Government - #101- #02 - The Author is at a loss as to what “American” stands for.

#101- #02

So often, ordinary people stand up and cry out …”I’m an American and I want…..etc,”. They think that everyone has the same idea of what an American stands for. They think that the mere association with America entitles them to a certain type of response.

Who is an “American”

“I’m an American!!”
“This is the American way!!”
“This is how we do things in America!”

That’s nice but what does that mean!!!

Which “America” are we talking about? The rich America, the poor America, the Northern or Southern America, the educated or uneducated America, the working stiff or the management America, the “ethnic” America, the religious America, the atheist America…… Get the point?
How can statements made about the “general America” have any real meaning?
What does “general America” mean?
How can people mutually communicate if they don’t have a “mutual frame of reference”?
Each will have an opinion, but each person’s opinion may be on a different set of facts.
No one stops to “check”! No one seems to recognize the uselessness of pursuing a conversation without realizing it’s about two different subjects! …..

Why not just ask!!!
First find a “mutual definition”!!
Then, after that, you can discuss to your hearts content.
But to talk “at each other” about different things “at the same time” …. Well, you might as well go home and have a nice warm bath!!

Wouldn’t the discussion of the many faces of America be more useful? Then, one could, at least, try to find an application on which most “faces” in the discussion could agree.
It also depends on which America “you, personally”, mean when you start making statements.

The T.V.talking heads make these broad , unintelligible, political generalities that cause unnecessary debate and controversy for, either, the purpose of creating what they think is entertainment; or,… they do not wish to take a stand on anything for which they could be criticized .

However, judging by the size of the audience they gather, the people are as careless as the T.V. talking heads. They simply don’t care!! Or, they don’t “give a damn!!

At the very least, in your private conversations, it might be a productive idea to first describe which America you are talking about!

There are a lot of citizens and non-citizens living in this country called “America”. One of the main reasons there is so much confusion, violence, and apathy is that no one seems to stop and give a definition of which “America” they would like to address.

We thought we had a uniform country, but we no longer have!

We have allowed different definitions of the original America to change to accommodate our modern day society….. a collection of politically encouraged, desperately defended, different ethnic cultures.

Unfortunately “America” still remains a “moving target”. It encourages individual interpretation and expectations.
This is part of the confusion and frustration! It certainly is a part of the increasing apathy towards “our one Government” and its policies.

“Our Government”, also, does not know which “America” it is responding too. Perhaps it’s mainly the “voting” America. That’s less than fifteen percent of the people occupying this country!
And the purpose of responding to this fifteen percent??? … keeping in office…. keeping in power… keeping in authority!

But what else or who else are “they” supposed to cater too?

If we had true “leaders” we could ask that they preserve and proclaim the best, most consistent, single interpretation of “What America is supposed to stand for”!
If they can’t agree … we have either a “true, faceless, ungovernable, “undefinable” Democracy …. or we have ill-elected representatives.

Another way of stating this is…“We have either a semi-violent anarchy, or we have an incompetent, leaderless society.”

There has to be a mutual, meaningful way to describe what America is supposed to be.
The statement must contain enough detail so that the decisions we make are related and connected to this statement.

If we are unable to accomplish this, we can look forward to more and deeper confusion and apathy

So, “What is an “American?” … “What is America?” …. What or who are we talking about??


(Now, after having read this chapter, can you see more easily why we have so much confusion in our discussions of “America”? )