AN AMERICAN DILEMMA?

Loosing the Sense of Proportions everywhere


Many years ago (1944) a famous Swedish Social scientist and author, Gunnar Myrdal, wrote a chilling and highly controversial book, € An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy €, which resulted in frosty relations between USA and Sweden which gradually increased during the Vietnam war, when the Swedish Prime Minster Olof Palme attacked USA ferociously. The latter is but a parenthesis in history, but Professor Myrdals analysis of America created a turbulence of enormous proportions and became highly acclaimed by sociologists world wide. America never forgave us although it may have forgotten why...

The savior of Europe by means of the American intervention in the second world war and the Marshall Aide, became the very epitome of a superpowers altruism and unselfishness. To scientifically point to the social dilemma of financial and social apartheid and the future financial repercussions for the USA even before the war ended was regarded as hostile, arrogant and immoral, although Mr Myrdals analysis proved to be correct and still mattered when the Civil RightsMovement labored with the socio structural dysfunctions of the great nation.

The American Dream and the self-made man stemmed from the Protestant theologists, who paved the way for capitalism and a free market. Calvin, the most austere and dogmatic polemecist of the new churches in opposition to Catholisim and Russian/Greek Orthodoxism, rested his credo on an idea that God rewarded those He loved and castigated the sinners by illnesses and poverty.

It became vital among the first European settlers who initially left Europe because of religious persecution to succeed visibly for all others to see, by genuine piety and and being industious in the new world where every man and woman could create their own life and fortune wihout interference by statal authorities. The stunning sagas of self made women and men building up giant and transnational financial empires by wit and stunning entrepreneurship enhance the normative mindset that fame and fortune depended on the piety, morals and benevolence of God. The religious overtones never truly disappeared from the American Myth, although it may not be as explicity expressed in this era. The references to God in ritual and public statements still, however, are obligatory, whether it is a president swearing in to office or the rituals of legislative body and to an extent, the legal framework.

America prouded itself to be the richest, most prosperous nation in the world with the most extensive individual rights in all fields regarding social, emotional and financial advancement. It was.

One of the most fundamental characteristics of Homo Sapiens, and inherited in almost all other species, is greed. Greed is a powerful motor to keep the wheels rolling globally and the implementation of the biologically inherited selfish gene in all species. This greed is known throghout history and every sage has pointed to the fact that happiness will never be achieved by possessions and social status. What we do when we have everything? Discover that we still are not satisfied and scared witless of the inner void. Is there such a thing as contentment? Yes! But it is seldom found in those who seem to have it all. And if we, like idiots, are torn apart by envy, desires and even hate, we destroy our lives by competition about futilities and forget what truly matters.

Contentment can be found in a refugee camp and in a palatial home in Aspen. But it does not rest on external conditions but what is going on inside. We all know it. We often ignore it.

Except for the devastating Civil War, far more stigmatizing than Europeans are aware of, the American Dream survived intact, although the means to fulfill it differed politically and still does.

Today, and with the rest of the world as a copy cat, the biggest and best do not suffice anylonger. People are prepared to go to absurd extremes to show the degree of success, influence and power and, obviously, the sky is not the limit... This, by no means, is an American invention. The ancient civilizations were topped by an elite which lived in absurd luxury and lavishness and, of course, faced disaster by the excessive consumism of a minority.

The rat race has become a race of every possible rodent existing om planet earth, with the normative mindset increasingly focused on visible fame and fortune, hailing non-productive celebreties as role models and stopping at nothing when it comes to display affluence and influence.

Ageing is not tolerated, if visible. Men and women undergo surgical improvements until they look like death masks without capacity to any facial expressions, the homes are filled with authentic but, often, fake Louis XVI interior designs and so lavish they outdo Versailles in order to safeguard the social position. The ultimate proof of being a Patriot, a loyal US citizen is measured by superficial attributes like a tableau vivant resting on a Obssesive Compulsory Disorder to overtriumph today with instant improvements tomorrow. Literally.

Am I talking about the average American? Yes and no. Most American do not live in Beverly Hills, on Manhattan or in New Hampshire. But the very core, the idea of growing in status and influence, even from misery, from rags to riches, is a major American dilemma because it is more often a dream, not a reality. If you cannot earn it you can take it by force. No country in the world has such a large proportion of nationals imprisoned as the USA.

So... Are we any better in Europe? Of course not! We may have other parameters of elitism and success to a certain degree, we are less loud and we hail €old money€ and descent as the optimal grandeur. We may not be as eager to look larger than life, because semantically it is an impossibility. We pride ourselves of our old history which, of course, is absurd. The miserable and oppresive conditions of Europe created the American nation because of the merciless persection and prejudices molded in a stagnant uneven distribution structure in every possible field. And, in addition, the old history of Europe is a myth, since the greater civilizations grew up and developed in other parts of the world when Europe was inhabited by scattered and destitute tribes...

Still, where do we go from here? When the grammatical comparation of a adjective no longer suffices, when the best and the biggest is not enough and the optimal is dismissed, what are we aiming for?

Just a thought...

Douglas Modig