The American Way

This is one of those times when cynicism turns out to be a good approach. "The American Way" is almost always used to mean "the way I do things, and the way you should, too, unless you want to exercise your option to move to Canada".

Usually, this is a way to tie inspirational, patriotic feelings to capitalist competition - which is, at best, part of what got America where it is.

[Feel free to demote the above and put something more balanced at the top of this page. I reached deep inside myself, and that's the most balance I could muster.]

There's another way to look at the American Way: Tocqueville noted that we're a nation of joiners, always starting social or mutual aid or just plain communal organizations. So a big part of the American Way is volunteerism: doing things for a broader interest than one's own.

In software, this translates pretty straightforwardly into writing free code (GPL or just OpenSource), giving free advice (on Usenet or Wiki), and cooperatively exploring methods of software development (on Wiki).

This meaning, of course, is a long way from JimAllchin?'s. -- GeorgePaci

One thing we learn as a child is that truth and justice are not part of the American Way. I used to think that was a funny joke, now I am not so sure it's either.

Are they part of anybody's way? I submit that they are not, and the proposition that Americans are somehow especially evil is not sustainable.

I (not original poster) certainly wouldn't claim that Americans are especially evil. I would, however, argue that many places are less hypocritical about truth and justice, and wouldn't be surprised if it were demonstrable that several countries had stronger claims to both...

Don't buy that either. Plenty of countries have disagreeable things in their closets. But I wasn't commenting on disagreeable things, I was commenting on hypocrisy.

I wouldn't claim Americans are evil either. I do however feel that Americans currently collectively value individualism to the point of callous indifference to other Americans, and to the rest of the world, particularly the exploitable third world. I also feel that Americans focus too much on having a LevelPlayingField, and not enough on having a MinimumStandardOfLiving. In a sense, the lottery epitomizes American thinking on this point: everyone has a chance to "make it big" in America, even though few actually do, and no-one particularly pays attention to those who don't. -- AndyPierce (Canadian and American and not the original poster)

And I would add the the LevelPlayingField isn't.

As a nearby 'observer' (Canadian, not that I think we have the answers either), I always found it interesting how different the ideology of "The American Way" was from its instantiation. The former is often proclaimed to be based around such ideas as freedom, democracy, (as above) truth, justice, and a level playing field. The latter seems to have more to do with the illusion of freedom (avoiding the scary bits), corporatocratic policy decisions, and retention of class and privilege for some - there is no sign of a level playing field. It's a shame, because every once in a while I run into a southern neighbor who believes in the ideology so passionately that I can almost, almost, believe it once had a chance of existing in the U.S.A.

I thought that Canadians were American. I mean, you live in America after all. <- troll

Well, we live in North America, yes. Mass AmericanCulturalAssumption as resulted in citizens of the U.S. appropriating 'American' for there own use. Canadians, and to some extent Mexicans, have no choice but to self-identify differently, or accede to the U.S. pop-culture behemoth. Canadians certainly don't think of TheAmericanWay in the same way that USians do.

Perhaps TheAmericanWay is like your favorite TextEditor or the One True Language. Considering how hard it is to find WikiConsensus, trying to Find TheAmericanWay in a culture that diverse is likely impossible. That's truly what makes it TheAmericanWay.

TheAmericanWay was best defined in 1776. Shame it wasn't followed then. [Actually it has: it mostly involves complaining about taxes.]

See also: OpenSourceDiscussion