Culture differences and similarities between United States and Saudi Research Paper

Culture differences and similarities between United States and Saudi Arabia - Research Paper Example Thus, there are characteristic cultural differences and similarities between the Americans and the Saudis. However, from a general viewpoint, the differences in culture seem to be more than the similarities. Case in point, the Americans belief and role of religion is different from that of the Saudis. In this regard, the Americans do not attach a significant value to religion in their daily lives. On the other hand, religion is the most important thing amongst the Saudis. Effectively, the religion dictates the rhythm of life to the Saudis and its role in the society and the country is significant. Nevertheless, while too many people think that there is nothing common about the cultures between United States and Saudi Arabia, there are similarities and differences between them. Therefore, this expose elucidates these similarities and differences while focusing on the important aspects of attachment to gas, the way people lived in these two societies, the role of women, and the role of the youths in the two societies. Attachment to gas The world cannot seem to get enough of petroleum and its byproducts. In this case, the use of the product varies from its fundamental intended use as fuel to an essential requirement of products such as lipstick. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration [EIA](n.d.), Saudi Arabia is the largest net exporter of oil and its products to the world. In this case, this makes the country’s economy rely, almost entirely, on the export of oil. However, the consumption of gas by Americans rivals no other one in the world. In this regard, Americans consumed 24,088 billion cubic feet of gas in 2010. On the other hand, the Saudis total consumption for the same period was 3,096 billion feet (EIA, n.d.). The United States of America ranked first in the world while the Saudis ranked ninth in the total world’s gas consumption (EIA, n.d.). Effectively, this makes Americans appear more attached and hooked to gas in compari son to Saudis as evidenced by these statistics. One of the main reasons is that the United States is a wealthy nation that effectively places low taxes on gas. In addition, the combination of a high population and a poor public transport system in the country effectively makes the Americans obsessed with gasoline for their transport. On the other hand, although the cost of gas in Saudi Arabia is cheaper in comparison to the United States of America, the country has a low population. In addition, its public transport system is effective enough to ensure that more people avoided using private means of transport and effectively cut on the requirements of gas for transport. How people live in the American and Saudi society One thing that is common knowledge is that, the Americans have the most open-minded society over the world. For this reason, America is known as the free world. On the other hand, Saudis appear to live in a close-minded society and effectively try as much as possible to avoid the uncertain future. Therefore, the American society embraces diversity and accepts the differences in people while it takes time for the Saudi society to do the same. Case in point, the current president in America is African-American. This effectively underlines the open-minded nature of the American society and ready to embrace others different from them. On the other han