Just what IS "the American Way"/

In code-speak, we are always told that our soldiers are "fighting for the American Way".. American Way of WHAT??

There seem to be more myths here than in ancient Greece....

The only difference is that OUR myths seem to be entirely predicated on movie-lore and ad agency memes.

I think the movies of the 40's & 50's shaped the thinking that we are still inundated with. Look at who MADE most of these movies (or financed them). A large percentage of those people were immigrant Eastern Europeans who came to the US as a way to literally save their very lives, so of course, they would have an overly idealized vision of what America meant to them.

They came into maturity at a time when the US WAS flush...flush with money in a post-war economy..a baby-boom... a massive infrastructure-renaissance...union participation with good wages...and the nuclear family was still relatively intact(even though lots of people were edgy)

These same people moved into television and advertising, so it's no surprise that the mythology continued.

The social upheaval of the 60's must have mystified these people, and I don't think that era has yet been "covered" well enough to be understood.. The Madison Avenuers glombed onto the sheer numbers of the maturing boomers and just wanted to sell us stuff, but the myth-makers must have been really surprised by that decade.

I don't think that most people can even TELL you what the American Way is..or if it even exists..or ever did.

Is it success?

What is success?..
a big car?.. a big house?..lots of money?
or could it be job security an a modest lifestyle?
Is it a fancy job title even though there is no time to enjoy the fruits of the job?
Is it being the "biggest kid on the block..able to bully everyone"..but having no friends?


If our soldiers are fighting for the American Way...Do THEY know just what "way" that is?

Is it McDonalds? Target? Walmart? Wall Street? Hollywood? Ford? Mobil? the Bush family?

Is it happiness?

Are Americans happy? Have we ever been?
We ARE a stressed nation. We work overly-long hours, take few vacations or even days off..It takes 2+ incomes to adequately run a household..
Kids are often raised by strangers, and then befuddled parents wonder why they cannot "control" their teens..Moms do double duty in the workforce and at home.
Moms & Dads often spend more time commuting to and from work , than they do with their kids.

Poor people certainly aren't loving the American Way.... ..Middle Classers are in freefall as they try to hold onto what they can as they slide down the ladder.

The mythological American Way certainly fell flat in New Orleans

The only people who seem to have "the American Way" down pat, are the ones who spend lots of time and money telling everyone else how they should love the American Way, even though they cannot achieve it.

We should be able to DEFINE what it is we value so much, that we spill our children's blood to preserve

it's roots are in the history of how America came to be.
In time the end justifies the means, but the end isn't always what was meant to be.

Kharma meet Dharma.

:(

And a new pair of underpaints I've worn 5 times, over the course of 2 two months, already has a hole in the fabric.

A $5 t-shirt whose fabric felt solid, after 2 wears and 2 time in the wash saw its left sleeve tear at the seam; 1" gaping hole. And that shirt was from 9 months ago, when I turned into a pricey rag.

That's bad.

Say one thing while doing another. People are raised within that social climate and are therefore often unable to acknowledge it. Explains a lot of the simultaneous mass acceptance of lies/propaganda with limited acknowledgement of the propaganda while almost systematically disavowing any attempt at independent institutional analysis as "tinfoil" and "conspiracy theory." Dictators around the world salivate over the absolute effectiveness of the US propaganda machine.
"Where can I find a population like that?"

Answer: it has to be created and managed.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Of course, "all men" needs to be updated to "all persons"

At anyrate, there is nothing wrong with the "American Way."

However, there are many things wrong with hypocritical republicans.

Simply doesn't hold up to your claim that "At anyrate, there is nothing wrong with the "American Way." However, there are many things wrong with hypocritical republicans." Silence = consent. States are violent, and most forms of authority illegitimate when examined, so everyone should expect that those in power will be corrupt as a given.

The key rests in the people's opposition to power's corrupt dominance since the people are always the victims of power's wealth and weaponry. However, as is typically the case in the US, there is nearly uniform acquiescence to incidents of overt hypocrisy and unconscionablity that in a less propagandized world would be more appropriately acknowledged and confronted as elementary truth.

I think "the American way" is often used when the speaker is trying to persuade manipulate you.

I remember some pundit or other saying once, "Buying stocks is the American way."

I guess he thought people in other countries traded coconuts or something? LOL!

Americans can do WHATEVER THE GODDAM HELL THEY LIKE.

You godda problem with that?

An America where everyone is respected and no one is forgotten. One were we don't engage other nations in preemptive strikes. One where we don't need automatic weapons in which for us to feel safe, and an America where we can leave our doors unlocked at night. An America that wont discriminate against gays, atheist (sp) christians and women. An America where people are allowed to follow their religious beliefs but have the common courtesy not to push it on you. And finally an America with decent health care and education. To me this what the American Way is. It's a never ending battle but I wont stop fighting for it.