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| Nathaniel Hawthorne |
by Ben Welton
Americans are supposed to be energetic. After
all, we “went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in
between” because of our relentless drive for expansion and profit. The American caricature, so idolized and reviled throughout the world, is a loud creature with a fondness for action and a devotion to extolling the virtues of thinking big and making quick money. According to Louis Hartz, author of The Liberal Tradition in America, “irrational Lockeanism” is our
prevailing credo, with both liberals and conservatives essentially agreeing on
the soundness of liberal democracy and global capital. A good Cold War liberal,
Hartz (and generations of leftists after him) believed that a genuine and
unique American right did not and could not exist. The left has all the best
ideas, after all.
