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Stardate 20031122.0218 (Captain's log): Andrew writes from the UK:
I'm afraid that one of the reasons there are problems of communication and diplomacy right now across the Atlantic is the incorrect European assumption that "the US is essentially a European country". It's true that America is more like Europe than anywhere else on the planet, but it would perhaps be more accurate to say that the US is less unlike Europe than anywhere else on the planet. Someone pointed out a critical difference: European "nations" are based on ethnicity, language or geography. The American nation is based on an idea, and those who voluntarily came here to join the American experiment were dedicated to that idea. They came from every possible geographic location, speaking every possible language, deriving from every possible ethnicity, but most of them think of themselves as Americans anyway, because that idea is more important than ethnicity or language or geographical origin. That idea was more important to them than the things which tried to bind them to their original nation, and in order to become part of that idea they left their geographical origin. Most of them learned a new language. They mixed with people of a wide variety of ethnicities, and a lot of them cross-married. And yet we consider ourselves one people, because we share that idea. It is the only thing which binds us together, but it binds us as strongly as any nation. Indeed, it seems to bind us much more strongly than most nations. If I were to move to the UK, and became a citizen there, I would forever be thought of by the British as being "American". Even if I lived there fifty years, I would never be viewed as British. But Brits who come here and naturalize are thought of as American by those of us who were born here. They embrace that idea, and that's all that matters. If they do, they're one of us. And so are the Persians who naturalize, and the Chinese, and the Bengalis, and the Estonians, and the Russians. (I know that because I've worked with all of those, all naturalized, and all of them as American as I am.) You're French if you're born in France, of French parents. You're English if you're born to English parents (and Welsh if your parents were Welsh). But you're American if you think you're American, and are willing to give up what you used to be in order to be one of us. That's all it takes. But that's a lot, because "thinking you're American" requires you to comprehend that idea we all share. But even the French can do it, and a lot of them have. That is a difference so profound as to render all similarities between Europe and the US unimportant by comparison. But it is a difference that most Europeans are blind to, and it is that difference which causes America's attitudes and actions to be mystifying to Europeans. It is not just that they don't understand that idea; most of them don't even realize it exists, because Europeans have no equivalent, and some who have an inkling of it dismiss it contemptuously. It is that idea that explains why we think being called "cowboys" is a compliment, even when Europeans think it's an epithet. It is that idea that explains why we don't care what Europeans think of us, and why European disapproval of our actions has had no effect on us. It is that idea which explains why, in fact, we're willing to do what we think is right even if the entire rest of the world disapproves. It is that idea which convinces us that if by our actions we "lose all our friends in the world" then they weren't really friends to begin with, and that we're better off without them. And it is that difference that continues to mystify and frustrate Europeans, who incorrectly assume that America is a European country, and who try to explain our behavior on that basis. And because our behavior is inexplicable for a European nation, they conclude that it is the result of foolishness and immaturity and lack of sophistication. They come to those conclusions because that's the only way one can explain how a European country could act the way America has acted. What they miss is that America is not European, not at its deepest levels. It derives from European roots, and the majority of us are derived genetically from European stock, but it is utterly unlike Europe in the ways which matter most. We are Americans. We are not Europeans living in America. If you don't understand the difference, then you do not understand us at all, and as long as you persist in thinking of us as Europeans living in America, you'll continue to be mystified and frustrated by what we do. Australians are not confused by us. They've got an idea too. It isn't the same as ours but it's similar enough so that there's a lot of common ground. We understand each other, and stand with one another. And Australians tend to get the same kind of condescension from Europeans as Americans do. They, too, are thought of as simplistic and unsophisticated and even foolish, because it's the only way to explain how Europeans living in Australia would act the way they do. But they're not Europeans living in Australia; they're Australians. And we're not Europeans living in America. We're Americans. (And a hell of a lot of us aren't even European by genetics.) The apparent similarities between Europe and the US are entirely cosmetic. ("The US and UK are two peoples divided by a common language.") The differences are deep and profound, because we are held together by an idea, and Europeans do not have any equivalent. And both the cosmetic similarities and the deep differences manifest most clearly in our concept of liberty, for our concept of liberty is utterly unlike the European concept of "freedom". It covers some of the same ground, but that is at best coincidence. And there are many, many differences. Our freedom of speech and the press are critically different. In large parts of Europe, hate speech is a crime. But in America, hate speech is protected speech. So when a French judge tried to order an American company to remove Nazi symbols from their site in the US, an American judge told the French judge to get stuffed. Americans may use deadly force to defend themselves and their property. A Brit who shoots a burglar in his home may land in prison. An American who does the same will probably be treated as a hero. That idea we share admits of no other conclusion; the man who kills a dangerous intruder in his home proves his dedication to that idea as strongly as anyone can without serving the nation in wartime. A lot of Europeans don't understand why Americans of good conscience can hate what the Nazis stand for and also believe that their symbols should not be suppressed. They don't understand why so many of us are so opposed to gun control. But that's because they don't even understand that those are part of the same thing. They're both aspects of that idea we all share. It is that idea which explains why Americans may use deadly force to defend a total stranger, and why so many of us actually will do so. And it is that idea which explains why it is that we have not "gotten over" the attacks in September of 2001, and why we're not going to. And if I've learned anything in the last two years, what I've learned is that it is an idea which is totally foreign to the European mindset, or at least the mindset that dominates Europe's chattering classes and polity and most of its press. That idea can only be shown in silhouette; it can only be shown by the shadows it casts, from different points of view. By studying those shadows, one can eventually come to understand the idea itself, but only if you admit that it exists and that it is important. Some Europeans finally come to understand that idea – and most of those end up emigrating. (And they're welcome, too.) But it appears to be impossible to explain that idea to those who don't get it. I've spent the last two years writing about that idea on this site, doing my best to show how I view it. But there are no short words or phrases for that idea. Short words and phrases are labels, not explanations, and it does no good to use the word "blue" when talking to someone born blind, or the word "honor" when talking to a European. And it is even more futile when talking to someone who is blind and doesn't believe that there's such a thing as sight, or a European who thinks that honor is foolish and unsophisticated. By the way, I don't remember where it was that I saw that comment about "America being based on an idea". I think it was a blog, but I'm not even sure of that. Ordinarily I would credit a source if I could; but I can't. Update: Several have written about that "idea", individually taking credit for it, or variously crediting it to John Gunter, Ted Sorensen, de Tocqueville, Ayn Rand, David Brinkley, Margaret Thatcher (!), Winston Churchill (!!), and numerous other sources. Apparently it is not a new idea at all, and I have to go with Ralph and "mCrane" who say that Lincoln probably articulated it best, even if not first: "As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy." "Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal." [Fortunately for us, Lincoln didn't have access to PowerPoint.] Indeed, the idea is in the Declaration of Independence; Jefferson may have articulated it even more beautifully. Meanwhile, if you want to see that idea in clear view, it's in full bloom in this post and the comments to it. Update: More here. Update 20031128: Andy McDonald comments. Update 20031201: Kevin makes another try at explaining what it is that makes us American. include +force_include -force_exclude |
