Recently I saw two very interesting and seemingly inconsistent interviews. The one was with David McCullough about his book, The American Spirit. The other was with Kurt Andersen about his book, Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History.
McCullough talks about the American spirit in familiar terms. It is based on the aspirations of the Declaration of Independence and those of the Founding Fathers: equality, fairness, truth. He spoke of the men who have lead this country as, for the most part, having had a certain gravitas. They may not have always been wise or even good presidents, but they understood the responsibility, not just the power, of their office.
A blurb for the books says: “The American Spirit reminds us of core American values to which we all subscribe, regardless of which region we live in, which political party we identify with, or our ethnic background.” I certainly believe in those core American values and in their importance in guiding our country, witness my book, We STILL Hold These Truths. However, I would not say that all American’s subscribe to these values. Hardly. And that is not just a fact today; it has always been a fact.
That brings me to Andersen’s book. His argument is that the American character is composed of two very different strains. On the one hand you have the religious fundamentalists, starting with the Puritans, who were beyond fervent in their often fantastical beliefs and would brooke no disagreement. To believe was to be right. As the population spread westward, religion followed often in the form of ministers who were hucksters, making show biz out of religion.
The other strain was formed by those who came to America searching for a pot of gold. To them it was a land of opportunity, a chance to become rich. There was no truth for them beyond the quest for money.
In both cases, he argues, fantasy was a core aspect of people’s belief system and character. And they believed in their own truths. I don’t know if Andersen makes this point, but I would say that this character is very much a self-centered one in both cases.
McCullough looks at the current political scene as an aberration from our historic spirit. Andersen looks at it as the logical culmination of our historic character.
They are both right. How can that be? The tendencies that Andersen sees in our history have indeed always been there; the evidence is ample. But for most of our history, the political and media establishment adhered, at least in form, to the higher American spirit. The quote from John Adams that is inscribed on a mantle in the East Room of the White House says it all: “May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof.”
And the power and prevalence of that establishment kept the lid on the unruly character of the people. Even the largest corporations, which until the early 1900s were a law unto themselves, came to be regulated to enforce standards of fairness, equality, and truth.
But the political and social movements of the 60s upended much. Everyone became entitled to their own truths and authority became suspect. Watergate reinforced this. Reagan legitimized this movement with his, “Government is the problem,” and the start of the Me generation. Then, with cable television and the internet, the avenues for people to both express and listen to their own truths, their own facts, morphed exponentially. Fantasy and hucksterism became the lifeblood of conservative talk radio. And that has brought us today to the presidency of Donald Trump.
With pandora’s box opened, will we ever be able to return to a world where the American spirit prevails over the self-centered character of the people? Painfully, it is hard to imagine. The judgments and emotions are running so strong
