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Quote of the Day: The Wilderness of Untried Things
“We Americans are the peculiar chosen people—the Israel of our time; we bear the ark of the liberties of the world. God has predestined, mankind expects, great things from our race, and great things we feel in our souls. The rest of the world must soon be in our rear. We are the pioneers of the world; the advance-guard, sent on through the wilderness of untried things, to break a new path in this New World that is ours.” — Herman Melville, from White Jacket
Melville was clearly optimistic about America and how it would be a light unto the world, as he used biblical metaphors to describe our country. His awe and admiration for our mission was so inspiring. Today, however, I wonder how he would feel about the disdain so many direct toward America. He died in 1891 before the popularizing of Progressivism.
Like the Torah describes G-d in ancient times, Melville likens Americans to be the light of the world, leading the way as a testament to freedom and a new form of government. Whether or not other nations are capable of adopting our Western values and establishing a democratic republic, they can at least observe what a successful one looks like, in spite of the turbulence of our times.
Today, the Progressives see no relevance to those roots and those traditions. They have no appreciation for the joy that comes from living without tyranny, the profundity of our Bill of Rights, and the importance of saving our legacy.
We may be in a struggle for our survival as a free country. Whether we can turn the ship around, only time will tell.
Published in Politics
This belief in “manifest destiny” had its up-sides and its down-sides. Progressives today point to its abuses if they recognize it at all. I have never read White Jacket, but the Wikipedia article says that it led to the abolition of flogging on US Naval vessels.
I don’t know if you’ve ever read the whole of the book White Jacket (and it has been a good 20 years since I last did so), but my recollection of the book was as an indictment of the US Navy, and I cannot help but wonder now if that particular passage was not meant with a fair bit of sarcasm to it, an unsubtle dig at the cruelty and egotism on display by the officers, and a dig at the way the US even then (this was before the Civil War) would try to throw its weight around. Melville was well familiar with the US thinking of itself as “The New Israel”, and I cannot help but think he considered that to be hubris, not to mention patronizing.
In many respects the US still thinks of itself as “New New Israel” on both the Left and Right. You would be forgiven for disputing that the Left thinks this way, but this subconscious view of America explains a great deal of why the Left is always so keen of late to uproot the past, and atone for the past by way of all sorts of blood-letting and the casting down of idols. The Left still thinks of the US as somehow saving the world, and is quite patronizing about it. It’s just that it thinks America should redeem the world from patriarchy and inequality (as the Left defines inequality) while purifying itself of sin. The Right thinks it should police the world and bring freedom everywhere, while protecting the world from terrorism or autocratic superpowers.
In any case, Melville was an interesting writer and person (and long time friend of Nathaniel Hawthorne), and I think he would still view both Left and Right today with some degree of cynicism.
Thanks, @joelb. I thought of including the information on White Jacket. If nothing else, it points to Melville’s humanity, which is complements the quotation.
I’m not sure he was talking about manifest destiny, though. He doesn’t talk about America expanding beyond our country; instead, he wants us to be a beacon, an example to the world. He speaks of our New World, but not extending beyond that. I think he was excited about pursuing the prospects we had right here.
Thanks, @skipsul. I was so delighted with the quote that I didn’t read further about Melville. I know a little more now. He led a very difficult life, with professional losses, repeated disappointments and eventually depression. I believe we shouldn’t separate the quotation from the person who said it, but I guess I would ask the readers to consider the sentiment, even if it was said from a place of bitterness and disillusionment. I can certainly say the words speak to me, and I hope they speak to others.
Edit: I thought about taking down the post, given the questionable motivation for Melville’s writing it. I’ve decided to leave it up, since I still love his words (sincere or not).
Another dead white male who should be ignored, according to the left . . .
According to Wikipedia, the phrase Manifest Destiny was coined in 1845. Their take on the primary aspects of MD:
In 1850, Melville was probably well aware of these thoughts. And bully for him!
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I think the view Americans had of themselves in that era was influenced by a conscious comparison to the Old World. Kings and unjustly entitled nobility, stagnant religious authorities and all that kind of social rot all only got even worse if you headed east into the Muslim world and beyond. Africa was seemingly hopeless. And Latin America had yet to fully awaken from colonialism.
In America, it seemed, free men ruled themselves fairly and honorably and built and grew and developed and invented without any of the dead hand of Old World thinking and culture getting in the way.
My generation was born into a general reverence for the nation and its leaders (how could you not respect Ike?) but as adolescents we saw the first movies that cynically trashed America. The dark side laid bare by the the civil rights movement, the bloody stalemate in Vietnam and an overt contempt for LBJ and Nixon colored everything. And we left a legacy of radical narcissism that spawned Howard Zinn’s anti-patriotic inoculation of the next generations.
The weird thing is that the uniqueness, influence, moral worth and greatness of America is more true now than in Melville’s time. We liberate, feed and rescue entire peoples, sometimes at great cost. We make it possible to believe in the possibility of political and economic freedom. We defeated the most monstrous political orders ever conceived. We unleashed the full power of innovation and material progress that Europeans began a little more than a century before the birth of the USA.
FDR said all we had to fear was giving into fear. If someone were giving that speech today he/she would probably be talking about the dangers of a spreading self-loathing that makes us despair of keeping much less growing our magnificent heritage.
Suzy,
Beautiful summation. The last time Liberty was put to the test in full it cost 65 million lives. If it should happen again one would suspect that it would cost 10 times as many or more. Hopefully, we won’t go that crazy.
Give us more Melville Suzy. I think you’ve hit a gold mine.
Regards,
Jim
This idea is not just a thing of the past: There are still those that believe this. I can find no legitimate basis in the Word.
But time and again through Scripture this people or that people decided they were “special”, and that was the beginning of the end for them. Nor is it necessary to restrict ones’ self to Scripture to find support for the observation.
Excellent comments, @oldbathos, especially the point I pasted here.
I don’t remember having a great love of America. My folks were too busy struggling to survive, and there was little discussion of ideas. But when Vietnam hit, and then all the questioning about America, I stopped to think about what in the world I believed. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I finally realized my conservative values and my love of this country about 15 years ago. We are so blessed, and we’ve worked darn hard to get where we are. We’ve contributed so much to the world–to culture, compassion, innovation, science–the list is endless where we take the lead. I only wish the Left could see it.
I don’t really think it is wise (or fair) to review a book that one hasn’t read.
Is it?
Thanks, @jamesgawron. The Left ignores the terrible price that the whole country paid to keep the country together. It’s a tough time right now, but I can’t let go of hope!
I’m not sure whom you’re addressing, @jimmcconnell: @skipsul said he’d read the book a while ago, but he wasn’t giving a book review. I hadn’t read the book but wasn’t giving a review, but using a quote. Do you still have a concern?
I’ve read a lot of Melville, including White Jacket. Spent a semester reading his letters (what has survived, which is hit and miss) and poems too in college (the poems are a bit of a mixed bag). White Jacket is, like his first 2 successful novels Typee and Oomo, a mix of fiction and autobiography.
I also thought of something else regarding the title–The Wilderness of Untried Things. How many of us have wandered into our own wilderness, wondering what would happen, whether we would succeed, whether we would be happy? I have a few stories, but I must go visit my hospice patients!
I think he anticipated an important aspect of it in Benito Cerano.
Aboard a Spanish slave ship his naive, well-meaning protagonist,Captain Amasa Delano, looks at the living cargo with Rousseauian condescension. His comments about the superiority of these unfortunate souls are undermined by relating them to animals, viewing them solely as the hapless victims of Western civilization.
What’s noteworthy about this character’s confused observations are that he disregarded the slaves’ capacity for evil, something Melville seems to have identified as man’s defining attribute. A lioness preys on a gazelle and we call it nature. Man, however, can really do wrong in the universe.
I suppose it’s a little ironic that Melville’s serious fascination with evil that might have something to do with the optimism above. I suppose the founding of this country necessitated the recognition of this fact, allowing a kind of Jungian integration and subsequently the Providential reward for such daring faith.
My guess is that most of the disdain uttered about our country is just fashionable blather, but for those Americans who truly hate their country I suspect their is an unacknowledged darkness within – most commonly, the same kind of benign racism of Captain Delano.
Wow. I’d forgotten about that story. I’m going to have to dig it out.
I was never a fan of Manifest Destiny. It fueled an imperial America, though many would be loathe to admit it.
It also seems blasphemous (see Skip’s comment, which perfectly encapsulates my thought on it). Manifest Destiny and the New Israel also seem to have a connection to the Mormon church.
I have no compunction with believing in the exceptionalism of our constitution and that we have offered a model of governance to political history, but to take upon ourselves the role of saving the world from their inferior ways, it’s just a bit conceited in the extreme. If it’s the best, let it stand or fall on it’s own merits. Nations have the right to choose for themselves how they should be governed, be it foolish or wise, good or bad.
Fascinating, @samuelblock. We forget at times how our dark side will manifest in our lives. And how destructive it can be. Thanks.
Thanks, Stina. As I said earlier, I like the idea of being the example to others, rather than forcing it upon others, too.
The quote still holds, if snark, about the ambitions of Progressivism.
Rabbi Sacks.
I was going to use this quote for a Quote of the Day! For those who may not be aware, Rabbi Sacks sends out a mailing each week on the Torah reading. I have his book series on the Torah, and in the book of Deuteronomy, he writes even more about the parshah. But the posted series is free! If you’re interested in subscribing to his mailing list: http://rabbisacks.org/subscribe/.
Thanx for not taking it down. It’s worth it for the title alone.
If anyone’s interested in the historical context, The 2nd Great Awakening in particular, I highly recommend What Hath God Wrought. The previous book in the series (Oxford History of the United States), Empire of Liberty, has a really good examination of the religious explosion immediately after the Revolution as well.
That’s an interesting insight, but memories are not tamper-proof.