“That is not who we are…” (U.S.)
Then, who are we.....
It is of importance to know what one speaks, and not to
mistake the American impulse for some narrow and impractical ideology. For
intellectual development, the first necessity is to define one's terms. If we
can enlarge the understanding of Americanism's first principles, we will have
begun a reinvigoration of the America’s imagination. The great line of
demarcation in modern politics.
A historical perspective of American behavior the generate
the “Being American” principles.
·
Enduring
moral order. That order is made for man, and man is made for it: human
nature is a constant, and moral truths are permanent.
·
Two
aspects or types of order: the inner order of the soul and the outer order
of the commonwealth.
·
Custom, convention,
and continuity. It is custom that enables people to live together peaceably
·
The
principle of prescription. The sense that modern people are dwarfs on the
shoulders of giants, able to see farther than their ancestors only because of
the great stature of those who have preceded us in time.
·
Guided by
the principle of prudence. Chief among virtues.
·
The
principle of variety. They feel affection for the proliferating intricacy
of long-established social institutions and modes of life, as distinguished
from the narrowing uniformity and deadening egalitarianism of radical systems.
·
Man being
imperfect, no perfect social order ever can be created. To seek for utopia
is to end in disaster: we are not made for perfect things. All that we
reasonably can expect is a tolerable ordered, just, and free society, in which
some evils, maladjustments, and suffering will continue to lurk. By proper
attention to prudent reform, we may preserve and improve this tolerable order.
·
Freedom
and property are closely linked. Separate property from private possession,
and Leviathan becomes master of all. Upon the foundation of private property,
great civilizations are built. The more widespread is the possession of private
property, the more stable and productive is a commonwealth. Economic leveling
is not economic progress.
·
Uphold
voluntary community, as we oppose involuntary collectivism. Although
Americans have been attached strongly to privacy and private rights, they also
have been a people conspicuous for a successful spirit of community. In a
genuine community, the decisions most directly affecting the lives of citizens
are made locally and voluntarily.
·
In the
name of an abstract democracy, the functions of community are transferred to
distant political direction--why, real government by the consent of the
governed gives way to a standardizing process hostile to freedom and human
dignity. For a nation is no stronger than
the numerous little communities of which it is composed.
·
Perceives
the need for prudent restraints upon power and upon human Passions.
Politically speaking, power is the ability to do as one likes, regardless of
the wills of one's fellows. A state in which an individual or a small group are
able to dominate the wills of their fellows without check is a despotism,
whether it is called monarchical or aristocratic or democratic.
·
A just
government maintains a healthy tension between the claims of authority and the
claims of liberty. Constitutional restrictions, political checks and
balances, adequate enforcement of the laws, the old intricate web-of restraints
upon will and appetite--these are approved as instruments of freedom and order.
·
Not
opposed to social improvement, although the people doubt whether there is any such
force as a mystical Progress at work in the world. When a society is
progressing in some respects, usually it is declining in other respects. The people
know that any healthy society is influenced by two forces; its Permanence and
its Progression. The Permanence of a
society is formed by those enduring interests and convictions that give us
stability and continuity.
·
Change must occur in a regular manner,
harmonizing with the form and nature of the whole; otherwise change produces a
monstrous growth, a cancer, which devours its host.