The idea that hard work should pay off is, as noted, fundamental to the US's particular cultural mythos and to many of the cultural ideals that Americans hold, and yes this includes the positive ideals.Gandalf wrote:So what is an "especially American belief" in this context?
To me, it's a bit like talking about how "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" are "especially French values."
I really don't think it's more than a bit of harmless puffery to claim that the things your country values more than other things are 'especially' valued by your country. 'Uniquely' takes the harmless puffery into the territory of being parochial. But I still think we have plenty of bigger things to worry about than this particular stripe of style-over-substance.