Americanism
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		C. R. Patton Jr.  (6/1980)

The United States currently suffers from a lack of Americanism on an effective
level.  It can, of course, be argued that any idealistic society is an innate
impossibility.  This argument does not, however, diminish the virtue of
striving for a flawless system.  America, the title which the United States has
been bold enough to take solely unto itself, is a democracy and of democracy
it has been wisely said that it is the absolute worst form of government
except for all the others.  Since the United States is accepted as the
guardian and trumpeter of democracy, as well as the home of the free, 
"Americanism" is appropriate as a universal term referring to the attitudes and
actions of those things ("things" more inclusive than "people" because it
is conceivable that animals and machines, e.g. computers, could possess
Americanism) which epitomize the attempt to practice or the striving for,
in whatever roundabout or hypocritical way, this ideal way of life.

The ideal way of life above mentioned is peculiar to the minds of Western
civilization and does not include those utopias ritualized by Australian
aborigines nor the tranquillity sought by Buddhist monks.  It necessarily
includes a high level of respect for and adherence to Christian morals,
"Christian morals" being the non-religious set of tautologies which can
be drawn from the axioms enumerated in the latter six of the Ten
Commandments:  Honour your father and mother; do not murder, commit adultery,
steal, bear false witness nor covet anything belonging to someone else;
and axioms contained in the cliches such as "honesty is the best policy"
and "love thy neighbour."  The application of these morals to Americanism is
limited to the non-religious because Americanism is not a religion nor is
there any role in it for gods of any kind.  The practice of Americanism is
social and physical, as opposed to philosophical in nature.

The pursuit, through socially active means, of the betterment of mankind
as perceived by occidental man is Americanism.  It is, however,
practiced by people not only outside of the United States but also by
people outside of the West.  An outstanding person of this category was
Mahatma Gandhi of India who led his people to independence.  He achieved
this goal through the nonviolent means of fasting and civil
disobedience.  For example, once in protest of a salt tax he led his
followers to the sea to make salt from the seawater.  He was promptly
arrested and jailed but after several days of fasting he was released
and shortly thereafter the tax was repealed.  These tactics resulted in
the creation in 1947 of two new sovereign states:  Hindu India and
Muslim Pakistan.

As Americanism is not restricted by geography, neither is it restricted
by race as exemplified by a disciple of Gandhi here in the United
States.  Martin Luther King, Jr. used very similar tactics of
nonviolence and passive resistance in the 1950's to achieve racial
equality.  He had a great deal of success in eliminating discrimination
beginning with the Montgomery bus boycott.  More than just making
material and legal strides, he and his Americanist Civil Rights Movement
altered how the entire white world viewed blacks in a way which can be
called only good my Americans the world over.

Attempts to end persecution are some of the most vivid examples of
Americanism and it is fitting that some of the steps taken by the
American government be mentioned.  All three branches of the federal
government have been active in the attempt to create freedom and
equality.  The Presidency's largest accomplishment is probably the
Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln which led to the end of
slavery in the United States.  The Supreme Court has made numerous
decisions on separation of Church and State forwarding religious freedom
as well as rulings such as Brown vs. the Board of Education, Topeka,
Kansas, curtailing racial discrimination.  The Congress has passed a
multitude of laws and amendments, a prime example of which is the
Nineteenth Amendment granting women the right to vote.

While most of the major strides for man from the practice of Americanism
come from government or large organizations, individuals have made
progress not only for themselves but somtimes for society.  Often these
people are artists or writers.  One man who attained a measure of
personal satisfaction and also had considerable impact on society was
Henry David Thoreau.  Thoreau was a man true to the world.  He virtually
originated civil disobedience, coining the phrase and going to jail in
defiance of taxes.  Also, as described in his book Walden, he lived a
peaceful and content "life" in a woods in New England, inspiring others
to do the same.

Thoreau went to jail because of a firm belief in the correctness of what
he was doing (not paying taxes).  He stood fast for what he believed as
did the patriots who died exemplifying Americanism at the Boston
Massacre.  A willingness to suffer physically and socially for a belief
is an integral part of Americanism.

Americanism is more than political and interactively intellectual as
cited above.  The role of science and invention is significant,
inventions which improve the quality of life, such as Morse's telegraph,
Marconi's radio and Edison's light bulb in particular.  Even the
invention of a device to cause a nuclear fission reaction is a gain. 
Fission can, it's true, obliterate a city but it can also provide much
needed electricity.  All aspects of an invention, or for that matter, a
situation must be considered with an open mind.  An open mind is another
indispensable quality of Americanism.

It was stated at the beginning of this essay that Americanism as it has
here been defined is lacking in the American system today.  The absence
of a political cause, an uncertainty of world affairs and an incredible
diversity of lifestyles are the reasons for this lack.  Only brief years
ago, in the early 1970's Americanism was deep-seated and widespread in
the women's liberation movement which had been preceded by the fight for
black rights.  On the political side was the Viet Nam war with campus
protests like that at Kent State where Americans once again died in the
American tradition.  Also at this time students were trying to gain more
say in their affairs.

One such student noticed the tapering off of Americanism and wrote about
it while practicing it holed up in an office at Columbia University.  In
The Strawberry Letter, James Kunen writes:

    There used to be a dream for America.  You know, the American
    dream?  America was going to be different.  Free.  Good.  Free
    and good.  Of course they blew it right away.  As soon as the 
    Puritans came over they set up religious laws.  But at least
    they clung to the dream.  Until now.  Now no one hopes for
    America to be different.  I guess it was the dream that ruined
    the dream.  People became convinced it was true.  People think
    the U.S.A. is special, so we can do anything and it's okay.  
    People should wake up and dream again.

The American dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the
effort put forth by people like Kunen, Lincoln and Thoreau to reach the
dream is Americanism.  The current decline of Americanism is undoubtedly
due to a disagreement as to what furthers the cause and therfore the
constituents oppose one another.  There has been disagreement in the
past on difficult but vital issues (Should we enter World War I?  Should
we "give back" the Panama Canal?) and there will be in the future, but
if we can continue to prove Kunen wrong in his assumption that no one
dreams anymore we will continue, as we always have in the past, toward
the dream. 




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