Of course, the United States, like all mass democracies, has had some very poor leaders over the centuries. Those figures who embodied the great moments of his story – Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt – are unforgettable because they are rare. But what is happening now looks more like an ordinary mediocrity spell that will pass with the coming of a new generation. What goes wrong with the presidency seems to be more closely linked to what is happening in wider society: nothing less than a collapse of political culture that affects the daily lives of ordinary people in ways that the failures of federal power structures rarely have. It is important to understand that for much of the country’s history, the tone and competence of the government in Washington had relatively little to do with the daily quality of local American life. This was ensured by the fairly clear draft of the Constitution that guarantees the rights of states. The clear intention of the Founding Fathers was to limit Washington’s central authority, which was seen as a threat to the self-determination of the people almost at the same level as colonial rule. Explosive confrontations between the federal and state authorities over the abolition of slavery and, a century later, the enforcement of racial integration were the most vivid examples of this, but disputes over abortion and gun laws continue to revolve around this basic principle, which is embedded in the legislation of the nation. idea of self, of state autonomy. Very rarely, in fact, has the quality and duration of the presidency seemed so closely aligned with the state of the nation in ways that can be felt on the streets and in the homes of real people. Discouragement and paralysis in Washington are played out in everyday experience. There is endless news coverage of crime, racial violence and political unrest on a scale many Americans believed in until very recently, as well as the continuing decline of what would once be a thriving industrial enterprise. But far more pervasive and confusing is the sense that the idea of an American mission – the country’s original idea of itself – has disintegrated. The collapse of this self-confidence, of the accepted understanding of what America was like, is astonishing. But, you may ask, what is so different and dangerous about it? After all, similar identity crises have occurred in many countries – especially former imperial powers that had to come to terms with their role in a changed world order. There may be a temporary nervous breakdown and then a recovery that redefines a country’s goals. Why does this formula that seemed to work in so many European countries not apply in the United States with its famous business and adaptable population? Because America is different. I would venture to say that it is much different from any Old World society than most Europeans appreciate. In the emotional twentieth century, it was understood that there was an American Dream that brought to life the hopes and expectations of those millions who came there in search of security, freedom, and economic opportunity. The real truth is that America itself was a dream: its national identity, and the patriotism that was a mandatory part of it, was a beautiful fiction created by a small group of people and sanctified by a handful of wonderful 18th-century documents. . idea of freedom under the law. Most importantly, this new entity aimed to engage all income earners from anywhere in the world in a cohesive society that was ready to host anyone who would sign the social contract on offer. (This is exactly how the Constitution is taught to American students: as a convention between government and the people.) This was an unprecedented political plan. Not even the original French Revolution, based on a similar foundation of the Enlightenment, had done anything like this: it attempted to invent a whole new nation of dissimilar, displaced people who would somehow synthesize a proud unified sense of statehood and individual property. And miraculously, for the longest time it worked. The patriotic rituals that most Europeans found dimly absurd, if not positively awful, such as the promise of faith in the flag that began each school day, served their purpose. The children of immigrants, many of whom, like my grandparents, spoke only the language of the Old Town, went to school and learned – like my father – to speak English. They became proud Americans who wanted more than anything else to belong to this new thing they felt part of and they were told that their commitment helped them create. It is true that there was a constant tension between belief in American national identity and a sense of one’s family roots. So there were communities of Italian-Americans and Poles-Americans and Irish-Americans (like Joe Biden) who never forgot where they came from, although anything that implied a lack of wholehearted commitment to America was a kind of blasphemy. But even this unpleasant arrangement is over now. The conventional agreement that Americans were a people with a sense of purpose has been shattered by deliberate division: identity policies that see historical injustice as unforgivable and life choices as the creation of irreconcilable differences have shattered this fragile agreement. People who abandoned their hereditary identity to participate in this extraordinary, courageous endeavor are now facing the consequences of inadequacy. Without the resources that accompany generations of life in a recognizable place they are lost. Perhaps the great American experiment ultimately failed.
