US Intangible Economic Cultural Capital (Outline for Characterization)

In: SŠA & Kanada: ėkonomika, politika, kul'tura : naučnyj i obščestvenno-političeskij žurnal, Heft 3

Abstract

Countries differ in their prevailing values, norms, traditions, perceptions, etc., what can be called intangible cultural capital. Since economic relations permeate all relationships between people, a special place in cultural capital is occupied by its economic dimension. The United States is, in every sense of the word, a unique country with a distinct economic cultural capital. Its specificity is determined by the fact that this community was formed as a result of multi-tribal and multilingual immigration, adopting the so-called American Creed as a dominant worldview, which is based mainly on the values of British Protestant settlers. With vast untapped natural resources and the complete absence of feudal relations, the newcomers had a wide scope of economic activity with an absolute equality of opportunities. Individualism, partly inherited from the English nuclear family, has risen to become the prevailing principle of their behavior. This individualism, voluntaristic in nature, did not preclude individuals from uniting freely in various social entities, while also allowing for easy separation. Americans placed emphasis in their economic activity on achievement, success, the measure of which was perceived to be wealth. The accumulation of wealth was not and is not condemned; it is believed that its source is primarily the hard work of its owners who perform important social functions (investment, development of new technologies, etc.). Meanwhile, the causes of poverty, both in the past and present, are often seen in the poor people's own misbehavior. One cannot rule out that the active influx of immigrants with different cultural capital may in the future provoke changes in the American Creed.