CHAPTER 6, Part 2: CHAPTER 6, Part 2


Slide3: Revolutionary War against Britain The Civil War Rock and Roll The drug culture Harleys & the Hell’s Angels Prohibition in the “Roaring Twenties” Union strikes 1960s “Hippies,” war protestors, & political assassinations “Hippies” Hollywood Independent political parties


Slide4: In 2006, 18 independent experts on the United Nations Human Rights committee (in a regular review of each of the 156 signatories of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights) leveled charges of American human rights violations in 4 broad areas: 1. Capital punishment disproportionately imposed on minority groups & poor people in America; 2. Failure of U.S. federal & state governments to follow through on promised Katrina reconstruction plans, especially to African-Americans; 3. Lack of Congressional representation & voting rights for the citizens of Washington D.C.; 4. Maintenance of secret incarceration centers for military & political prisoners & the complete suspension of their human rights in direct violation of the Geneva War Convention.


FREEDOM!“No kings or Anglican state church for us!”: FREEDOM! “No kings or Anglican state church for us!”


FREEDOM OF RELIGION or FREEDOM FROM RELIGION? : FREEDOM OF RELIGION or FREEDOM FROM RELIGION? A variety of political, economic, & religious reasons brought European immigrants to the British colonies before America become a nation. Many of the colonialists sought religious freedom from European state churches (such as England’s Anglican church), but others came to escape organized religion all together. The 13 original colonies were religiously diverse. A few tolerated religious freedom, but the majority set up their own version of state churches. By no means were all colonial Americans religious, tolerant, or Christian.


DEISM OR CHRISTIANITY? : DEISM OR CHRISTIANITY? America’s main “founding fathers” (especially Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, John Adams, James Madison) who led the nation into a civil war against Britain & established the U.S. constitution & government) tended to be religious deists rather than orthodox Christians. Deism was the philosophical outgrowth of the European Enlightenment (17th & 18th centuries), a movement which emphasized human rationality (thinking, science, & humanism) over spirituality. Major Enlightenment thinkers included Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, & John Locke.


Slide9: Deists believed in God but not the Trinity of traditional Christianity. Jesus was viewed as a great moral teacher, but not the divine son of God. Deists thought of God as the creator of the universe, who turned the world over to mankind to run without God’s further guidance or intervention—hence the heavy deist reliance on science, political institutions, & the intellect rather than religious “superstitions.” “Deism influenced, in one way or another, most of the political leaders who designed the new American government.”


DEGREES OF NATIONAL RELIGIOSITY: DEGREES OF NATIONAL RELIGIOSITY Percent of people who say religion is “very important” in their lives: USA = 60%; Italy/Poland = 30%; Germany = 21%; Britain = 16%; France = 14%; Czech Republic = 11%; Sweden = 10%; Demark = 9%; South Korea = 25%; Japan = 10%. Half of all Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes (versus only 18% of Americans) say God does not matter to their lives.


Slide11: “America is a land of Puritans & pornographers, with Puritanism symbolizing religion & pornography symbolizing popular culture. What makes this so hard for foreigners to take is that America is so aggressive at exporting both of them.” “America is the only modern country where most people belong to a religious organization and where some 90% believe in God.” There are 140,000 American missionaries around the world & America-style mega-churches are beginning to appear in Europe.


Slide12: “For many Euro secularists, America’s religiosity is its least attractive characteristic. They can’t believe that any modern person can be religious unless they are either stupid (Britain’s Private Eye dubs George Bush the leader of the “Latter Day Morons”) or insane (a former German chancellor was known to accuse Bush of ‘hearing voices—namely God’s’).” Recent European polls found that most French & Dutch as many as a large number of Brits & Germans think Americans are way too religious.


HOW AMERICA’S HERITAGE SHAPED THE AMERICAN PERSONALITY: HOW AMERICA’S HERITAGE SHAPED THE AMERICAN PERSONALITY America’s unbounded hope and optimism about the future (based on the premise of being God’s promised bountiful land) stimulated a cultural legacy of entrepreneurial risk-taking and hard work. The belief that God was in control of America’s destiny produced a foreign policy of moral unilateralism (dealing with other nations as we supposed was God’s will). America’s conquering of the frontier led to a cultural mind-set that people should be evaluated and rewarded in society strictly on the basis of their productivity (rather than background). Income and status inequalities were tolerated by Americans on the grounds that people deserve no more than what they earn for themselves on an individual basis through hard work and ingenuity.


AMERICA’S “CULTURAL WARS”: AMERICA’S “CULTURAL WARS” So far in the 21st century, America’s values have been split down the middle, with conservative “right wing” values (nationalism, religion, anti-immigration, pro-family, consumerism, etc.) dominating the government, but liberal “left wing” values (pro-abortion, gay rights, environmentalism, etc.) dominating the cultural world. “The natural response to being marginalized is to rage at the other during the marginalizing.”


IS PATRIOTISM AMERICA’S RELIGION?: IS PATRIOTISM AMERICA’S RELIGION? “American civil (patriotic) religion rose to such an extent during the extended period of violence associated with the Civil War (roughly 1852-1865), that serving country (Union army vs. Confederate) became coequal with serving God in the national mindset. American patriotic religion borrowed so heavily from the language of traditional Christian faiths that many Americans saw no difference between the two.” Today, evidence for American patriotic religion is still strong and is a major source of America’s current “cultural wars” (“red states” vs. “blue states”)


Slide16: “The Bible prevails as America’s most popular book, & often patriotism draws on familiar biblical themes to refer not to the church and its believers but to the nation & its citizens. ‘Chosen people,’ ‘promised land,’ & ‘New Israel’ all represent familiar metaphors in American culture reflecting America’s messianic mission to be a ‘redeemer nation.’ Until the late 20th century, the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag would be accompanied by prayers asking God’s blessings on His ‘American people.’ ”


Slide18: PRAGMATISM: Compromising an ideal in order to accomplish something in a convenient, practical (corner-cutting) way that occasionally borders on being unethical or illegal Finding a way to beat the system


You’re pragmatic if you ask:: You’re pragmatic if you ask: Did it work? Did it sell? Did you win? Did you get away with it?


Good ole American pragmatism: SUCCESS > IDEALS: Good ole American pragmatism: SUCCESS > IDEALS


Slide21: Why did Ben Franklin pragmatically say he preferred older women? (“It’s a lot harder to get them pregnant”)


AMERICAN CULTURAL PRAGMATISM: AMERICAN CULTURAL PRAGMATISM Justifying state-promoted lotteries on the basis of (miniscule) contributions to school funding Radar detectors for highway driving The “literary” Playboy magazine Guerilla warfare against the British in the Revolutionary War Universities charging high “service fees” to make actual tuition appear lower


BUSINESS PRAGMATISM: BUSINESS PRAGMATISM “Fat Free” Milk Duds Resume fudging Catsup defined as a vegetable for school lunch programs $12 parking sports venues Postage & handling: $7 “Name a star after someone!”


Slide24: 35/hour per week employees (so they don’t qualify for benefits) Internet cookies & ad blitzes Selling mailing lists National Enquirer, Napster & email spam “Lose weight while you sleep” Hyperfast talk on the legal part of radio ads


Slide25: Public school teaching revolving around passing the state achievement exams “No fault” divorces Retailer coupons The “quick loss” Atkins diet Low tar/nicotine cigarettes “Dr. Van Auken, what’s the lowest grade I can get on the final exam and still make a B in the course”?


Slide27: George Washington refused to be elected “King George” Classical music is “upper class,” but (American-created) pop music is middle class.


THE MIDDLE CLASS MINDSET: THE MIDDLE CLASS MINDSET Americans have always disdained the “upper classes” (those born into wealth rather than earning it) American politicians & celebrities typically affect a middle class persona: Cowboy hat for George W. Bush; President Andrew Jackson turned the White House into a giant beer bust for his uncouth frontiersmen friends from Tennessee; Bill Gates & Steven Jobs remind everyone that they didn’t finish college


Slide29: Americans share one thing in common that makes them middle class: they want (& feel entitled to) more of everything. Thumbs down from the American middle class : Artsy stuff; Being a follower; Self-discipline; Boredom; Conservative lifestyle (saving money, functional cars, postponing consumption) Americans are the world’s biggest financial risk-takers, saving virtually nothing & toting record levels of consumer debt. “Tomorrow will always be better than today.”


AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS FRIVOLOUS CONSUMPTION: AMERICAN MIDDLE CLASS FRIVOLOUS CONSUMPTION $540B on Botox in 2003 $7.7B on cosmetic procedures in 2002 $18.9B on pet food in 2003 $20.3B on antidepressants & sexual dysfunction drugs in 2003 $22B on potato chips & other salty snacks


AMERICA’S 5 DIVERSE GENERATIONS: AMERICA’S 5 DIVERSE GENERATIONS SENIORS: Before 1926 BUILDERS: 1927-1945 BOOMERS: 1946-1964 BUSTERS: 1965-1983 MOSAICS: After 1984


Slide33: THE OLD AMERICAN DREAM The three classic ingredients of the American dream: (1) national economic prosperity/ growth + (2) personal wealth + (3) independence + (4) freedom + (5) religious faith, emphasizing the belief that America is sustained and blessed by God.


MUTATION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM: MUTATION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM The American Constitution’s idea that everyone has an inalienable right to pursue happiness has mutated into the expectation that Americans have the right to happiness. Thus the American Dream is no longer a quest but viewed as a right. The original American Dream emphasized that success comes from hard work, skill, and self-reliance; under the New American Dream, success is linked to self-promotion, government social activism, and luck. Signs and icons of the New American Dream: mass consumerism (“I shop, therefore I am”), credit as a lifestyle, gambling, playing the lotto, and reality TV (which sends a clear cut message that success is largely a matter of luck; that anyone can become famous; and that happiness comes automatically without effort or sacrifice). Movies & TV send the constant message that life is endlessly entertaining.


Slide35: 3. “Based around the pursuit of personal happiness/gratification, the New American Dream emphasizes the pursuit of momentary pleasures and trivial pursuits—living for the moment and for self. Young Americans have “been there, done that”—been everywhere, done everything, seen everything, and had everything. This New American Dream gives them little or nothing to look forward to or aspire to—their dreams were answered before they even dreamed them. The biggest challenge presented to Americans by the new American dream is motivation itself—the momentary pleasures of vices thrive as a way to ward off boredom and to make it through another day.”


Slide36: 4. Scandinavian countries have the lowest child poverty rates in the world thanks to their welfare system; in Denmark just 2.4% of children live in poverty; 3.4% in Norway; 4.2% in Sweden. Mexico & the U.S. have the highest child poverty rates in the developed world: 27.7% for Mexico & 21.9% for the U.S.


Slide37: 5. American income equality is definitely growing wider.In the 20 year period from 1980-2000, the wealthiest 20% of Americans increased their share of total national income from 44% to 50%. Every other lower wealth bracket (top 60%-80%, 40%-60%, 20-40% & lowest 20%) lost money during this 20 year period.


Slide38: Income distribution inequality has been growing wider in the U.S. over the past generation. From 1950-1970, for every dollar earned by the bottom 90% of Americans in wealth, the wealthiest 1% of Americans earned $162. Between 1990-2002, the richest 1% of Americans earned $18,000 for every dollar earned by the bottom 90%. The only category of American taxpayers in 2001 & 2002 whose taxes decreased were the top 1% in wealth.


THE NEW EUROPEAN DREAM: THE NEW EUROPEAN DREAM National and personal interdependence > independence/autonomy Quality of life > quantity of life (materialism) Relationships/security Sustainable development: living today in a way that promotes, rather than borrows from, future economic growth Political support of a secular welfare state to promote equal results (not merely equal opportunity) Global mentality > nationalism/patriotism


RECENT AMERICAN SOCIAL PROGRESS: RECENT AMERICAN SOCIAL PROGRESS Decline in the number of working women with infants Teen premarital sex, pregnancy & abortion declined by one third over past 15 years Child poverty is down from its high in 1993 Juvenile crime, drug & alcohol use are declining


Slide41: 73% of American teens are hopeful about their future Increase in number of two-parent black families A quarter of American adults have a college education & the U.S. produces a third of the world’s scientific papers, employs 2/3 of the world’s Nobel-prize winners, & has 17 of the world’s top 20 universities. America’s welfare rolls have fallen by half in less than a decade with no increase in the national poverty rate.


Slide42: 37M Americans currently live below the poverty line. During 2005, 25M Americans (including 9M children & 3M senior citizens) turned to charitable food banks at least once. 12% of American households (13.5M people) had difficulty providing enough food for family members. Americans among the world’s richest: Bill Gates: $50B (richest man in the world); Warren Buffet (2nd wealthiest): $42B; Michael Dell (#12): $17.1M; Alice Walton (#20):$15.7B); Ross Perot (#147):$4.3B; Mark Cuban (#428):$1.8B


INCOME EQUALITY COMPARISONS BETWEEN RICH NATIONS (the lower the score, the greater the degree of income equality): INCOME EQUALITY COMPARISONS BETWEEN RICH NATIONS (the lower the score, the greater the degree of income equality) Denmark (22) Highest income equality in the world) Sweden (23) Netherlands (25) Switzerland (26) France (27) Germany (28) Australia (31) Japan (32) Britain (33) Italy ((34) USA (41)


OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN POVERTY: OVERVIEW OF AMERICAN POVERTY 12.2% OF Americans lived below the poverty level (under $20,444 for a family of 4) in 2006. 15.8% of Americans (47M) lack health insurance America’s median household income is $48, 200 4. Cities with the highest poverty rates (in descending order): Brownsville TX, College Station TX, Camden NJ, Edinburg TX, Bloomington IN, Fin, MI, Kalamazoo, MI


THE AMERICAN SENSE OF COMMUNITY: THE AMERICAN SENSE OF COMMUNITY Individualism > Community Social Darwinism (“rugged individualism”): Only the most capable & hard-working should thrive All Americans should be melted down into a single community The nuclear family is the main building block of American community, not extended family, which might restrict rugged individualism


Slide47: Since the 1980s, “liberal” has been a dirty word in American politics because past liberals tried to extend the concept of community beyond the family to include government agencies, affirmative action, bilingual education, cultural diversity, etc. Political conservatives began using the “family values” phrase to imply that American community should not extend beyond the nuclear family. “Red” states are those which support a limited concept of community, while the “blue” states embrace a more comprehensive view.


Slide48: “It seems now that anyone who calls himself an American is in the minority. The majority of our citizens don’t seem proud enough to call themselves true Americans. I am part Indian, Irish, & Dutch, but I am an American plain & simple. Why do people say that are something else, like a German-American? Why can’t we just have Americans & immigrants who become Americans? The sooner we can live together as all Americans, the sooner we will become a better nation.” (Letter to the Waco newspaper)


Slide49: Though Americans have always shown themselves to be big-hearted & generous, America’s sense of community has always been at tension with its rugged individualism (“It’s a free nation, & I can do anything I want.”). The American Civil War, Prohibition, civil rights movement, Vietnam protests, “Red” vs. “Blue” states, & the American world-leading crime rate reflect the constant struggle for a sense of American community. Ultimately, Americans believe in individualism more than community, while realizing that some sense of community goes with being a democratic nation.


I’VE GOT MINE! (I’m not my brother’s keeper): I’VE GOT MINE! (I’m not my brother’s keeper)


THE TWO DIVISIONS IN AMERICAN CULTURE: THE TWO DIVISIONS IN AMERICAN CULTURE Division #1: “Blue” states vs. “Red” states: cultural conflicts surrounding lifestyle issues (especially abortion & gay rights), separation of church & state, & nationalism (America’s war involvement, immigration, & global isolationism) Division #2: Individualism vs. community: individual (private) interests (as represented by corporations & special interest groups) vs. community (the needs of America as a nation)


Slide52: Examples of ideological & political battle lines between individual/private interests vs. community interests that are dividing America: American domination of the world; separation of church & state (theocratic government); environmentalism; immigration; commercialized vices (especially gambling & pornography); & national security vs. human rights (especially the “war on terror”) Post-modern philosophy (individuals determine “truth” for themselves & militantly defend their own private realities) undergirds America’s cultural divisions by legitimizing the rights of individuals over those of community. American society has “devolved” into subgroups competing to make their ideological agenda dominant.


INDIVIDUALISM vs. & COMMUNITY CULTURES: INDIVIDUALISM vs. & COMMUNITY CULTURES Taking care of yourself vs. providing for a family A race car driver vs. bus driver One paycheck family vs. dual-career marriage Me vs. we


CIVIC-MINDED AMERICANS?: CIVIC-MINDED AMERICANS? America ranks 139th among nations in voter turnout. Seventy-eight million eligible citizens (approximately the populations of California, New York and Texas combined did not vote in the 2004 presidential election.


21st CENTURY REALITIES AMERICANS MUST COME TO UNDERSTAND : 21st CENTURY REALITIES AMERICANS MUST COME TO UNDERSTAND America can’t be isolated from the world. Individualism is not more important than community. Freedom comes with responsibility. Lifestyle choices have consequences far beyond the individual. Economic growth isn’t always progress.


Slide58: Natural resources aren't free. Global warming does exist. There are consequences to debt. You can’t have it all. Career success doesn’t always mean success in life. Happiness isn’t the purpose of life.


AMERICA’S DECLINING QUALITY OF LIFE: AMERICA’S DECLINING QUALITY OF LIFE