Lost Myth
June 29, 2009
I suspect that most Americans born near the middle of the last century are like me. They grew up believing that they were citizens of a grand and noble country. When they told themselves that the United States was a great nation, they didn't know exactly what they had in mind. They never bothered to ask themselves what the United States is. Is it a collection of people? Is it a certain geographical region? Is it a constitutional system with a set of laws? Is it a powerful government. Precise definition didn't trouble their minds. The United States simply symbolized something that was great and good, and they were a part of it. Their vision of their homeland was a myth, and myths are necessarily cloudy.
I'm not sure when that rose-tinted cloud began to dissipate. Many say the war in Vietnam, with its military defeat, was the initial dissolving agent. Perhaps. Certainly we learned things about ourselves that formerly were not admitted. First, that we were not invincible; second, that our soldiers were not always brave and noble. Our "boys" could be just as cruel and vicious as the soldiers of any other nation.
In any case, sometime in the 1960s, a process began which has continued but is still far from complete. The people of the United States began to view their nation as one among many, with the flaws that nation states are subject to. This is a slow development, requiring innumerable bits of evidence. Each is a small drip, wearing away a massive illusion.
You can seldom pick up a newspaper, without feeling the splash of a dissolving droplet. In this morning's New York Times, for example, Bob Herbert tells the story of Mohammed Jawad, a teenager snatched up in Afghanistan and tortured into confessing a hostile act against U.S. Military forces. He was eventually transferred to Guantanamo, where he continued to be tortured. Yet, the military lawyer designated to prosecute him came to see that the whole case was fabricated. He resigned his commission rather than be a part of what he was asked to do, and is now a part of a group trying to get the young man released.
This is not the picture we used to have of our officials: men who would torture a boy for years on end, without a shred of evidence against him. Americans were good guys, and good guys don't do things like that. Behavior of that sort was reserved for the German and Japanese officers we saw depicted in World War II movies. Yet, it turns out not only that some Americans will engage in the most brutal behavior, but that a lot of Americans will. Furthermore, the people of the United States were willing to elect a president and vice president who think that gratuitous torture is perfectly all right. So what if the guy is innocent? Under torture he might reveal something that he wouldn't otherwise. Attitudes of that sort are what it takes to compete in the world today.
The questions to be applied to any myth are what is it worth and what does it lead to?
A myth of national grandeur and moral superiority conveys a pleasant feeling, and, I suppose, pleasant feelings are worth something. But, how much? Does a pleasant feeling justify believing a lie?
The way we used to think of the United States was childish. The way we are beginning to perceive it is more mature. There is always some pain in giving up childhood, always some regret. I feel it with respect to my view of the nation. There's a part of me that wishes I could still see America as I did when John Wayne on Saturday afternoons was leading the valiant Seabees against the Japanese on a remote Pacific island. But, there comes a time to grow up, even for me.
Any halfway sensible perspective of America shows it to be a vast and not very tidy conglomerate which can't be defined by a handful of adjectives, and particularly not by such a murky term as "great." We would be a lot better off to stop applying "great" to nations and reserve it for baseball players and pianists. There are a lot of fine things about this country. But there are a lot a dreadful things also. Only a fool would be simple enough to think he knows the ratio between them.
We are now moving towards a time when we can view our national vices with an open mind. And, all in all, I'm glad we are.
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