What would you say makes Americans 'American'?

[bigtree]

What trait, habit, idiosyncricy, fault, attribute, etc. defines or establishes, in our minds or in others, our Americanism?

I won't attempt to correct responses, I'm more interested in our perceptions of ourselves or other's perceptions of us, positive as well as negative.

[NewHampshireDem]

1. American Exceptionalism

The idea that America is somehow special or different from the rest of the world, often resulting in a stubborn insistence that what works elsewhere would never work here.


Here's another take on the phrase:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Exceptionalism

[bryant69]

6. It is problemattic

I mean the city on a hill idea of America has inspired us in the past as well. And of course thinking your country is special is hardly unique in the world. And to be fair our constitution has been a model that many other constitutions have ended up based on (with local modifications of course).

On the other hand one of the easier ways to throw a wrench in an idea is to suggest that following it will make us more Europeon or something.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[NewHampshireDem]

8. Of course, I doubt that few Americans know what "city on a hill" means

From John Winthrop's A Model of Christian Charity, 1630:

Now the only way to avoid this shipwreck, and to provide for our posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, we must be knit together, in this work, as one man. We must entertain each other in brotherly affection. We must be willing to abridge ourselves of our superfluities, for the supply of others’ necessities. We must uphold a familiar commerce together in all meekness, gentleness, patience and liberality. We must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. The Lord will be our God, and delight to dwell among us, as His own people, and will command a blessing upon us in all our ways, so that we shall see much more of His wisdom, power, goodness and truth, than formerly we have been acquainted with. We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, "may the Lord make it like that of New England." For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken, and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a by-word through the world. We shall open the mouths of enemies to speak evil of the ways of God, and all professors for God's sake. We shall shame the faces of many of God's worthy servants, and cause their prayers to be turned into curses upon us till we be consumed out of the good land whither we are going. <emphasis in the original>

Powerful, powerful words. I hardly see the GOP and the BFEE lining up to "abridge themselves of their superfluities." Do you?

You can read the whole thing here:
http://religiousfreedom.lib.virginia.edu/sacred/charity.html

[zmdem]

22. I'd reverse your thought

American exceptionalism is the notion that the ideals that inspired our revolution are ideals that all people have. Life, Liberty, pusuit of happiness, etc. We happened to to be the first people to express it, that's all. Here's Alex. Hamilton on the subject,(Federalist #1):

***
It has been frequently remarked that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on accident and force. If there be any truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the general misfortune of mankind.
***

[meti57b]

2. at the moment, I think arrogance and naivete make Americans, American.

[mhr]

3. American Consumerism - Shop Till You Drop!

Is this not what * told us all to do after 9/11.

So says the Fuhrer, so it must be true!

[baldguy]

4. I've always gona back to the classics:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security...."

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal."

[FellowAmerican]

17. Here, here!

I second that! :hi:

[Nikia]

37. This is the ideal that binds us together

This is what we were founded upon. Let us never forget that in the face of what already has been and what may yet to become. There is no other substitute. When other ideals are held to be more important, we know that this is the first step of Facism.

[Deja Q]

5. Britney Spears? A-Rod? RIAA? DMCA? DOMA? and

our willingness to sacrifice homeland security to save a few bucks in the form of mass offshoring.

[rman]

7. US citizenship

-

[liberalitch]

9. I don't know anymore....

It used to be our love of freedom and tolerance.

[MuseRider]

10. We live on a land mass

we have named America. That is the only way I can see to answer this. We are made up of so many things that I do not think we can be defined. Right now I could say that a tad over half of us are INSANE but other than that I don't think we can be defined by any other means than the fact that we live here.

[mbee]

11. Surface values! Everything on the surface has to look good, you know

Mom, Apple Pie, flag waving, huge consumerism, flawless looks and expensive clothes and cars, segregation from people that are different than you, hide everything that is negative, only concentrate on your little world and ignore the larger world. I don't know that that is what Americans deeply feel, but that is what is promoted in the media.

[Gyre]

12. Loyalty to the Constitution.

[UNIXcock]

15. worth repeating

true

[Nikia]

38. That too

This is the other important document that must perserve.

[Liberal Christian]

13. American stuff

Good stuff:
This is still a place where it is possible to move out of the circumstances of your birth -- positively, negatively, or neutrally -- and achieve something that preceding generations of your family might never have dreamed of. I think that's ingrained in the American psyche.

A small-town (population about 450) 4th of July celebration where all the carnival games for the kids were made by their grandfathers and uncles, the pie and ice cream social was put on by the Congregational Church, the fish fry was put on by the Catholic church, and everyone went to both. Everyone in town is in the parade, except the grandparents, who are watching and cheering. It's a spirit different from what I've found in many travels to other countries.

There's an easy freedom in the stride and posture of Americans that you can spot from far away when you see your compatriots in a foreign land.

There's a belief that America actually can contribute to making the world a better place to live, more free from hunger and poverty. The fact that there are differences in attitude and policy about how this might be carried out doesn't take away the core belief.

We know that we live in a land of incredible beauty and variety with some of the most amazing big open spaces in the world. Landscape influences personality and the way of being in the world.

Negative stuff:
We can be arrogant, obnoxious, insistent on our own way, rude, belligerent, ignorant, idiotic, triumphalistic, and every other negative personality trait you can imagine. So can people from everywhere else.

We can be too isolationist and unilateral because we have been so powerful.

The "easy freedom" can take up too much space on a narrow sidewalk without even knowing it's doing so. Translate that from one person on one sidewalk to one nation on the world stage, and you've got a problem.

We overindulge in everything.

We tend to want to conquer things -- nature, people, ideas, other countries. We're better at conquering than stewarding.

***

Anyway, that's what came out of my fingers this morning.

Jeanny

(edited to correct typo)

[kodi]

28. nicely said LC and found true from personal experience

There's an easy freedom in the stride and posture of Americans that you can spot from far away when you see your compatriots in a foreign land.

and when in traveling foreign lands i have seen it too.

its more of an attitude of confidence born of freedom and optimism. even my foreign friends have pointed it out when i was overseas.

also, we wear sneakers with our bluejeans, europeans wear leather shoes.

[bigtree]

14. great stuff folks. real thoughtful answers

anyone else, please?

[Obamarama]

16. Our collective national ignorance about the world beyond our own nation...

It's truly pathetic how ignornat many Americans are about the rest of the world. We are culturally isolated from the rest of the world in the respect that most Americans don't explore the worlds other cultures. Most Americans don't know a second language.

I read last month where only 20% of Americans even own a passport. If that statistic is accurate, that's pretty pathetic. It's no wonder the lion's share of my fellow Americans have no idea how our nation's power affects the rest of the world.

But then again, how can you entice a populace to understand the history of Western civilization when a lot of Americans couldn't even correctly explain the history of our OWN country.

There's a lot that's great about the American people, but sadly I think our propensity toward ignorance of the outside world is the most glaring example of what makes Americans "American", especially in the eyes of those with whom we share this planet.

[SemiCharmedQuark]

26. My passport expired. I do not need one since I don't have the money to

travel overseas. I agree about the lack of understanding, but the passport thing is an inappropriate statistic to use for it.

[StopThief]

18. The belief that America is the land of opportunity.

Most Americans believe that anyone can make it through hard work and a little ingenuity. This is the reason why class warfare arguments do not work here. Most people believe that they might someday be one of those top 1% and if not they then their children. This is a peculiarly American belief.

[Sleepysage]

19. I would have thought this question silly until this summer

I had traveled abroad before, but this summer, I spent two months studying European Law in France. Even draped in "Euro" clothes, among European friends, and without uttering a word (my French could be called hideous if I could charitably be said to speak it at all)...people could tell I was American. I swear.

How? I'm not sure. I got some indication it had something to do with the way we walk and present ourselves. We tend to have more confidence in our mannerisms and walk. What does that look like? Search me.

[American Tragedy]

33. That's interesting, because it totally clashes with my experience.

Not a single person in Germany at any point ever accurately guessed my nationality, even when I spoke to them. That kind of surprised me, since I didn't really adjust my clothing or behavior to suit my surroundings, I never tried to pretend that I was from anywhere else, and everybody told me that people would instantly recognize me as an American. However, a couple of them asked if I was British, which I reckon is close enough, since I would definitely struggle to tell between an Austrian or a German accent if the two were speaking English.

Maybe the French have greater powers of discernment in that respect.

[bigtree]

20. keep it going

[bigtree]

21. .

[JohnOneillsMemory]

23. Racism, ignorance, entitlement, provincialism, religiousity, hypocrisy.

Violent stealing and terrorism are the main driving social forces of United States history. The power of America has always been the power of brute force, not morality. Might Makes Right has always trumped the Rule of Law.

Its industrial might was built on slavery back when textiles were to the economy as oil is today.

The US gov't has been slaughtering weaker and darker skinned people for centuries for economic gain and has a body count far exceeding the Nazis. The public has supported obvious atrocities out of an entitled Master Race mentality.

Consider:
1) The Native American holocaust that Hitler modeled his Final Solution on. A country built on genocide and war.

2) The slavery, murder, torture, lynching, apartheid, segregation, disenfranchisement and eugenic neglect that African Americans still suffer from in the 'Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.'
The KKK had many millions of members in the 1920s who despised Negroes, Catholics, Jews.

Here are 80 years worth of souvenir lynching postcards from that very popular American past time.
http://www.musarium.com/withoutsanctuary/main.html

3) Fascism had its roots in the US and many US corporations profiteered by building Hitler's Third Reich after WWI. Many were unable to fill US orders before WWII at FDR's request because they were busy making money off Hitler.
http://www.spiritone.com/~gdy52150/noon.html
(The Nazi Hydra in America)

[zeek]

35. Do you have any "body count" statistics

You say ameica has a "body count far exceeding the Nazis". I find that hard to believe. The Nazis killed 5.8 million Jews and over a million non-jews. That is six the number of people we've lost in all our wars combined, including both sides of the Civil War.

The rest of what you said is true to an extent, but Americas history of racism and genocide is no worse then any other 200+ year old society, and far better then most.

[JohnOneillsMemory]

36. Read CIA whistleblower: 'How 6 Million Died in Secret CIA Wars'

You will never sing 'America the Beautiful' after reading this tell-all from former CIA Angola Station Chief John Stockwell in 1987:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article4068.htm

And the US financed Hitler and fascism so that is complicity in the Jewish Holocaust body count.

http://www.spiritone.com/~gdy52150/noon.html
The Nazi Hydra in America 1919 to present

[CaptainCorc]

40. How about the 20 million Russians the Nazis killed?

Where did we catch up with THAT number?

[JohnOneillsMemory]

44. Bet the death toll from economic exploitiation around the world gets close

But then, this isn't a ballgame, is it? It's mass murder.

[mitchum]

24. Blood and money

[SemiCharmedQuark]

25. individuality, for better or for worse

Americans see themselves as unique. We think of "I". This has both good and bad consequences. THe good thing is that if we retain our individuality it brings a great deal of diversity to the table. The bad thing is you start to not give a rats ass about what the rest of the world thinks about you. Taken to the extreme you get the "Screw you world" mentality. The mentality that says that Bush's tax cut is worth screwing an entire nation over. But if used in moderation it is a good thing.

Secondly, I really don't think it's fair to characterize the U.S. alone as a nation built on blood. Yes it was. But so was France. And England. And Italy. And just about every other country. The difference is that they are older than we are. They went through the period we are going through now about 200 years ago. They did not face the threat that we face today. If we choose the wrong path today we have the capability to kill thousands within minutes.

I am pissed at the direction the country is headed right now. The individuality of slightly over half the country has led to pig headedness. But it is important to remember that 49% of the country is not like that. Think of the SOrryeverybody.com site.

[lgardengate]

27. The "Shining City On A Hill" made up of free,independent,Individuals

Sometimes that's a good thing,and sometimes not.Sometimes we are a bit to "free" and a bit to individual.

[leesa]

29. Arrogance, materialism, selfish xenophobia.

[zeek]

30. Individualism, confidence and work ethic

I've traveled all over the world, and lived in two other countries, and IMO Americans in general exhibit a combination of those three traits not found anywhere else.

You can find one or two of them in other countries but not all three.

[bigtree]

31. .

[sandnsea]

32. Ingenuity, perseverance, hope

When we're not being greedy, opportunistic, arrogant assholes.

[Nimrod]

34. Stupidity

Actually, that's pretty much Homo Sapiens in general.

[libertyrepub]

39. Greetings from a Libertarian/Republican

I did not want to piggy back onto another thread, but the site says I have to post a few replies before I post a new one. I am a graduate student in Palo Alto, CA. (You can guess which school) and I describe myself as a Republican with heavy libertarian sympathies. I sometimes visit this site to see what "the left" (I have no idea what DU members like to call themselves, so I put it in quotes out of ignorance and throw myself at the mercy of your corrections!) is writing/thinking. But I finally got a profile, because I thought I might engage in some real discussion with those whom I disagree probably about 80% of the time. It gets boring talking to others of the same basic political persuasion and saying "yes" all the time. This is an honest post, and I did not want to hide my identity, like a "plant" or something. My friends have advised that I will be attacked and kicked off immediately, but I hope they are wrong. I like discussion because I know I am capable, no matter how strongly I hold a belief, of allowing for the possibility that I am wrong about something. Thanks. Scott.

[CaptainCorc]

41. Welcome to DU

....and I'm kinda stumped at to where to go from there...except maybe to ask what flavor of Libertarian a Libertarian/Republican is. If I can figure out what kind of Democrat I am, I promise I'll let you know.

[libertyrepub]

42. Nutshell answer

I am of the stripe of libertarian that basically looks like this:

gambling/prostitution/drugs/guns=legal

Seatbelt laws/helmet laws=restrict my right to ruin my own life

Abortion=although I am personally for legalized in the first trimester, heavily restricted in the 2nd and 3rd, I believe Roe v Wade is bad case law. Each state should decide its own abortion policy. If you don't like the abortion policy of your state, get involved and change it, or move. This is how I philosophically understand "freedom."

But I think the libertarians are a little cooky on foreign policy, and I believe capitalism works, as long as it is restrained by laws. I think business/corporate America is "amoral" as in not immoral or moral, but they follow the bottom line and can be expected to act accordingly. But it's still the best way to deliver products/services to people.

So in light of all that, I am registered Republican, because they are the party I fear the least. Pretty lame reason to vote for one party or the other, but neither party wants to become the "Party that believes everything Scott believes!" Go figure.

Hope that helps.

Are you a veteran? I just got out of the Army (in August) to go back to grad school.

[American Tragedy]

46. Well, you may find a good deal of common ground here in social policy

Most of us strongly value privacy and freedom of personal behavior. In fact, it is perhaps my favorite political ax to grind, though certainly not the only one.

So, welcome to DU libertyrepub, I look forward to some interesting discussion. :hi:

I do warn you that should you press certain positions, particularly staples of the Republican party platform, you definitely risk being flamed or banned.

[CaptainCorc]

50. I'm a vet, but CaptainCorc

is a sidesteal from the Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera "HMS Pinafore" character Captain Corcoran.

Thanks for outlining your positions. I would argue that the federal government MUST guard the rights of individuals because it's too iffy to leave it up to the individual states but just exactly what those rights are is always in flux and sad to say I've spent more time memorizing Gilbert & Sullivan songs (among others) to do any kind of definitive study of where and how those rights are being eroded--except in a very general way.

Bush scares me as do his minions, so I don't see anything wrong with voting the fear factor :)

i agree with all your legal list and also agree that seatbelt and helmet laws are intrusive, but I see them as mere irritations rather than dangerous curtailing of civil liberties.

I hope you'll find DU a good place to look around and debate.

[laheina]

43. Tee Hee

Why do people seem to think that we're so hateful? Oh yeah, Rush keeps telling everyone that!

Welcome Scott, we seem to agree on lot's of stuff already. I look forward to having some eyeopening threads with you.

[laheina]

45. It is hard to pigeonhole all Americans

But, if I tried to get to the very root of it. I would have to say:

A general respect for Constitutional ideals

That most of us are from cultural traditions that lead back to another source.

The notion that an individual's fortunes are defined primarily by his or her hard work.

A lack of a rigid social structure, without aristocracy, where new ideas and innovation are looked upon favorably.

Of course, each of these characteristics can be mitigated by other factors, regional etc., and others could probably be added.

Any other ideas?

[bigtree]

51. I like the optimism

is that still an American trait?

[ilovenicepeople]

47. ARROGANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DID I SAY IT LOUD ENOUGH??

[Dude_CalmDown]

48. Blissful Ignorance

It's fucking everywhere in this country.

[alfredo]

49. I think we are starting to find out