美国人性格.ppt

Until the mid-1960s, the typical American has this kind of faith in automatic improvement. But by the end of the decade, this national optimism, which set the US apart from all other nations, was gone. Before the mid-1960, Americans shared another happy attitude- a naive patriotism that the United States was the best of all possible places; that American policy was determined by ethics(伦理,道德), not expediency (利己,权宜之计) ; that we had never fought an unjust war; that we were always on the side of right and ruled by noble motives. Then came the 1960s, Americans also realized that their government, big business, and other major institutions were not always ethical and could not always be trusted to do what would be best for the nation and the world. What killed American optimism? Reason one First and perhaps the most important, there was the Viet Nam War. During the 1960s, American involvement kept growing, and the bloodshed entered the American living room via TV. 越南战争（1961年~1975年）现越南政府称之为：抗美救国战争，是新民主主义的越南民主共和国（北越）及越南南方民族解放阵线（所谓越共）反抗美国及其傀儡政权越南共和国（南越）的战争。美国在本次战争中失败（虽然美国政府自称是“光荣的撤退”）。 　　越战是美国历史上持续时间最长的战争。十多年的越战，美国耗费了至少二千五百亿美元。它表明美国冷战策略上的重大失误。越战极大的改变了冷战的态势。美国由冷战中的强势一方变为弱势，面对苏联咄咄逼人的进攻，美国更积极的同中华人民共和国合作。越战加剧了美国国内的种族问题，民权问题，使国家处于极度的分裂状态，给美国人民造成巨大的精神创伤。 受伤的美军士兵 被越共俘虏的美军士兵 Reason two Public protests (both violent and nonviolent) left their mark upon the American character. Noisy demonstrations occurred as various groups pointed out that they had always been discriminated against in this country. Public protests (both violent and nonviolent) left their mark upon the American character：各种群众性的抗议活动对美国人的性格有着深刻的影响。 Women, blacks, Indians, and Spanish-speaking citizens all gave their versions of American history and destroyed any remaining illusions that this nation has offered freedom, justice, and equality to all. 妇女，黑人，印第安人，还有讲西班牙语的公民，对美国历史都有不同的解释。他们摒弃了所谓美国能为所有人赋予自由、公正和平等的思想。 Of all the protest groups competing for public attention during the 1960s, the most alarming were thos