AMERICAN CULTURE

Every distinct culture is rich in untouchable topics, features, belief systems and the like, but few are richer in stringent ‘a-priori rules’ than the American norm system. I find it counterintuitive that, in a society that prides itself in championing personal freedom and individual responsibility, there are so many places ‘you just don’t go’.

You don’t show up at a friend’s or a neighbor’s house, uninvited.

You don’t talk about money, religion, or politics at social gatherings.

You don’t let your grass grow beyond a few inches and you certainly don’t allow it to be overtaken by dandelions.

You don’t kneel when the national anthem is played.

You don’t disrespect the flag (but you are allowed to wear it as a bathing suit, covering your bottom).

Note that none of these norms contribute in any way to a better understanding between people, to a more compassionate ambiance, or to better respect for diversity of opinion and heritage. How much better off would we have been if we had embraced an entirely different set of norms? Norms that would support more solidarity between people of different creed, provenance, race, sexual orientation, education level, and societal status. And norms that would provide a corner stone for a common purpose and collective ambition.

The American culture has developed from rebellion against authority (the British rule) and the frontier spirit. But the British rule was vanquished, and the frontier has been pushed back into the Pacific Ocean. Yet, it seems, we have never adjusted to the new reality. Or, at least, a vocal minority of us has refused to adjust to the new reality and has organized politically to preserve the outdated norms. And, because of peculiarities in the American system of public governance, they may very well be in control for the foreseeable future.

America is still the most prosperous and powerful country on earth, but it can’t build consensus on how to put that prosperity and power to good use. It lacks the collective will and strategic plan to apply its wealth and power to a process of improving the life of humankind, in America first, but, closely behind, all over the world.

Just in the past twenty years, America has squandered trillions of dollars on unnecessary and ill-fated wars. Think about the tremendous good that kind of money could have done, had it been applied to causes that would have improved the lot of humanity. Like redoubling efforts to cure −as yet− incurable diseases; or taking effective steps in minimizing human contributions to climate change and building defenses against the impacts of global warming; or simply reducing the inequalities (in income, access to healthcare and education, safety and security, and wellness), not resulting from personal shortcomings but merely and directly from where you were born and who your parents are.

The Biden administration is making a serious effort to redirect public spending in that direction and increase it measurably. But it is hampered by a razor thin margin of support in Congress, by a impatient and rebellious left wing of the Democratic party, and by archaic parliamentary rules of the Senate. If, in the year it has left before the next election, it fails in getting its ambitious agenda of physical and human infrastructure improvement, and voting reform past Congress and signed into law, it is unlikely to get a second chance.

No one can, in good conscience, argue that America does not have the financial strength to implement the policy initiatives of the Biden administration. It may have to be more reticent about getting entangled in unnecessary wars that it cannot win, and it may have to rethink its tax structure and tax collection system, but it certainly has the wealth generating power, the wherewithal, to address the triple threat of incurable disease, global warming, and extreme inequality. The real question is if America can muster the political will to shift away from the frontier mentality of individual responsibility to a more cosmopolitan, contemporary, mentality of collective responsibility for the wellness of society at large and all the individuals comprised within.

The 2022 and 2024 elections will show us if that political will exists. The deck is stacked against Joe Biden and the Democrats. The popular will, that largely seems to support the Biden initiatives, does not account for much in the current system of government. The gerrymandering of voting districts, limiting the House of Representatives to 435 members (a number that was reached in 1913), the disappearing political center, and the filibuster rule in the Senate have seen to that. Midterm elections are notoriously unaccommodating to incoming administrations and Joe Biden’s botching of the exit from Afghanistan is sure to take away from any residual goodwill he may had retained with Republican voters and lawmakers.

Unfortunately, changing the American culture and national priorities has become a purely partisan matter. We have managed to turn even sound public health policy on vaccination and mask wearing into expressions of partisan creed. It should not be that way. Societal strengthening never was and should not be a Democratic prerogative. America will have a hard time being seen by the rest of the world as the legitimate world leader, the example to emulate, if it fails to create a better, more just and sustainable, society at home.