“That is not who we are…” (U.S.) Then, who are we?

“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.