In a song on the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel album Bookends, the singer and his lover board a Greyhound Bus "to look for America." The song's refrain depends upon a paradox. The seekers search for a place they supposedly already inhabit. The singer describes himself as "lost," a term that is both geographical and psychological. Now, in 2006, it seems to me that Americans are more "lost" than ever. We suffer from a trickle-down contempt for the beliefs, needs, and desires of other people.
America is not a single homogeneous place, but a multitude of incommensurable places--a process of motion toward an endlessly receding goal. This motion can take the geographical form of the road trip or the social form of upward mobility. America is not only elusive; it is also inherently contradictory. It is a free country founded on the economics of slavery, a refuge from intolerance whose refugees drove out the native inhabitants. To understand the history of this country, one must acknowledge both polarities of the paradox.
In its most appealing form, the American Dream is one of liberty, justice, and economic security for all-not just for one's self. Robert F. Kennedy liked to quote a passage from Bernard Shaw: "Some men see things as they are and ask why. I dream things that never were and ask why not." Martin Luther King's optimistic "I have a dream" speech made an indelible mark on American history. But as Langston Hughes pointedly asked, "What happens to a dream deferred?" In recent decades, the dream has been deferred yet again--undermined by our collective selfishness, our lack of concern for the consequences of our actions, our indifference to our fellow citizens. This indifference is evident now in the reckless way Americans drive-speeding through residential neighborhoods, a cell phone in one hand and a cigarette or sandwich in the other, deliberately intimidating pedestrians, cyclists, and the drivers of smaller cars.
In the positive, individualist version of the American Dream, talent, determination, and effort prove more powerful than inherited privilege, and the gifted, successful person contributes to the well-being of the country. Alexander Hamilton, Mark Twain, and James Baldwin are among the many who rose to prominence on their own merit. "There are strong minds in every walk of life," wrote Hamilton, "that will rise superior to the disadvantages of situation and will command the tribute due to their merit...The door ought to be equally open to all." But Baldwin relied upon a public library to acquire his cosmopolitan outlook and brilliant literary style. There will be no more Baldwins if we don't fund the libraries that Benjamin Franklin considered so crucial to our civilization.
In its most limited, selfish, and unattractive form, the American Dream is no more than the achievement of immense personal wealth and easy access to power. American novelists have described the ways this second version of the dream can fail. Not coincidentally, therefore, a common figure in American life and literature is the confidence man. Too often the American who rises to great wealth does so by exploiting the labor or the gullibility of his fellow citizens. These days you can see commercials on television that advertise the contemporary equivalent of snake oil--take this pill to get thin, drink this beer to become sexy, participate in this pyramid scheme to attain great wealth.
American "freedom"-once meaning the freedoms listed in the Bill of Rights- is being reconfigured as merely the freedom to consume without regulation, interference, or even criticism. In his own road-trip book, entitled America, philosopher Jean Baudrillard asks: "What has become of the challenge sketched out by Tocqueville: can a nation strike a pact of greatness on the basis of each individual's banal interest alone?"
If this country is to remain liveable, we need to stop behaving with arrogant contempt toward each other and the rest of the world.
Our flaws are as obvious to the rest of the world as they are imperceptible to us. Our two greatest faults are provincialism and a deficit of historical imagination. Too often Americans lack a sense of historical depth and density. We have become indifferent both to our own ancestors and to future generations. We build shopping malls and housing developments near, and even on, Civil War battlefields. Our national holidays are more allied with sales at the mall than with any emotional grasp of the events and people they commemorate. We confine history to the History Channel. The astonishing historical ignorance of our own citizens is a running joke on Jay Leno.
Our television news programs are much to blame for contemporary American provincialism. Rarely is the viewing public exposed to the considered views of foreign diplomats, politicians, newspaper editors, or writers. Endorsing American exceptionalism, our politicians ignore or disdain the views of other world leaders. Yet the Founding Fathers didn't make up the American government from scratch. They pondered the vicissitudes of Greek and Roman history when they planned our institutions. They read the radical new ideas of Scottish and French thinkers. They acknowledged human flaws. "Is it not time to awake from the deceitful dream of a golden age," asked Alexander Hamilton, "and to adopt as a practical maxim for the direction of our political conduct that we, as well as the other inhabitants of the globe, are yet remote from the happy empire of perfect wisdom and perfect virtue?"
Carol V. Hamilton has a Ph.D. in English from Berkeley and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. She also writes for History News Network (hnn.us) and CommonDreams.org.
[Author's Note: With a recent circuit-court ruling in his freedom-of-speech case at the state level, a Virginia citizen has won partial vindication, thanks to legal representation from the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia. Back in 2005, political candidate Richard C. Collins had been arrested for criminal trespass because he'd dared distribute flyers amidst a huge shopping mall in Albemarle County -- without having obtained the mall management's permission. This oversight, said a district court judge, amounted to criminal trespassing. Not quite, ruled the higher court's judge, Paul M. Peatross: the prosecutor had failed to present evidence showing that Collins had INTENDED his action to constitute the misdemeanor of "criminal trespass." That technicality resulted in the charge's dismissal -- with Judge Peatross's warning that citizen Collins refrain from leafleting that mall -- or any other such privately owned centers of commerce -- in the future. Hey, aren't these highly trafficked, pedestrian-concentrated areas considered by most people to be public meeting places and fora for expressive activity? Alas, even if that perception were widespread, it won't hold up in federal court. At the state level, though, we have a mixed bag of interpretation. For example, the state of New Jersey has determined that its constitution protects freedom-of-speech in/around these megamalls. The other half of Collins's challenge to the Virginia-based mall's restriction now awaits the ruling of the Virginia Supreme Court in Richmond. The last time I checked, both the Jersey and the Virginia constitutions have nearly identical language guaranteeing their citizens' right of free speech. Hence, Collins's complete vindication will depend on whether the commonwealth's highest court will adopt the reasoning of N. J. and some other states' officials. But more than that: a victory by Collins will assure that ALL Virginians -- and visitors to Virginia -- will have their free-speech rights fully protected and preserved in any venue that quacks like a town center, solicits pedestrian traffic like a town center, and lays itself out (via walkways, benches, facilities, etc.) like a town center. Incidentally, the Collins case injects full immediacy into the current impeachment movement. For, recently, I and fellow "IMPEACH HIM"-button seller Alan McConnell of Silver Spring, Md. ( http://www.waifllc.org ) had a run-in with a security guard at Arlington County, Va.'s Pentagon City Mall. She graciously declared that the mall's rules prohibit any citizen's button-hawking on its premises -- whether inside or outside. We graciously withdrew our presence, ever grateful for candidate Collins's paving the way for us with his extended day in court.]
SCHMOE [failing to conceal a gush of schadenfraude]: Have you guys heard the latest? The other day, Bryant and his pal McConnell almost got arrested for hawking their silly "IMPEACH HIM" buttons at Pentagon City Mall. Ain't that a gasser!?
CHEEZEY [scratching behind both ears]: Well, that's the best news I've heard all day. Right up there with the news that our approval ratings have remained static for the past week.
TROVE: Yeah, and I sure hope the Virginia Supreme Court holds off -- for at least another two years -- on ruling that shopping malls qualify as "free speech zones." Can you imagine all the nuisance solicitors and "cause" mongers pestering us, for example, whenever we stop by Pentagon City Mall for a little repast at Nordstrom's?
BU$CH: Matter of fact: aren't we due to go over there soon for a surprise birthday party for Gen. Walbomb?
DUMSFELD: Yep, next Friday night. We'll gather in my office, first, and then motorcade over to the Ritz Hotel there next to Nordstrom's. I've told Al that the occasion's meant to celebrate the recent discovery of oil right on Dubya's ranch in Krawford.
TROVE: Finally, it looks as if things are goin' our way on all fronts. The voter polls are showing a slight increase for Republican chances in November. That U. S. warship strike force is well on its way to the Persian Gulf. And I see no more sex scandals on the horizon. Life is good.
[Before Dumsfeld can add his planned update on the strike force's Iran-Nam objective, the 'resident's hotline phone warbles forth. A dozing Dubya lurches to his feet, grabs the receiver, and activates the phone's speaker mode just as he and the others hear these words: "Mr. 'resident, this is A. Imadidthejob calling from Tehran. You have exactly 24 hours to tell that Eisenhower-carrier strike force to reverse course or else they'll be dealing with a nu-ku-lar test -- and it won't be coming from North Korea!" Click.]
BU$CH: Well, there goes Walbomb's birthday party. What'll we do now -- can we trust ANYBODY in Congress with this?
TROVE: They'll just blame us for it. I say it's time for Plan B. Time to bunker down in White(wash) House II out in the Blue Ridge mountains. Where we can "Weather" (heh-heh) the storm.
CHEEZEY: Well, in that case, I think we oughta spread out for a while. Make sure each of you has plenty of batteries for your Blackberries. Do y'all have plenty of ammo for your shotguns?
BU$CH: Jeez! If you're gonna go back to Wyoming, Dick, then I'm headin' for Florida to stay with Jeb.
SCHMOE: Calm down, guys. How do we know that really was Imadidthejob who just called? It coulda been a hoaxer from the Democraps' national committee. Let's call a meeting with the National Security Council to weigh our options. Gather 'em up, Ronnie, and tell 'em to expect us at NSC headquarters at 1300 hours sharp! Even if the call was a hoax, it's giving us good practice at mobilizing for World War III.
Carol Hamilton, you have written an excellent piece, indeed. Yes, not only do Americans have two great faults (provincialism and a deficit of historical imagination), but we also fail to realize how great the country is per the wonderful depth and breath of its cultural and/or ethnic diversity. Our differentness is what makes us unique, but strong as a country. We are able to embrace "the other" and incorporate variation into "the body politic". Yes, we have become indifferent both to our ancestors and to future generations. But we also have become quite indifferent to EACH OTHER. Discussion and debate around various points of view (i.e. "free speech") is not only essential but highly warranted and needed. Free and open dialogue and discussion are the "underpinnings" of "democracy". I live in New York City, and my furiousness is only overshadowed by my confusion. NYC is one of the "reserves" of our nation's "historical bank". George Washington took his oath of office in Federal Hall (which is near Wall Street and "Ground Zero", the "grave yard" of the, sadly missed, World Trade Center). This area was also known for it serving as one of the main routes for the Underground Railroad--serving as an exodus point for free slaves to the North and into Canada. Revolutionary fervor and "expectant" vision remain in the air. Living here, one would have difficulty realizing and/or being exposed to these truths. It saddens me that few realize--and fewer still seem to care--that "civic duty" (i.e., voting, getting involved in local community/state/national activities, accessing materials that enable one to be part of an informed citizenry, etc., etc.) is an honor and a privilege in a "free society". Freedom is NOT free. It comes with duties and responsibilities. And we all have a part to play, not only as free citizens of this great country, but citizens of the world. I don't understand the age that we live in. As I believe you would agree, if I am not frightened for the future, I certainly have grave concerns. Nevertheless, one of the answers to our dillema is that we must stand up and speak out. We must do this now while we can, and before it is too late. And we must talk, and talk, "until we're blue in the face"; and we must talk wherever we can and with whomever will listen. Only then will we possibly begin to find solutions to the many challenges that we face as a nation and as a part of the international community.
Johnnie Walker
New York City - Harlem
by
Johnnie Walker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 8 comments)
on Saturday, October 14, 2006 at 12:39:33 PM
2 comments
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