In your opinion, what attributes embody the American spirt and how do these define American cultural identity?

34 comments

  1. I am afraid that any semblance of a collective American spirit has been greatly diminished. We are divided to the point that we’re almost lacking an identity. This was the goal of the cultural marxists and the logical result of the ongoing culture wars.

    It saddens me to say that.

  2. I would say it’s “why not?” Americans tend to be optimistic and ask why not instead of why.

  3. “Oh yeah? Watch me!”

    –American whenever anyone tells them they can’t do something

  4. Optimism, friendliness, confidence. And a bunch of Reddit people who have not traveled abroad to compare.

  6. Usually hipsters smoke them, but honestly I think that strange because they tend to be better than most Marlboros or camels.

  7. It’s a brand of cigarettes that are supposed to be organic and come in packs of various colors.

  9. Bold and daring.

    Determined and resilient.

    Unstoppable and implacable.

    Friendly and outgoing.

    Rebellious and helpful.

    Proud and pious.

  10. I would say collectively America is a nation of “can”, especially when we’re told we “cannot”. Even the founding of our country is based on us telling the king to fuck right off when he tried to tell us what to do.

  12. I believe it’s like this, we can mess with each other. Piss each other off and attempt to ruin each others lives, but if a foreign adversary shows face the entire country will put their differences aside and quickly remember we are all Americans. You don’t want to fight the USA when we are united as a whole.

  13. In Louisiana, we have what is known as the Cajun Navy. This is a group of people with boats of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. Most of the time, they are ordinary people who go to work or school and all that. However, when the creek starts rising, they start loading up their boats and preparing for action. They deploy to flooded communities to help people escape, to help pets escape, and to generally get done what no one else can or will get done.

    They are the definition of American spirit—we are all here for each other when the times get tough. We don’t need to be told to help; we just rally and do it. Sure people bicker and fight, and some take advantage of bad situations, but the most and best of us rise above and beyond when the need manifests.

    Then, when the crisis is over, we all sit around and eat a lot of good food, tell tall tales, and pass a good time.

  14. It’s 50% “Anything is possible if you try hard enough” and 50% “Fuck you I won’t do what you tell me”.

  20. For me the American Spirit has traditionally (at least for the past century) been defined in opposition to the “European spirit” if I may coin the term.

    Using that as a basis for my definition I’d say the collective American Spirit should be described as the difference between two kids when their mom tells them to do something. The European kid says “Yes Ma’am”, the American kid says “Why”

  21. >”The attraction of America? It’s the ambition. It’s the drive. It’s the positive optimism, the ability to think into the future. To think, ‘I want to build things. I want to do things.’… I’ve never felt in any part of the world as free as I do here, because when you say ‘I want to do this’ in America, everyone says ‘Go for it! How can I help?'”

    [Konstantin Kisin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EnwEaU4A44)

  24. **Individualism, optimism, weak central authority, and immense opportunity.**

    The individual is more important than the “greater good” thus the “greater good” is effectively served though individual advancement. The people who put in the *skilled* work stand to benefit handsomely. This is excellent incentive. America is a goldmine for ambitious people of all social classes. Our opportunity for social mobility (in both directions) is unmatched.

  25. I don’t know how familiar non-Americans are with JFK’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech, but it’s possibly one of the greatest summations of the American spirit by one of our greatest leaders:

    >We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained, and new rights to be won, and they must be won and used for the progress of all people… There is no strife, no prejudice, no national conflict in outer space as yet. Its hazards are hostile to us all. Its conquest deserves the best of all mankind, and its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again. But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.

  30. An enthusiasm towards taking a risk and doing things our way. We were born out of that spirit!

  31. Boldness bordering on cockiness.

    This manifests as:

    * Extreme optimism/homerism in everything from politics to sports team

    * The belief that having “haters” is evidence that you’re in the right

    * Flaunting of authority/traditional conventions

    * Putting the self above the other

    * Embracing chaos

    * The “Protestant work ethic” that hard work pays off and is good for its own sake–and vice versa

    * Etc.

    This explains quite well why America is extremely good at inventing new things, efficiently making existing things, and making money but extremely bad at public health, public infrastructure, taking care of the poor, or anything else that requires either selflessness or trusting authority at scale.

  34. “Don’t tell me I can’t _____”
    -Every American to the US Government at some point.

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