American Political Culture: Dreams, Equality, and Liberty

“America is not just a democracy, it represents a certain culture of competitive mobility and personality aspirations, politics is not merely a clash of interests, but a clash of dreams” (David Brooks). In American political culture, political equality also commonly means equality of opportunity: All people get the same opportunities to compete and achieve in the world. Some people will succeed and some will fail, but most Americans believe that everyone, no matter what, is entitled to the opportunity to succeed. American political culture contains a number of core ideals and values but not all Americans share the same views; nevertheless the vast majority subscribes to these general ideals, including responsible liberty, political equality, and cultural diversity.

Americans today tend to define liberty as the freedom for people to do what they want. We also tend to believe liberty is essential to personal fulfillment and happiness. Nevertheless, liberty must be restrained on some

level in order to create a stable society. In the essay, “Veterans Day: Never Forget Their Duty”, Senator John McCain states, “Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike’s shirt on the wall of our cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know that saying the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important or meaningful part of our day now, but I can assure you that for those men in that stark prison cell, it was, indeed, the most important and meaningful event of our day” (McCain 7). One day, the Vietnamese searched the cell and discovered Mike’s shirt with the flag sewn inside and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, called for Mike Christian to come out, closed the door of the cell and beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple hours. A few hours later, sitting there, with his eyes almost shut from his beating, Mike Christian was making another American flag. This proves Mike Christian showed liberty and was not only making the flag because it made him feel better but because he knew making that flag was important for the men to be able to pledge their allegiance to the flag and country.

Although no two people are truly equal, they are considered equal under the law. Some Americans may be poorer than others and some may have cultural backgrounds different from the majority but all Americans have the same fundamental rights. The term equality refers to a number of ways people are treated the same. In the speech from “The Four Freedoms”, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt states, “This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and hearts of its millions of free men and women, and its faith in freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle to gain those rights and keep them. Our strength is our unity of purpose” (Roosevelt 45). Since the beginning of our American history we have been engaged in change, in a perpetual, peaceful revolution, a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly, adjusting itself to changing conditions without the concentration camp or the quicklime in the ditch.

Diversity refers to the fact that Americans have many different cultural traditions and hold a variety of values.

Nearly all Americans descend from immigrants and many of them take pride in their heritage and cultural history. Americans also hold diverse views and creeds. In the website World and I: Your Window to Our Changing World, Diversity in America states, “The United States of America thrives on diversity. A synthesis of the world’s plentiful and varied races, religions, and cultures, America is a home to all, such that no one group can call itself more ‘American’ than another. And the fusion of cultures here is so unique and so exceptional that citizens can be just as proud of their original cultural heritage as they are to be an American” (World and I). Politicians and other leaders frequently appeal to this sense of unity, especially during times of national crisis. The name of our country—the United States—emphasizes the importance of unity to our national political

culture.
Americans have always cherished the ideals of liberty, equality, and diversity. Nearly every group that has come to the United States has embraced the idea of the American dream, which, in turn, has different meanings for different people. For many people, being American is about adhering to ideas and principles, not to a particular religious or ethnic identity. So one can be a patriot while still honoring one’s ancestral traditions.