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Movement

I read in a geography book once that each year, nearly one of every six persons moves from one home to another.* With the lackluster economy we've faced in the past years, I wonder if that trend has changed. In any case, the same geographer noted several additional values about our culture.
1. We love new things (we’d rather have a new snowboard or bicycle than one that’s been used).
2. We want to be near nature (when given the chance, people will move out of the center of the city to the outsides of the city so they can be closer to nature).
3. We want the freedom to move.
4. We are individualistic (we feel a need to be independent and self-reliant, and want to choose our own paths in life; in contrast to depending on those around us and allowing others to make decisions for us).
5. We seek acceptance from society (we want others to accept us; in my opinion, this acceptance is partly determined by how independent you are).
6. We are goal-oriented (we make goals for ourselves that become very important for us to fulfill)
7. We believe in a sense of destiny (for many, this was and is represented by what is called “the American Dream;” or the desire to be wealthy, own a home, and generally be happy).

*De Blij, H.J. and Peter O. Muller. Georgraphy: Realms, Regions, and Concepts, Tenth Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2002.

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