The Difference Between a Culture and a Public Essay

The United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world not just regarding the economy, but regarding population. With a population of more than 325 million people, the country is a combination of different races and cultures ("Population Clock"). The original inhabitants of the United States are the America-Indians. However, the country has a great part of its population from Europe, Asia, and Africa. As a result, the culture of the country has been as a result of interaction from people from different background. However, they strive to attain self-rule through the American Revolution, the fight for democracy and justice and the interest to be the leading nation economically has shaped and almost shaped a distinctive culture in the United States. Since culture is the totality of the people's way of life from language, values, customs, religion among others, it is almost impossible to define the United States as one culture. Therefore, it is not appropriate to say that the United States is a culture.

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Although the concepts of a culture and public are closely related, there exists a difference between the two. A culture is a totality of publics that are joined together by distinctive features such as nationality, attitudes, tastes, language, and religion. This definition is complex, and it is necessary to examine the United Nations critically before referring to the country as a culture. On the other hand, a public is any group of people with values and interests in a particular situation (Guth and Marsh, P.10). From the above two definitions, the difference between the two concepts is seen. First, while culture has common features such as language, religion, and values as their identity, these features are evident in public but only exist in particular situations.

Furthermore, from the definitions, different cultures can, therefore, exist in one public. For instance, different tribes or languages can be in one public practicing different culture. It is therefore undeniable that the two terms refer to different notions altogether.

From the above definitions, the United States is a public and not a culture. To examine this claim, it is important to critically analyst the country about the different features that identify a culture; these are language, values, and religion. To begin with, almost all official languages are spoken in the United States ,these languages include English, Spanish, Chinese, and French among others("Constitutional Topic: Official Language - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net"). Furthermore, the federal government does not identify any of these languages as the official language despite English being used in almost all business transaction and close to ninety percent of its citizens speaking English. In some states, for instance, Hawaii, the official languages are English and Hawaiian ("Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics"). This is just but one example. It is therefore not possible to identify the country as a culture with the differences in language.

Furthermore, almost every world religion is practiced in the United States. Despite Christianity being practiced by the majority, other religions such as Islamic are practices. As a result, the citizens subscribe to different value systems as religion shapes peoples values. Regarding values, the United States citizen's hold different values (Frum). For instance, there exist divisions regarding gay marriages over a long period. Also, many people have subscribed to atheism with the claim that there exists no god (Frum). From this analysis, it is clear that the United States is a public and not a culture.

Conclusion

In conclusion, culture is the people's way of life regarding religion, language, attitudes, and values. Additionally, a public is different from culture. The United States is a public and not a culture due to some reasons. Firstly, the lack of common language policy, the existence of different religions and contradicting values systems makes the country public and not a culture. From the above analysis, it is very inappropriate to refer to the United States as a culture.

Works Cited

"Constitutional Topic: Official Language - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net." Index Page - The U.S. Constitution Online - USConstitution.net, 24 Jan. 2010, www.usconstitution.net/consttop_lang.html.

Frum, D. "Gay Marriage and Cultural Conflict." The Week - All You Need to Know About Everything That Matters, 8 Apr. 2009, theweek.com/articles/506796/gay-marriage-cultural-conflict.

Guth, David, and Charles Marsh. Adventures in Public Relations: Case Studies and Critical Thinking. Pearson/ Allyn and Bacon, 2005.

"Population Clock." Census.gov, www.census.gov/popclock/.

"Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics." Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/.