|
According to principle
number 4 of elite theory:
"Elites share a consensus on the basic
values of the social system including the preservation of the
system".
According to number 6:
"Active elites are subject to
relatively little direct influence from the apathetic masses. Elites
influence the masses more than the masses influence the elites".
From these two principles it can be argued that the study of the
development of elite values is the study of American values! What are
these basic values and where do they come from?
But first, a little exercise!
Development of Elite
Political Values
The Puritan Epoch
(1620-1803)
1) Protestant Work Ethic Values of:
A) hard work;
B) self-reliance;
C) stern morality
2) smug self-righteousness
3) individual responsibility for the well-being of society
The
Frontier Epoch (1803-1900) and
The
Melting Pot Epoch (1880-1940s)
The Louisiana Purchase (1803) greatly
expands the opportunities for people to move away from
"society" and out into the "open frontier" where the
traditional bonds of society are loose. The Civil War (1861-1865) is the
culminating event in the breakdown of elite agreement.
Social Darwinism replaces individual responsibility for the well-being
of society. Individualism and the values of exploitation (waste, crime,
slavery, contempt for the environment, glorification of the common man,
and lack of artistry) replace concern for and responsibility to the
community
The
Modern or Consumer Epoch
The stock market crash,
the Depression and World War I and II alter elite values related to
Social Darwinism
Noblese Oblige becomes part of the elite value orientation
The
Values of the Contemporary Elite
1) individual liberty
2) private property
3) limited government
4) due process of law
5) strong defense
6) opposition to socialism and communism
7) liberal and public-regarding social welfare programs
Roots of the
American Character
1) our Puritan legacy
2) the frontier
Many argue that
one of the keys to understand "who were are" is the impact of
the American frontier. Foremost among these is Frederick
Jackson Turner. He wrote:
|
" It is to the
frontier that the American intellect owes its striking
characteristics. That coarseness and strength combined
with acuteness and inquisitiveness; that practical, inventive
turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of
material things, lacking in the artistic but powerful to effect
great ends; that restless nervous energy; that dominant
individualism, working for good or evil, and withal that bouancy
and exuberance which comes from freedom".
|
Want to read more?
The
Frontier in American History
|
Van Wyck Brooks:
described the American
west as:
"...a gigantic,
overturned garbage can". |
|
Vernon Parrington wrote
that:
"...freedom had
become the inalienable right to preempt, to exploit, and to
squander. The freedom of the frontier was the freedom of
the buccaneer. America was an anarchistic world of strong,
capable men, self, unenlightened and amoral". |
|
Jean de Crevocouer:
"...in America one
could not sense that people understood the limits of
individualism in relationship to the needs of society....who can
be wise than himself in this half-cultivated country?. |
3) consumerism/ capitalism
The
American National Character
1) competitive at
the individual level for material success
|
Alexis de Tocqueville:
"Americans cleave
to the things of this world as if assured that they will never
die, and yet are in such a rush to snatch any that come within
their reach, as if expecting to stop living before they have
relished them". |
2) equalitarianism
3) an emphasis on religious-moral values
|
Kluckholm:
"While many
Americans are in some senses profoundly irreligious, they still
typically find it necessary to provide moral justifications for
their personal and national acts. No people moralizes as
much as we do". |
|
Almond:
"The norms of
Christianity still constitute an important theme in contemporary
American culture. Since these moral standards are in
obvious and continually rivalry with the competitive ethic,
Americans tend to suffer from ambivalence and conflicts in
determining what is proper". |
4) anti-authority/ pro-common sense
5) optimistic
|
Ostrogorski:
"Americans are
marked by boundless optimism and a belief that things will right
themselves. This is not only a general tendency, but
almost a national religion". |
6) racist
7) self-conscious Americanism
8) violent
Well, what does all
this mean?
Harvard professor and
former Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich argued that four basic morality
parables condition how Americans think about politics!
Morality
Parables Which Flow From Our Culture/Character
1. The Mob at the
Gates
2. The Triumphant Individual
3. The Benevolent Community
4. The Rot at the Top
|
