Ethnocentric America?

In my summer Anthropology class (held online) we have to participate in discussions on subject matter from the book. For one particular chapter we had to discuss ethnocentrism. This is the belief that the ways of one's own culture are the only proper ones. Here is the question presented:

"Although all cultures across the world display some degree of ethnocentrism, some are more ethnocentric than others. In what ways is your own society ethnocentric? Considering the modern fact of globalization (as described in Chapter 1) do you think ethnocentrism poses more of a problem in today's world than in the past?"

What are your views on this? Personally I think that yes, the US does have this "we do it the best way" mentality sometimes, but compared to alot of countries we are sometimes more accepting of non-traditional ways. For instance, in some countries, not following the government mandated "norm" will get you killed. I would like to believe that the US is somewhat more forgiving in many ways. Of course, in some ways there's a long way to go. Take for instance north vs south. Growing up in the north I thought that the Civil War ended a long time ago. But when I moved to the south I found there are people who are still bitter about it and hate northerners. I don't see it too often here but I have encountered it.

For the second part of the question, I believe that given technology of today with telephone, television, internet, books, etc we are all more exposed to things across the world that 100 years ago we wouldn't have been. I mean, even when I was young I remember teen magazines with a classified section at the end that gave peoples names, interests, and addresses. You could have a penpal. It was the coolest thing when you got a letter back from someone in another state! Now look at us. Look at MySpace! Most likely you are from another state or even another country. As a "common" person would I have been able to reach you without the internet giving my thoughts on this subject? I think that ethnocentrism is less of a problem these days than it was 100 or even 500 years ago because we are exposed to so much more.

But I was really surprised to see just how many people felt differently than I did. I thought that there was more faith in us as Americans. Yes, sometimes we can be arrogant, but I would like to think we aren't that bad of a country. I think it's normal human nature to look at something that's different a little weird. But people have the freedom to keep alot of their own traditions in their own home. They don't have to turn 100% "American". They can remain individuals.

Take for example the Pastoralists in Africa. For years they were able to survive drought by moving to other parts of Africa. Now the governments won't allow them to move across borders and therefore they are forced to stay in the same drought stricken area. That results in starvation and death and other problems. All because their government wants control. You do things their way.

I guess I'm not 100% sure of how I feel about this. I see both sides, but I was really stricken by the bashing that went on in our class discussion boards. For once I kept my mouth shut. I'm just there to earn the grade that I work for and to get out of there, not to deal with drama.