To take up a question I first posed a few entries ago: what exactly the essence of a state is.

This is an interesting question and one that has actually become a lot harder to answer with time. Thank you Enlightenment.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As I wrote in my earlier post, which started out as a discussion of Metallica's possibly glorious future, institutions have essences too. To take a look at America, specifically, people often speak about actions or beliefs as being "un-American." Few talk about the possibility of America itself becoming un-American.

The USA used to be quite unique in its use and maintenance of a written constitution, but it has set an example that is by now often emulated. That is our first clue when it comes to answering this question. Constitutions are important because they set out certain founding principles that define a nation. Certainly some wiggle-room is allowed. There is the practical matter of changing circumstance. It would have been un-American to have advocated a standing army early in the republic's history, but troops don't march from place to place in bright red uniforms firing musket balls anymore. If a modern country were to rely on a militia for its defense, it would be swallowed up faster than you could say blitzkrieg.

Other change is much more severe, and can qualify as contrary to a nation's identity. Were the Congress to ever pass a law that abolished freedom of religion, we could say that America wasn't really America anymore. If a country is created to defend certain liberties, and then acts against those same liberties, something rotten has happened.

Of course, this presents clear problems. In the case of a standing army, some of the founders would have argued that that is wholly un-American, now and forever, because creating a standing army creates a professional class of soldiers that stand apart from the citizenry, weakens a nation's understanding of civic virtue, gives the government an excess of power that it can then use to take people's liberties, etc. In the case of freedom of religion, the government already does deny that freedom from some people (if cannibalism is part of your religious heritage, sorry buddy).

In other words: First, a nation's evolution which at first glance looks like it is based on simple practical concerns can be a lot deeper and a lot more destructive. Second, some principles that a government is created to uphold simply cannot be upheld.

As a child I always wondered what exactly it meant to be an American. The way most people spoke about it it seemed like a such an expansive concept that ultimately became meaningless. Growing up my doubts lingered. Now I'm a monarchist who disagrees with plenty of this nation's economic and social policies, yet is perfectly willing to fight tooth and nail for this nation and its people. Where do I fit in? Clearly I reject some of the buzzwords that are used to describe America's purpose, like "democracy" and "rights," yet I'm probably more willing than most to serve and sacrifice myself for America and Americans.

The big trouble is that America is a product of the Enlightenment (it's certainly nothing compared to the debacle that was/is France after 1789; Reflections on the Revolution in France and the first couple of chapters of Democracy in America are very helpful in understanding the difference). The Enlightenment tried way too hard to reduce the world to rationality, and in the process killed reason (one more plug couldn't hurt: The Idea of Enlightenment: A Post-Mortem Study). Enlightenment thinkers tried to improve government and ended up undercutting it (I wonder if Eve will ever end up blogging about the prospect of keeping the good ideas that the Enlightenment has given us while ditching the bad; we briefly talked about this not too long ago and I wonder if she's made any progress since then).

Government must be something that is a reflection of, and intimately connected with, society. This is a natural human impulse that corresponds very well with the way we think about the world. Consider the way Americans think about their flag. It is a deep and powerful symbol that unites us with our fellow citizens, and we get very upset when it is shown disrespect. Government should have principles behind it, no argument there. However those principles only make sense if the importance of the people those principles apply to is first made crystal clear.

This is far from over, but this post has been long enough. Plus, I have to go. I'll continue this discussion of the power of symbol, the importance of society, the importance of a national narrative, and other related topics later.