Notes on Americans, Part II
I spent most of yesterday lecturing and talking to the guests on this cruise. Obviously, men and women who come on a Hillsdale College cruise are not average Americans. They're wealthier, older, and righter-leaning. Most told me they were there above all for the chance to talk about politics, and from what I saw, this was not code for "to network and meet powerful people," it was exactly that--they loved talking about politics. That's what floats their boats.
I was struck by how many of them had become people who at this stage of their lives could afford to go on a cruise not because they had inherited wealth, but because they had started their own businesses. In a few cases, they had started several of them, the first few, presumably, having failed. They built air conditioners, they started radio broadcasting networks, they designed new pharmaceuticals. And they said the kinds of things only Americans say: "Every year we have a retreat for our employees. I tell them they need to come up with at least one idea that has no more than a 30 percent chance of working. Then they need to go make it work," or "Never give up on your dreams. Don't let anyone tell you it's impossible." The last--a corny cliche, on the one hand, a sentiment of extraordinary political significance on the other. Americans are constantly looking for new ideas and new, better ways to do things, and as a matter of reflex encourage everyone around them to do the same. There is actually no such thing as an American conservative.
I spoke a bit with a few people here about ways to fund and improve the quality of journalism, generally, and reporting from overseas in particular. No one, not one, said anything like, "It can't be done," or, "That's not realistic," or "Won't happen because the economy's in the tank." No one said anything to suggest a suspicion that deep down, I just wanted to enrich myself. That was taken as a given: Of course Claire wants to enrich herself, perfectly admirable. Let's see if we can figure out a good way for her to do that, we'd all benefit from it.
Americans so take this absence of zero-sum thinking as a given that they don't realize how stunningly unusual it is in the world. The default assumption in most of the world, at least what I've seen of it, is "If someone else wins, somehow we will lose."
Probably the biggest hint I could give to the world if they want to understand Americans is that generally, they really don't think that way. Probably the biggest hint I could give to Americans if they want to understand the rest of the world is that generally, they really do.
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Jun '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:.
Americans so take this absence of zero-sum thinking as a given that they don't realize how stunningly unusual it is in the world. The default assumption in most of the world, at least what I've seen of it, is "If someone else wins, somehow we will lose."
Boris is complaining because the government gave Ivan a goat. He stumbles on a lantern and out pops the djinn. Boris has one wish. "I want you to kill Ivan's goat," he announces.
This is what VDH describes as a peasant mentality. Sadly, the class warfare practiced by the left is slowly turning us into a nation of peasants. Yet another crime committed by the bolshies against civilization.
Aug '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
It is easy to understand, Claire. In their cultures, the social structure is set up to do exactly that. From cops blatently demanding bribes, to the type of crony capitalism that gave Mubarak his wealth, the biggest impediment to human development is what we Americans quaintly call 'corruption'.
Jan '11
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Isn't that also the default assumption of leftist economics?
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Nothing quaint about it. And I fully agree.
May '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Even in a society like Japan, where petty corruption is nearly non-existent, there is still a strong tendency towards zero-sum thinking. Perhaps it's the above mentioned peasant mentality. Japan was a feudal society until WWII. But I find the zero-sum thinking coming from people whose families have been bourgeois for several generations.
Jun '11
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Thank you. Succinctly put.
We are the inheritors of a true and evolving Liberalism. One of the great propaganda tricks of the Progressives has been to label us as "Conservatives." The label is derisive. It implies dark nights with shallow villagers chasing witches with pitchforks. It is an absurd characterization.
We think up businesses and we try them. When they fail, we try another.
We meet payrolls that help people put food on their tables and send their kids to school.
When someone in the top office or on the floor comes up with a better widget, we embrace it.
We are speculators sometimes and sometimes investors.
We believe in the silver lining because that is what American Freedom has given us after centuries of slavery across the ocean.
And we refuse to go back into slavery again. That is what the Progressives do not understand about us.
I prefer death to Rational Administration.
May '11
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
The first time I ran across this mentality was with an Iranian colleague. He really felt that if salesman A got paid before h did, it was because A was friendly with the install team. After living in Portugal for 20+ years this attitude is still alien. They say, and believe, "O segredo é a alma do negócio." 'The soul of the deal is secrecy.' They kicked the Moors out 1200 years ago, but they still have a middle east outlook.
Is that attitude prevalent outside Iberia/Maghreb/Middle East?
Dec '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Claire Berlinski, Ed.:
Americans so take this absence of zero-sum thinking as a given that they don't realize how stunningly unusual it is in the world. The default assumption in most of the world, at least what I've seen of it, is "If someone else wins, somehow we will lose." ·
Protectionism is zero-sum thinking.
Unionism is zero-sum thinking. Not until the 1980s did the UAW consider that maybe by helping management boost productivity, competitiveness might improve and the companies might be able to earn enough to retain and remunerate their workers. Unfortunately, the unions don't put that into practice nearly as much as they should. (Ask Rob Long or Denise Moss about the wisdom of the leaders of their union, the WGA.)
So I would say that the sampling bias you recognized in the composition of the passenger complement on your cruise may have shaped your assertion about what Americans believe. The ones who have the initiative and outlook to earn their way to places on a Hillsdale College cruise -- and to choose that over, say, a DailyKos cruise -- are not necessarily typical Americans.
Dec '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
michael kelley
We believe in the silver lining because that is what American Freedom has given us after centuries of slavery across the ocean.
And we refuse to go back into slavery again. That is what the Progressives do not understand about us.
The Progressives preach to the masses about the benefits of a return Egypt, where at least they had onions to eat.
The Progressive leaders, of course, plan to be the new Pharaohs.
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 10:48amJun '11
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Stuart Creque
michael kelley
We believe in the silver lining because that is what American Freedom has given us after centuries of slavery across the ocean.
And we refuse to go back into slavery again. That is what the Progressives do not understand about us.
The Progressives preach to the masses about the benefits of a return Egypt, where at least they had onions to eat.
The Progressive leaders, of course, plan to be the new Pharaohs. · Jun 11 at 10:47am
Edited on Jun 11 at 10:48 am
Apt analogy.
Their first mistake was letting us leave Egypt at all. Slaves who once taste freedom will not twice be enslaved..
May '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Thanks for these reflections, Claire, outstripp, et al. Most of us don't spend much time outside our homeland. The perspective is greatly appreciated.
Oct '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Johnny Bigodes:
Is that attitude prevalent outside Iberia/Maghreb/Middle East? · Jun 11 at 9:54am
Yes it is. I spend a good deal of time in Mexico. It being an Hispanic country I believe the vast majority of Latin America caught this infection from their forefathers on the Iberian peninsula.
Edited on Jun 11, 2011 at 1:06pmOct '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
I've noticed this myself. In America, we really do believe capitalism should benefit everyone. If a marketplace fails to do that, we tend to fix the market failure, usually at the state level (not the federal level per se, and it's not always perfect). American capitalism is much more about mutually beneficial growth for everyone than zero-sum competition.
I'm always amazed at how much of a failure the eurozone's "Common Market" is. Americans aren't idealistic about trade and capitalism because we're naive. Playing a zero-sum game almost destroyed the world in the 1930s/1940s. Ultimately, zero-sum thinking will destroy everyone, including the winners.
That's why Americans don't believe in that sort of thinking.
Aug '10
Re: Notes on Americans, Part II
Joseph Eagar:
That's why Americans don't believe in that sort of thinking. · Jun 11 at 1:05pm
I would offer this linked video refuting the concept of the Zero-sum game. The concepts expressed by the very capable Bill Whittle cut to the core of the lie that is the zero-sum thinking.
I hope you have enough internet to see it, Claire.
The other videos in this series are equally profound. Take a look.