Английский язык для специальных и академических целей: Международные отношения и зарубежное регионоведение. Часть 1 - [27]

²⁶ next to theirs. Nor should we be surprised that:

Among advanced societies, we are the richest — and the most unequal. In 1995, Americans' incomes averaged roughly 20 to 30 percent above those of Europe and Japan. But the richest 90th percentile^{27 of Americans have incomes nearly six times higher than the poor at the 10th percentile. In Germany, the same ratio is 3 to 1; in Canada and Italy, it's about 4 to 1.}

We have the most successful democracy — and among the lowest voter turnouts. In the Gallup poll, more Americans (64 percent) were satisfied with democracy than people anywhere else. Canadians (62 percent) were closest; Britons (40 percent) and Japanese (35 percent) were well behind. Yet, in nonpresidential elections, less than half of eligible Americans vote.

Although decidedly moralistic, we have one of the world's most violent societies. In 1990, the American murder rate was more than twice as high as Germany's and nine times higher than Japan's.

Contradictions abound. “Concern for the legal rights of accused persons and civil liberties in general is tied to opposition to gun control and difficulty in applying crime-control measures,” writes Lipset. Naturally, Americans are among the world's most gun-owning peoples. In 1993, 29 percent of U.S. households had handguns, compared with 5 percent of Canadian and 2 percent of Australian.

To some extent, the proof that our virtues and vices are connected comes from abroad, where the advance of American values has created a natural experiment in social change. The loosening of tight social controls in Russia, China and South Africa has led to more freedom — and crime. In Europe and Japan, prosperity and the celebration of individuality have coincided with more divorce and crime. Between 1970 and 1991, divorce rates rose 40 percent in Germany and 50 percent in Japan (though both remain well below U.S. levels).

The American Creed was already well established by the 1830s, when Alexis de Tocqueville first described it. Even in Colonial times, America was less rigid socially than Europe. Land was a great leveler. In America, most farmers owned it; in England, 60 percent of the population didn't. Still, Colonial America brimmed with hereditary privileges and arbitrary power. In a 1992 book, historian Gordon S. Wood of Brown University argued that the decisive break occurred during the Revolution itself, which created a social and intellectual upheaval.

Loyalists decamped to Canada, which (like Europe) remained a more deferential, communal and paternalistic^{28 society. But in America, the legitimacy of unchangeable social distinctions collapsed. Jefferson said that men would advance based on “virtue and talent,” and not on birth. The Revolution “made the interests and prosperity of ordinary people — their pursuit of happiness — the goal of society and government,” wrote Wood.}

The resulting mind-set often means disappointment and division. All authority is suspect, because it elevates some over others and triggers an inbred distrust of “aristocracy” — now “elites” or callous CEOs. Popular culture is democratic and, therefore, sometimes shallow and offensive. Talk radio and trash TV are only new expressions of old impulses. Progress is never sufficient, because happiness — though constantly pursued — can never be guaranteed. Politicians fall short of the ideals that we (and they) set: one reason why we attack them even while admiring our system.

The election will expose these contradictions but not dispose of them. It's great to be an American, but we are burdened as well as blessed by our beliefs. That defines the American Drama.

Notes

1. Gallup poll — assessment of public opinion by questioning a representative sample of people, esp. in order to forecast voting at an election. Gallup polls are named after the American statistician, George Horace Gallup, who invented them.

2. Individualism — is closely allied to ideas of freedom. It encompasses a number of goals which individuals may wish to attain including maximizing personal opportunities, realizing one's potential, the fulfillment of aspirations, enjoyment of wealth, property and privacy as well as the security which results from a well-ordered and peaceful society, egalitarianism — political theory that all members of society have equal rights and should have equal treatment.

3. Welfare state — a term used to describe a national system when all citizens are required to contribute through taxation or other contributions to the provision of social services such as health, education, financial benefits, pensions, etc. These services are available to all according to need on a free or subsidised basis.

4. Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-1859 — French democratic theorist, author of De La Democratie en Amerique (Democracy in America) and De L'Ancien Regime, which set out nineteenth century liberal ideas. Tocqueville used the term “democracy” meaning a society where there

Unit II. US: from Democracy to Empire?

Unit II. US: from Democracy to Empire?