America's National Character

Our National Character

The quest to understand our national character is an important today as it was in the days of the American Revolution. The future of America as an ideal of freedom and a nation of laws depends on our enduring commitment to this undertaking.

Now that we have been divided into red and blue states, neo-cons, theo-cons, and godless liberals, one wonders how anyone can talk about America’s “national character.” It’s not an easy topic. The tree-huggers claim that our “American greed” is killing the environment; the pacifists see us as a war-like state with economic motives; and the humanists say we all but committed genocide against the Native American peoples.

Indeed, life is harsh and capitalism without the guidance of moral and democratic principles turns into all that people say we are. There is no justification for the damage we have done to the environment or the deaths of Native Americans at the hands of our forefathers, or the devastating harshness and inhumanity of slavery and the so-called traditions of the Confederacy. I know that I will be criticized on this point, but hear me out: traditions are inflexible and bring the sins of the past into the present like no other human affirmation. On the other hand, history, when objectively written and understood, reminds us not to honor the sins of our fathers nor carry their banner of inhumanity to man and their environment into the present.

Thomas Jefferson wasn’t a perfect man, but he was an American original like no other. Jefferson reminded us to “shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched.” He said that we should, “Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion” and “question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear.”

Hidden within that statement, we get a glimpse of the American character. But let’s not confuse our personal characters with our national character. Sometimes we think that we are the true Americans because of our religious views, political views, or political orientation. America’s strength is found in the spirit and character of its people characterized by a “compassionate and decent society.” As individuals, we all have an obligation to help our children become responsible citizens and realize their full potential. By demonstrating values such as integrity, courage, honesty, and patriotism, all Americans can help our children develop strength and character. We have heard these words before, but their generality urges us to look deeper for what it is that makes America, “America.”

One thing that makes America “America,” is its diversity. We are an uncommon people with an uncommon purpose—life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for all, not just a few. To honor diversity – of culture, race, and faith – is perhaps our greatest moral challenge and we have a long way to go before it is actualized in both our behaviors and laws. The possibilities advanced by our personal moral commitments underwrite an ethics of inquiry based on an exchange of ideas and views. This exchange of views may even lead to a critical questioning of our personal or even our national moral culture and thus prevent us from remaining imprisoned within views that are too narrow. A personal commitment to a wider and much deeper person-centered morality will indeed help us appreciate the diversity of human cultural and environmental life.
Personal character and national character are interconnected and are important to the democratic process. Democracy is a working philosophy or principle for American law and government, and has a basis in principles of freedom, justice, fairness, integrity, honesty, and the rule of law. The founding fathers of American representative democracy reminded us of democracy’s purposes. Jefferson said, “Though [the people] may acquiesce, they cannot approve what they do not understand.” The meaning of these principles, the skills they require to be infused into the education of American youth, and the various ways they can be applied in values disputes need to be taught every day in classrooms across America.

Few seem to grasp the idea that American democracy is an inviting political philosophy. We want immigrants to come to our shores. We need new ideas and skills, fresh knowledge and diversity. This is the way we grow as a people and as a nation. Joseph O'Neill told NPR that the meaning of nationality and nationhood have changed dramatically in the past two decades. The age of globalization has led to what O'Neill calls an “enormous collapse in the idea of migration.”
“It used to be the case that for an Irishman to come to the U.S. involved a perilous journey on a ship,” O'Neill says. “It involved singing lots of songs before you left saying goodbye, and once you were in the U.S., it involved singing lots of songs about how you were never going to set foot in Ireland again.”

“Not so anymore. Nowadays,” says O'Neill, “the transfer of people from country to country is less decisive: You can go backwards and forwards as much as you like, subject to legal and financial restrictions. And you can stay in touch with everyone back home. You can read their blogs, you can speak to them on the phone.”

“The ease of movement has resulted in the emergence of fused and blurred identities,” says O'Neill. “One of the great pluses of being an immigrant is you get to start again in terms of your identity,” he says. “You get to shed the narratives which cling to you.”

O'Neill says he found America to be a welcoming place, where people were less inclined to make judgments based on race or class — but also not particularly interested in learning about his background. “As long as you show willingness, they are prepared to stick the label of ‘American’ on you,” he says.

“[There's a] specific narrative in American life, which essentially authorizes people to do whatever it takes to climb up by their bootstraps and to make something of themselves. Even if it means cutting corners from time to time,” O'Neill says.
This “new” American seems to reveal more about us they we are willing to admit about ourselves. In a recent discussion about democratic values, actor Richard Dreyfuss, who has also worked to promote solutions to the Mideast conflict and campaigned for education, supported Jefferson’s view that the principles of democracy must by taught and critically appraised by every generation of Americans in order to make the Constitution a living and growing document.