Category Archives: Americanism

Nobel prize winning writer John Steinbeck, in his novel East of Eden, on Americanism:

"We’re a violent people, Cal. Does it seem strange to you that I include myself? Maybe it’s true that we are all descended from the restless, the nervous, the criminals, the arguers and brawlers, but also the brave and independent and generous. If our ancestors had not been that, they would have stayed in their home plots in the other world and starved over the squeezed-out soil.

That’s why I include myself. We all have that heritage, no matter what old land our fathers left. All colors and blends of Americans have somewhat the same tendencies. It’s a breed — selected out by accident. And so we’re overfriendly and at the same time frightened of strangers. We boast and are impressed. We’re oversentimental and realistic. We are mundane and materialistic — and do you know of any other nation that acts for ideals? We eat too much. We have no taste, no sense of proportion. We throw our energy about like waste. In the old lands they say of us that we go from barbarism to decadence without an intervening culture. Can it be that our critics have not the key or the language of our culture? That’s what we are, Cal — all of us. You aren’t very different." – Lee

(Hat tip to my Mom for seeing this passage)

A lot of people have asked me recently what it’s like being back in America after two months overseas. I’m still reflecting.

My friend Ramit Sethi just sent me this fantastically provocative post by a guy who’s traveled extensively reflecting on how American backpackers view their country after returning home. Some of his comments don’t apply to me (no 3rd world countries yet) and some I don’t even agree with. But he does tackle the bash-your-own-country syndrome with humorous crudeness.

There is no way to avoid seeing the USA differently when you come back, I’m afraid. But there are less self-cannibalizing ideas of "differently."…

I find that my cultural observations about Guatemala are usually really about me. "These people are mean" means "I am lonely." "Those people are loud" means "I feel excluded." "This country is great" means "I love being unemployed and drunk." When I start talking about America on the return, I’m usually still just talking about myself.

A fine point. Doesn’t this apply to most things? It’s amazing that what people say usually shows more about who’s saying it than what’s actually being said.

In Livingston, in a bar, one of my cobackpackers started up with the whole "I’m so glad to be away from all that shit, all that wholesale corporate shit, all that unthinking consumption, all that overly aggressive American culture, all that Bible thumping and fast food and 9-5" routine

I set down my beer, and gestured for the guy to lean over.

"I’ve got a hunch about America, dude…"

"What’s that?"

"…You’re doing it wrong."

Divebars. Jukeboxes. Allen Iverson. Beerball. Super Mario Kart. NetFlix. LiveFuckingJournal. The way my girl looks in that skirt.

An aversion to whitehats and fast food might be a reason to leave the country, but it’s no reason to bash it. To fail to find a place for yourself in the USA might be a failure of fucking imagination, but it ain’t a failure of the culture to provide.

Although I may have taken a different approach, I agree in principle that when people moan about "getting away from all that wholesale corporate shit," I groan. If you want to be hyper-consumerist, thump your bible, eat at McDonald’s, and work in a cubicle from 9-5 each day, you have the freedom to do so. But guess what? I don’t do any of those things. A lot of people don’t. And it’s just as easy.

My sense is this guy would get along well with P.J. O’Rourke who wrote Holidays in Hell. Here are some excerpts of Holidays in Hell. Warning: You may find O’Rourke’s commentary on countries and America highly offensive, disgustingly xenophobic, and so forth. I endorse none of it and agree with only some of it.

After traveling in 10 countries over the past two months I feel more American than ever before. But I also feel more globalized, more cosmopolian, more similar than different to Europeans, and strangely enough, less American. It’s a weird duality that my friend Pierre Claus pointed out.

What things will I do when I return home? I will get into a gaz-guzzling SUV and drive down a 5-lane freeway. I will go to Costco and buy 10-packs of cereal, 6-packs of ketchup, and everything else in massive quantities. I will ask for water at a restaurant and not pay for it. I will inhale air at a restuarant and not smell a cigerrette for miles. I will eat peanutbutter and jelly on bread and on saltines. I will eat pancakes — not thin Dutch style pancakes, but thick pancakes with butter. I will eat American crepes — not French thin crepes, but ones stuffed with all sorts of food spilling over the plate. I will eat American pizza (pizza with 10x the toppings).

I will be entrepreneurial. I will take risks. I will be a capitalist. I will proactively confront and criticize friends and colleagues in the spirit of eternal forgiveness. I will listen to some country music. I will walk down a street and see people from all walks of life who say they’re American, and I’ll enthusiastically support their own self-declaration.

I will be optimistic. I will see each moment as precious. I will believe that tomorrow will be even better than today. That tomorrow will bring the answer I’ve been looking for, the person I’ve been waiting to meet, the good news that’s been stuck in traffic.

I will enjoy season-less San Francisco weather. In other words, I’ll enjoy a moderate climate, and I’ll put on a jacket if I walk out the house after 5 PM, 365 days a year.

Most of all, I will pursue happiness. I’ll pursue it seriously, knowing that if I don’t, I let society tell me how to be happy. I will pursue it knowing that I came into this world alone, and will leave the world alone, but that in the intervening time I should enjoy social connections.

I won’t be just American. I’ll be a more cosmopolitanized Ben Casnocha, whose allegiance doesn’t extend to a state as much as to humanity.

I will, I hope, be more fully human.

Is American culture more casual and simple than most European cultures?

In English there is no formal version of "you". Our national food is the hamburger. In the Bay Area t-shirts are acceptable work attire in many industries. The overarching theme in Americanism seems to be mutual admiration for the process of re-inventing who we are and what we do. It’s not about interpreting implicit signals, as Pascal Braudry argues is essential in French culture. It’s not about punctuality or professionalism, as some would argue is essential in Swiss culture. If you’re Irish and immigrate to America, you’re now "Irish-American." If I immigrate to Ireland, I’ll always be American. In short: Americanism is about the freedom to invent whatever darn identity we want.

Several commentators have theorized that one reason many Europeans despise George W. Bush is that he lacks the sophisticated eloquence Europeans expect in their politicians. He uses simple language, he clears brush in Texas, he listens to an iPod while riding the bike. It’s easy to impersonate George W. Bush. If he’s a symbol for an American, it’s easy to act American.

Do these simple, universal attributes allow America to better receive immigrants and thrive on diversity? Some of Europe is really struggling on the integration front, particularly in the Muslim community. I wonder if it’s just harder to become an authentic citizen of that European country.

There are a few counter-arguments I’ve thought of, but I’m curious what you think.

A few days ago I came across Umair Haque’s post on how Europe is going to kick America’s ass in innovation and immediately tagged it in del.icio.us to blog_later. And yet, every time I tried to start a post on it, I found Umair’s logic so off that I didn’t know where to start. Umair’s thoughts are usually pretty good and he seems like a nice guy. Moreover, early comments on his post were complimentary. So I held off, a bit uncertain of my gut reaction. Then I saw Jeff Nolan call it a "whopper" and woke up this morning to Chris Yeh’s long, devastating take-down of Umair’s theory. Go read Umair’s original and then Chris’ response.

I only have time to add one more thing to the pot, and that is to reference my earlier post on globalization’s effect on unique culture. It’s very hard to attribute cultural exports to a single country or region and thus generalize about its aesthetic vibrancy. The character of cultures is increasingly cosmopolitan. Indeed, the spread of markets and commericalism has not diluted the best of culture, it has instead provided more and diverse choices for citizens. So, I think it’s unproductive to argue America vs. Europe and then especially derive predictions about innovation, a process that will be more and more de-nationalized.

Thanks Umair for sparking this conversation!

I categorized this Silicon Valley Junto since we discussed Americanism at our last lunch.