– Bernd Debusmann is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own. —
By Bernd Debusmann
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - What is a real American? As opposed to an unreal American, a fake American, an un-American American or an anti-American American.
The answer is in the eye of the beholder and his or her political orientation. The question, and variations of it, has been asked in several periods of U.S. history and has bubbled up again, one of a number of odd sideshows, in the closing stages of the campaign for the presidential election on Nov. 4.
Are real Americans a minority in this richly diverse country of 300 million? You might well come to that conclusion if you believe the definitions publicly provided by several Republicans, including Sarah Palin, the vice presidential candidate, and conservative radio and TV talk show hosts.
“We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit and these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, very pro-America areas of this great nation,” Palin told a campaign rally in North Carolina in mid-October.
John McCain, the Republican candidate, has also sung the praise of small town (real) America. “Western Pennsylvania … is the most patriotic, most God-loving part of America,” he said at a rally there.
A belief in God, judging from speeches by both McCain and his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, is an essential part of American-ness.
Robin Hayes, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, provided details on Americans who do not qualify as real. “Liberals hate real Americans that work, and accomplish, and achieve, and believe in God.” Both Palin and Hayes later “clarified” their remarks to say they had not actually meant to suggest the existence of pro- and anti-American parts of the country. Nevertheless, their words prompted a vivid debate in cyberspace and on talk radio.
REAL AMERICANS AND EUROPE
It quickly went beyond geography and into political beliefs. “Is it possible to be a real American and to be a socialist?” radio talk show host Chris Plante asked his listeners in the Washington area. “Can you still be a real American if you believe that the regimes that govern in Western Europe are a better way forward than the system that we have here?” Callers reassured him that no, that was not possible.
How much influence conservative talk radio has will be apparent on election day. The Rush Limbaugh Show alone claims 12 million daily listeners and other conservative talking heads, such as Sean Hannity, also pull in huge audiences. But listening to them, it is difficult not to come to the conclusion that they are preaching to the converted and their shows function as big echo chambers.
As the real vs unreal Americans debate unfolded over a few days - teacup storms have been relatively short in this election — another Republican member of Congress, Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota, poured fuel on the argument. She suggested in a television interview that the U.S. media should “take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out if they are pro-America or anti-America.”
That conjured up the ghost of Republican Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who was helped in his hunt for hidden communists in the 1950s by a congressional investigative body called the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Sorting the populace into good people and not-so-good (or downright bad and dangerous) people is nothing new in an election campaign - the not-so-good people are always those of the other party. Seen in historical context, today’s good vs bad rankings are tame, as are negative advertisements.
When John Quincy Adams ran for re-election in 1828, for example, he called his opponent Andrew Jackson a cannibal and a murderer and he had unkind words for Jackson’s followers. The charge didn’t help. Adams lost.
In the 2008 campaign, attempts to portray one set of Americans (those living in rural areas and small towns) as more American than their big-city compatriots run counter to demographics. Nostalgia for a country that no longer exists?
According to the 2000 census - the counts are taken every 10 years - America’s big cities and their suburbs are home to 192 million people. That compares with just under 60 million in rural areas overall and 30 million in towns of fewer than 50,000 people.
A community of 50,000 people is large in comparison with Wasilla, the Alaskan town that had 5,000 people when Sarah Palin became its mayor in 1996. It has since grown to close to 10,000 - still small enough to fit the latest definition of real America.
(You can contact the author at Debusmann@Reuters.com)
What is a real American? I think that question was best answered back in 1835 by Alexis de Tocqueville in his "Democracy in America." It's still accurate. Try reading that instead of listening to self-serving politicians.
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Jean,
If you love socialism so much, please move to Europe or Cuba or Scandnavia! You are an unreal American. This nation was funded on the principles of freedom! Freedom of association, freeodom of religion, freedom of the press AND THE FREEDOM TO PURSUE HAPPINESS! Success comes by working hard, and it’s NOT a right. If you don’t try you don’t succeed. If you’re unable to try because of some disability, then it’s up to CHARITABLE organizations to help you, NOT the government. The kind of “cooperation” between the public and private sector that you praise is what has gotten us into the financial mess we’re in right now. FANNY MAE?!?
Think about it!
Sure, on one level it’s arbitrary, but in terms of real attitudes it does matter.
I’ve developed a simple test to determine where a person’s real loyalties lie - most Liberals fail this test because there are no consequences for claiming to be pro-American while being anti-American.
If you believe you have a right, or duty to criticize the United States yet fail to tolerate criticism of your preferred identity then you are not really pro-American, in fact that you criticize not out of love but of intolerance suggest that you are anti-American.
On November 4th, Sarah Palin, Robin Hayes, FOX ‘News’, and the talk radio bloviator cadre will likely discover that they are not the only ‘Real Americans’!
Here is the problem I have with government, beyond their job of providing security for the nation and being a watchdog over the money managers, and securing our boarders, what I look for is what is government not going to do to me, versus, what is government going to do for me. Too much of the nation has been led down the path to believing they are entitled. They vote for anyone that says they will give them more.
We have a governmental body of legislators on both sides that are more interested in their power base than they are in actually accomplishing the good that they can do for the nation.
As a nation, unfortunately, we get what we have become. Like a swamp we attract what we have become (the bugs in the swamp) versus the swamp being there because of the bugs. Congress is a reflection of who we are. We are not a result of congress. A great majority should be cleaned out and start over with people that have a passion for a great nation, versus a passion for their position in life.
Our family has been in the position of being eligible for unemployment and food stamps and I suppose other hand outs the government might give out. It never crossed our minds to put our hand out.
Our personal condition was tough through no fault of our own. We did not look to someone else or the government to bail us out. We did it on our own. Yes we ate a few meals at other people’s homes that knew of our condition. We in turn have helped others.
I came from a family with little education. I worked my way through college over 15 year period. I have worked hard. I have gone into debt to develop a concept and idea to teach America to become better fiscally responsible. I am now 100% debt free. I am about ready to realize a dream of building and helping others. I do not want a government that wants to redistribute my wealth after 40 years of hard work. If I can do it, so can others.
We have our own program of giving. Let me give and target who I want to receive our funds. Let others take on their own responsibility to develop their skills. We need to get government as far out of our lives as possible.
I am disheartened to see how accepting the nation is becoming of redistribution. Everyone, I mean, everyone should pay their fair share, but not more than their fair share. That goes all the way from the bottom to the top.
I would guess the millions that have been receiving from government don’t want to give it up and want more. Our education departments in our major colleges and even on down through the school system are teaching these concepts early in order to win over the ideology that what someone else has earned really belongs to them. That concept has to be a sick concept and should not exist as part of our culture.
Instead teach that anything is possible if you put your mind to it and you become accountable to yourself and your community. That is the real drive behind the success of America. Why change it?
@JF Chalmers:
“…it is the sinister embryonic beginnings of something akin to Kristalnacht in 1938 Germany.”
Ohh, the drama, my man, Theeee drama! I think you can count on it being far, far from Naziism. You are very, very DRAMATIC though. Good stuff!
I am disappointed by the many recent fanatical descriptions of “socialism”. It is hilarious that the term raises such fear in some Americans (especially “real Americans”). These people mistake bad policy for socialism and have difficulty distinguishing the different degrees of ideology. No European state is “socialist” (Merriam-Webster: “governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods; a system of society or group living in which there is no private property”). Moreover, the USA is not entirely capitalist or free-market. Alas, “real” Americans may never see how, in many ways, America is far behind the advances of “Old Europe”. By objective analysis, the world’s oldest democracy is falling behind newer “socialist” democracies. In an attempt to catch up with the educational and health benefits that these other democracies offer their citizens, the “real American” Republican candidate himself recommends billions of dollars of government intervention into private enterprise and stimulus in the form of research grants for specific initiatives that he deems important.
It appears that “conservatives” and Republicans, just like Democrats, strongly support socialism when they benefit from it, but unlike “liberals” they lambast it whenever it aids someone else. Such hypocritical behavior, then, is not surprising after witnessing the Republican party scaring the populace of “one-party rule” in 2008 while spending the entire 2004 campaign convincing people how much more efficient government would be if it controlled both legislature and executive.
As an independent (a “real North American”?), I feel that collaboration between public and private interests is inevitable and natural. Modern civilization will ALWAYS be partially “socialist”, because there are some things that private enterprise simply cannot do well. Remember, those live in the UNITED States of America, that you UNITED to accomplish something that no one could accomplish alone. Now greed has cleaved the country in two parts. Healing the strife will not occur by pasting fear-inciting labels, but by the elimination of waste wherever it exists and regulating the nation’s affairs for the long-term health and stability of all, not for the quick buck this fiscal quarter. Shamefully, “free market” advocates appear largely ignorant of the bureaucratic inefficiencies of corporate market control – often in the form of poorly regulated duopoly. Apparently freedom of choice between A or B meets their requirement for efficient competitive market operation. I propose that healthy markets are ones in which efficient regulation maintains a level playing field for all market participants over the long term, high efficiency lowers the barriers to customer and competitor market access, and the consumer has multiple choices. This indeed requires competent government to ensure that resources are not squandered by the highest bidder, but rather used in a sustainable manner for the maximum benefit of all stakeholders. This is not socialism, this is long-term planning. One prime example of hypocrisy on the part of the Neo-Con/Republican/Maverick party is the illogical support for nuclear powerplants. The reason that one hasn’t been built in the USA for decades is because a business case can’t be made without the help of government funding. The current nuclear plants that exist can’t even afford to protect their spent fuel without federal aid. Do “real Americans” support socialism if it means “energy independence”?
“Redistribution”, thanks to Mr. Wurzelbacher, is now a hot-button issue. Sadly, extremists like him miss the point. Unjust, unethical, or immoral profits should ALWAYS be recaptured and returned or redistributed. That is justice. This is not to say that all billionaires are thieves, however, regulation and tax policy should create equal opportunity, not allow handouts for the well-connected. No one is proposing American adopt unfair or unethical policies of redistribution (as in Zimbabwe, for example). Most employees recognize that an entitlement-mentality is a morally shameful condition that affects lazy people (in my experience, just as many in the USA as anywhere else). No one objected to the re-distribution of Saddam Hussein’s wealth. Would any “real American” object to redistributing Kim Jung Il’s wealth? Likewise, all wealth that “free market capitalists” have garnered by lobbyist intervention, market manipulation, and loophole-creating tricks is also unethically gained and, yes, should be redistributed. To do so will take a massive sweep of corrupt legislators, Senator Stevens being only the tip of the iceberg. Dramatically revised legislation should streamline regulation and government operation, not eliminate it via hatchet as both Bush and McCain have advocated. Legislation should not be vehicles for earmarked pork and handouts slipped in after midnight, often by those who proudly campaign on a small-government platform. Call me “socialist” or “liberal” or “an unreal American” if you so desire, but I believe that special interests and corporate entities should not be allowed to directly write legislation, fund candidates’ campaigns, and dominate city councils. I believe that government waste is largely due to special interest’s grip of the election system and the two major political parties. What American needs is not more “real” Americans, it is to reform itself into a more pure democracy where the ideas of collaboration are not squelched by one of two self-interested parties funded by pork-hungry special interests.
If only Teddy and the Bull Moose party were here today…
Potential Carnie: Good for you to note the satire. I was getting a little worried…
For The King - you should try living in a country with socialist rule, you’ll soon realize that what some people claim to be the “human rights” of others conflict directly with your rights to own property and create wealth. In a socialist country, those without look to those who have and think it should be theirs, no matter how the one who has it got it. It is un-American to stick your hand out and expect everything to be given to you. After many generations of socialism, people believe that it is their right is to be provided for and do not accept that personal sacrifice and hard work are often needed to get what one wants and needs. Redistribution of wealth is also anti-American. Would you have the US go through an agrarian reformatory program where the land is taken from the wealthy and given to the poor? Ag reform is a quite common policy of socialist governments and I challenge you to give me an example of when and where it has worked. Of course I am not claiming that Obama would support such a thing, but we’re talking about Socialism here. Obama says he’s not a Socialist, but it’s very clear that he has quite the disdain for wealthy people; except those multi-millionaire actors and artists that have given him so much money for his campaign. There’s nothing wrong with creating wealth, it comes straight from the essence of being human - to create, innovate, hell, to try to be better than the next guy, be it in a spelling contest in school, to beating the other team in basketball, and yes, to being better than your colleague and getting that promotion instead of him. Competition is real American, and Socialism quells competition, because hey, what’s mine is yours. Socialism hammers down that nail that sticks up and tries to be different. The good of the majority tends to curtail the desire of everyone. As an American who has lived outside the country now for nearly 15 years, from southern France, to Scotland, Spain and now Chile, traveling for months at a time to Russia, Central and South America and to the Middle East (if only Egypt), I have seen all types of government and I can tell you that Socialism is far from being the real “American Way”. No-one can argue that it’s not anyone’s fault when they get sick, and that the poor were, in most cases, born into it, but better than any country in the world so far, America provides the opportunity for those people to move up and out of poverty through their own hard work. I grew up on a farm in southwest Idaho, paid for my own university education, and then postgraduate education, worked for multinational companies and now am a partner in my own company. I mailed in my vote for McCain three weeks ago and am still glad I did not vote for Obama. I can understand why people don’t want another George W. Bush, and I voted for Kerry for that very reason. I can see that the US needs change, and I can’t stand the religious right and their self-serving belief that their morals are the only ones with any virtue and I have been disappointed with McCain’s campaign and how he has bowed to the neo conservatives, becoming someone that I don’t recognize from the real McCain, but I can see through Obama’s rhetoric from thousands of miles away down here in the far corner of the Earth. He is a master at saying what the crowds want to hear, and right now the US is in such a state that a crowd mentality has taken over. Obama has spent his entire political career campaigning for something, and very little actually doing anything, his short 3 years in the Senate speak for themselves. John McCain’s 25 in the Senate also speak for themselves, and whether or not he’s more of a real American than Obama or vice versa makes no difference to me. Do I consider myself a real American? Who cares? Unfortunately, Mr. Castle’s comments are probably the ones that we, at least I, will be remembering and can only hope, as I believe he does, that the lessons from a failed Obama presidency, made possible by a Democratic led Congress in both houses, will not be forgotten.
I can’t believe that Americans are having a debate on who is “real” or not! I wholeheartedly agree with the commenters who ask about immigrants, etc. As a U.S. native, I was raised to believe that anyone who was born in the U.S. or became a citizen was an American. There was also a time not too long ago when our nation welcomed anyone who wanted to live in states as an Americam-to-be (I’m talking about the ’80s and ’90s, by the way). What a sad day it is when we’re questioned and defined as real or unreal, patriotic or unpatriotic for the sake of politics. Do politicians stop and think how hurtful it is that they want to govern all of us but only really care about some of us? That’s what it’s been like under that Bush guy, if you’re not a republican and cheerleader for the Iraq war. Americans used to be able to disagree and have all kinds of various ideas, until only one type of ideology became the norm. We’ve lost our identity as Americans, and it must be quite perplexing to citizens of other countries who don’t seem to have this problem. I don’t often read about real or unreal Canadians or Russians or Brits; we’ve become a disjointed bunch who’s lost our standing in the world. Here’s to hoping that some type of dignity can be restored when this election is over and done.
May I add that Europeans believe that Governments are (or at the least) should be aware of EVERY development and their future implications?
Independence from some centralized power, conservatism in applying only what our own knowledge dictates or keeps interpreting from older experience including what we learned, some type of fear of the unknown, seem to be the philosophy of those who call themselves “real Americans” opposed to the other ones who are curious, try to rely in some way on an increasing and developing knowledge, on an undefined future which, obviously, creates some anguish and who, in some way, could maybe question, at the end of the day, about God reality.
This becomes a highly philosophic question.
However Human progress - and America has widely cooperate to it - obeys to 2 human gifts:
Curiosity and the law of the less effort (better use of our own Human energy) as the invention of the wheel provided us.
We do need experience in order not to repeat former mistakes but we need, as well, curiosity in order to know how to go ahead.
Feeling that only past is reliable means refusing future and, therefore, implies “de-synchronization” with our present.
As someone who tends to have conservative views on many subjects and progressive ones on others, I find it increasingly disheartening to listen to the arguments that America can only move forward in a purely conservative or a purely progressive manner. Conservatives tend to think that America needs to be what it once was, and progressives tend to think that America needs to be what it should be. Both forms of thought utilize idealized and unrealistic concepts. Unfortunately, both sides seem to think that the ideas of the other are unworthy of consideration. What ever happened to the idea of taking a bunch of ideas THAT MAKE SENSE from both sides and the middle and trying to make America what it will be, regardless of what it should be. This would, however, entail giving the finger to the 15% of people on BOTH far ends of the spectrum who long ago stopped giving a rat’s a$$ about an original thought.
It seems clear we do need change here in the USA. We need to be gutless and self centered like the europeans for a bit, just so we remember why it doesn’t solve anything. We also need a democratic executive and legislative branch to remind us that they are just as bad, well IMHO far worse than the current batch of clods and cronies we have now. Then the next congressional election we can get rid of many of them and bring the needed dual party system of gridlock to keep the federal government in check. I look forward to the disillusionment that will occur once Obama actually gets elected and people see what an empty promise his non policy of being not George W. Bush gets them.
Change in and of itself is not good. Don’t ever forget it can get worse, and if you actually work and try to better yourself it will under the new socialist programs being touted. I’d be all in favor of redistributing the money of corporations and old money, but sadly the only people who get punished by these socialist policies are those people who manage to drag themselves up to the top of the middle class. They pay for the excesses of the truly rich and the laziness of the poor.
Oh well I don’t get mad anymore, I just chuckle thinking about how foolish some people will look in a few years. Anyways, like I said sometimes you need to suck it up and deal with a few bad years of liberal nonsense to try to get us back to the center where we belong. I’d hope for a real viable 3rd party but I fear it will never happen, so the best we can hope for is that the people realize that neither party, in their current forms represent most people and hopefully they will be forced to change.
[...] though, you meant that he is the voice of Governor Palin’s America, you know, real America. I imagine that being a place where spending tax revenue on social programs is the only criterion [...]
I love a good debate!
I dont understand people’s fear of socialism. I accept that it’s a step towards communism but they’re are aspects of the socialist premise that i support.
If my neighbour has lost his job or has become ill, I think it is right to offer him support. Whether that’s my taxes to help him meet his mortgage repayments or some of my home made chicken soup . If his illness is a little more serious than a common cold however, i think he’d prefer access to free medical care, it’s not like he chose to get ill.
Obviously this is a simplistic form of socialism but in this instance is it not a case of ‘do unto others as you would have others do unto you’? With reccession looming and unemployment rising all of us without access to private hedge funds, off shore accounts and Double Yaa’s friendship will have to either ‘pull up our boot straps’ or pray to God/god/gods. Instead, why can’t we can all help one another?
I dig the idea of progressive taxation for many reasons but the main thrust is this. Capitalism at it’s best works. Being encouraged by the state to be innovative, hardworking and fruitful is a real blessing. Being given the environment to do so is another and I think it’s right that the better I do in my endeavours because of that freedom, the better the nation does as a whole. i.e more tax. “What belongs to Ceaser….”
I also find it interesting that a country built on the truely aspirational values of freedom of speech, religion and liberty that it wouldn’t vote for a man who wasn’t a Christian. Religion is personal thing and judging a man on by your own beliefs often undermines the religion you espouse. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” As a practising Christian ( i actually go to church and sing the songs willingly…;-)) i’ve found i have enough sin of my own to worry about…let alone that of others.
Religion and politics are powerful bed fellows and in my opinion any democratic election influenced by anything other than politics itself isn’t a free election. I welcome the day an American citizen stands for presidential election and declares himself to be a Muslim.
And i can imagine the shiver thats just run down your spine. But it’s his constitutional right and you can’t take that away from him.
The whole world has been inluenced by the internal and foriegn policy of the USA and it’s allies. On Nov 2nd the whole world will be watching and hoping for a new beginning. A world where any life is precious, we can all realise our ambitions, a world where we can be exactly who we want to be without fear of recrimination or reprisal. So for me their is only one clear person to vote for and I hope that America agrees with me.
All the rhetoric. The accusations. The pityful illusion of a world they insist that exist. After years of watching the G.O.P do their thing. Lie, cheat, steal and spin logic, their recent antics that seem to have come from a disgruntled teenager brings forth an image with in my head. An image a the devil himself poubting, stomping and crying, when he finally doesn’t get what he wants. I am disgusted and oh so ever tickled pink at the same time.
John McCain and Sarah Palin show once again how “McSame” they are with George W. Bush and how they at “Uniters not Dividers”. LOL
I chuckle when I hear people that live in urban areas wanting to or travelling through rural areas. They find it so quaint and cute and expect it to remain that way for ever. They travel out of their cities to ‘look for America’…how many times have you heard that expression? It’s all over popular culture. It’s not that ‘America’ doesn’t exist in cities, it’s that we identify with our agrarian past and every so often want to take a trip out there and see if it still exists.
Not that people in urban areas aren’t, most people that live in rural areas are ‘genuine’ (for lack of a better word) toward one another and hard working people trying to make their families lives and their communities lives better as they make it through life.
Church is often the central meeting place for many rural persons and so is the focus of their life. Our country was founded with a religious premise and freedom was given to us and ensured by thousands who gave their lives for the cause.
As someone who lives in a rural area, I get a kick out travelling to cities. Shakespeare was right when he said that we are all actors upon a stage. I see so many people in ‘costumes’ trying to impress one another and there is such a lack of connection to nature. It’s almost as if weather is something that get’s in the way of things, but things carry on the same way, everyday in a city. Life in the country is so cyclical and dependant on the seasons.
We’re all American’s and real in one way or another, but why do people feel the need to visit rural areas to ‘find America’ if it is where they already are? Can’t we be tolerant of one other, even if the other person has a different thought pattern than you do? We’re tollerant to so many different so-called alternative lifestyles but not to lifestyles that used to be traditional.
I guess by definition, I’m a “real” American. I was born and raised on a small, family-owned dairy farm in central Ohio. I’ve lived in towns of under 50,000 or in rural areas all of my 64-year life. I consider myself a Christian and try to live a Christ-like life. Our household makes less than $100,000 a year. We took a vacation last fall to Branson, MO, for goodness sakes!
But herein lies my confusion! I’m college educated. I have friends who aren’t just like me (thank Heaven!) I’ve lived in Ohio (rural and small town), Missouri (suburban St Louis and the eastern Ozarks), and coastal California small town. I’ve worked as everything from a car salesman to a teacher to an editor and sales & marketing director of a small business. I bore three children and they all went to (and graduated from) college — with loans. I’ve divorced and remarried.
So what does all of this make me? A DEMOCRAT WHO IS HAPPILY VOTING FOR OBAMA AND PRAYING FOR HIS PROTECTION AGAINST ANGRY, HATE-FILLED, SELF-PROFESSED CHRISTIANS!
I wouldn’t go back to Branson if the vacation were free!
A real American is a citizen of the USA. Thinking of people as “other” is tolerable but unfortunate. However, considering yourself a real American but not your neighbor, for whatever reason, is bigoted and depending on the reason may be racist.