In character

There are certain phrases that jump out from the background noise of contemporary debate. One phrase that jumped out for me was from President Obama's healthcare speech last night. He quoted a letter by Ted Kennedy delivered posthumously to the White House, in which the late senator used the phrase "the character of our country." The president characterized that character thus:


"One of the unique and wonderful things about America has always been our self-reliance, our rugged individualism, our fierce defense of freedom and our healthy skepticism of government." Later on he qualifies that with: "That large-heartedness, that concern and regard for the plight of others… too, is part of the American character: our ability to stand in other people's shoes; a recognition that we are all in this together…."

Our national character then, has strains that are both contrarian and contradictory, as might be expected when applying generalizations to the multitude. There are so many "on the other hands" to our national character, that we might need to borrow many-armed Kali from India to describe it fully.

Foreign detractors have their own list of American qualities. In World War II Britain it was lamented that Americans were "over-paid, over-fed, over-sexed, and over here." Others might think us friendly, spontaneous and inventive, and at the same time chide us for being credulous, arrogant and disrespectful. Domestic detractors on the right might decry America as Godless, while those on the left declare it heartless. Those in the middle might add "intemperate." Everyone seems to agree that there is an American character, we just can't agree on what it is.

But it's worth talking about--because who we think we are determines, in large part, what we think we should do. Use the comment link below to characterize your views on the American character.