior. The Americans are usually
more open and prefer to be direct, they will say directly if they want to
express their opinions without having unwilling feeling (Gary Althen, 2003).
Also, they will not easily be influenced by other people. They have strong
beliefs. While in Indonesia, the people are easily influenced by other people.
And because of this, they tend to be passive. Some people who think that such
values and assumptions will not match to the Indonesians. However, they might
change their mind that directness and assertiveness need applying to the
Indonesians so that they can be more confident in expressing their ideas,
thoughts, as well as opinions.
And
the last value that should be applied to the Indonesians is competition.
Competition is indispensable for the Indonesians. Nowadays, there are many
Indonesians who give up prior to reaching what they want. Many people in
Indonesia has no courage to compete with others. They are not also ready for
being a competitor due the fact that they think that they do not have skills to
compete and because of this reason, they tend to be passive (Soekanto, 1982). If this condition still
continues, then Indonesia will not be popular among other countries. Those
people who are against the acceptance of the American values and assumptions
argue that the competition value will make the unity of the Indonesians ruins.
For instance, when someone wins and joins more competitions, he or she will not
let their competitors grab the champion. In fact, it is just a game but it
could ruin the unity of the Indonesians. However, such assumption is considered
weak and does not answer to the status of quo of the Indonesians. For instance,
when they join a competition and see that there are many people competing, they
tend to feel discouraged. While in America, the people will not give up even
though they cannot win the competition. In 2012, there was a great competition
for athletics in England which was so-called Olympic Games. The American
athletes never showed their weakness. In fact, they would toil to be the
champions. The status quo of the Americans makes the United States of America
stronger, better, and more outstanding.
Can
we therefore conclude that if we want to contribute and make changes to
Indonesia, we need to imitate the American values and assumptions, three of
which are time, directness, ssertiveness, and competition. Even though all
American values and assumptions are not matched with the Indonesian’s culture,
such values and assumptions are best to apply to the Indonesians.
References:
Althen,
Gary. (2003). A Guide for Foreigners in
the United States, second edition. American Ways.
http://lang-8.com/610749/journals/288196574548845190217455201578734558820
http://lang-8.com/610749/journals/288196574548845190217455201578734558820
Duncan,
Guy. (1963). What Are American Value?. Education
Leadership. http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el_196305_duncan.pdf
Soekanto,
Soerjono. (1982). Ciri masyarakat Modern Indonesia, CV. Rajawali: Jakarta
“Overcoming
Reluctance to Express Appreciation” Margy
Bresslour http://switchandshift.com/overcoming-reluctance-to-express-appreciation
By: Dinda Maulana
Academic Argumentative
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