Mackenzie Wenner #7

In reference to ch7, what is American Nationalism? Within its geography, what does it expect of its citizens? Globally, how does it contextualize the rest of the world?

I’ve said before in previous blog posts that the US draws its national identity from several principals that were inherent to its founding. As related to citizens within our borders I would say this identity tends to manifest itself in a national sense of individual responsibilities. It’s American to vote and it’s American to participate in government. But there are elements of our national identity not specifically geared towards civic action as well. It’s considered part of the “American Dream” to buy a home and take good care of it, and to succeed through industry and commerce as well. We’re not all that easy on ourselves, and that is part of what makes this country great.

When Woodrow Wilson asked Congress to declare war he said “America must make the world safe for democracy”. I doubt it began with that statement but America, I think, tends to view the rest of the world in terms relative to what we are. For instance “Authoritarian vs. Free” or “Third world as opposed to First World”. Its popular and it sounds good to use phrases like “spreading democracy”, because why wouldn’t we want to bottle up a system that makes this country work decently well and give it to a struggling state. But to undertake this could be to forget why the system we have was formed in our country to begin with, and why our national identity is what it is. We have to begin to contextualize the world in relation to what it is, and how it can be better than it is presently, rather than how it can be more American. I say this not because I don’t like our society and government, but because I believe it only works here because of the unique history America has had since it was first settled. Thus I suppose what I am actually advocating for is the fostering of more “American” systems after all: national identities formed around what makes each nation uniquely more productive, not what makes us that way.