Homo americanus: Child of the Postmodern Age by Tomislav Sunic

Author:Tomislav Sunic [Sunic, Tomislav]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-03-25T11:00:00+00:00

In the Land of Hypermoralism

Puritanism played the starring role in so far that it introduced into American political behavior a high level of hypermoralism and self-serving messianism. The German anthropologist, Arnold Gehlen, an author who was close to the legacy of European revolutionary conservative thought, notes that the American system and its later liberal expression are deeply embedded in hypermoralism, which in postmodern America often spills into political fundamentalism. This Biblical fundamentalism has different turns and shapes, and it usually functions without a reference to classical political ideas or symbols. It is often formulated in petty sentimentalism, passing pep talks, gigantic fake smiles, verbiage teeming with bombastic adjectives, and a vicarious “love thy neighbor attitude,” always accompanied by a strong desire for social conviviality.

It is a common sight in America to witness an endless stream of new sects, interest groups, and life-styles. Many of these sects are of a bizarre and passing nature, passionately advocating the rights of birds, insects, animals, but always enveloping their agenda in a hypermoralistic discourse that resembles “some sort of a new humanitarian religion.”124 This hypertrophy of moralism had its birth place in New England during the early reign of the Pilgrim Fathers, which only proves our thesis that New England and not Washington D.C. was the birth place of Americanism. Therefore, understanding postmodern American man means tracking down his roots in New England of the early 17th century.

The moralistic message of the American founding fathers spread later to nations around the world. This effort by American elites was facilitated in so far as the new secular human rights oriented moralists could well combine their rhetoric with the advocacy of total sexual permissiveness and hyper-consumerism. Also, the obsession with hypermoralism could be perfectly linked to war mongering and American bellicosity; it could be a tool for preaching peace too. American hypermoralism is a timeless pret à porter for any occasion and for any life style. Early Puritan asceticism, the cult of work, the spirit of saving money, gave birth after World War II to a new hero who was both the opposite of the old American ideal yet at the same time his logical postmodern extension. One can speculate whether under the impact of Puritanism a new sociobiological selection has also occurred in America just as it once did in the ex-communist Soviet Union, following large scale communist genocides. The Puritan mindset must have provided an ideal social framework for a distinct biological selection that predetermined future generations for activities in limited fields of human endeavor, notably in the all-encompassing free market. Early American individuals, who were genetically not endowed for such Bible inspired moralistic outbursts, could hardly fit into American society. The Bible and business became two pillars of Americanism. This point was underlined by Louis Rougier, a European philosopher who depicts Homo americanus and his mercantile embodiment as a new species “who spends his time evaluating everything in dollars and who sets up the monetary equivalent for all objects he encounters, and for

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