A debate now rages about what is American about America. Conservatives point to our military power. Liberals celebrate our multicultural history. Fundamentalists preach the Christian foundations of our culture. Environmentalists point to the bounty of our land.
Corporate leaders stress the individualistic nature of our culture.
At this point, it looks like the economic definition of what America is is prevailing. The skyrocketing stock market seems to be the embodiment of our very purpose of a nation. I can't think that the French, say, would reduce their national identity to a set of ideas about how the economy should run. History and tradition would figure in somewhere alongside the latest prices on the Paris stock exchange. We overlook the vital importance of the natural world, the human body and a sense of place, as we glorify the power of high technology, industrialized medicine and the global economy.