Jim Bagggot American Culture

Culture is a way of life that everyone chooses to live by, in many ways it shapes our knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values and experiences. The United States of America is described as being a “melting pot” of many different cultures from around the world. Today, as the world continues to become more interconnected through technology and commerce people around the world have built emotional and cultural attachments to their favorite things. Coca-Cola, the Confederate flag and Football are examples of things that some Americans have to chosen identify themselves by within their culture (Zimmerman, "American Culture: Traditions and Customs of the United States"). Although certain things should not define who people are individually, they have taken over multiple aspects of everyone’s lives. In his book A Beginner’s Guide to Reality Jim Baggott explains “We construct a reality based on models of how we would like that reality to be, not just by reality itself”. Everyone’s goods are only purchased for means of “style, “perks”or “status” rather than “substance” (Baggott 21). They not only fulfill a philosophical need or want, but it also fulfills an esteem need because they feel it describes who they are, who they want to be and how others view them within society. Baggot Explains that things such as these “create an impression of …show more content…
Pepsi. The Coca-Cola company learned that many consumers preferred Pepsi during a blind taste test. When the company decided to change its formula that they had been using for over eighty years many of their consumers were infuriated. They not only loved the taste of it, but also developed an emotional attachment to the product itself. It had become a part of every American’s “physical taste”, “Imagery” and “emotional satisfaction”. They had been drinking the same formula for generations and felt that they would not be able to see Coca-Cola as the same item they loved once before (Baggott