Happy fourth of July weekend! Independence day in America is mostly a day off work for barbecue and picnics, but I’m going to indulge in a little reflection on the national character. You can’t really make generalizations about a nation of three hundred million people, but there are still ideals and archetypes that are commonly associated with it. There are plenty to pick from, and some of them can be rather contradictory, but here are a few that fit in my personal vision of America:

Yankee ingenuity. Cowboy independence. Protestant work ethic.

I am not a Yankee (in the strict sense), a cowboy, or a protestant, but I do aspire to ideals that I read into each of them. Being clever is an admirable attribute. You are what you do, and working hard is to be respected and rewarded. We’ll fix it. We’ll make it better. Can do. Get ‘er done. “Cowboy” is sometimes used as a slur -- in condemnation of rushing in without building a consensus, maybe going off a little half-cocked without thinking it all the way through. I don’t necessarily consider even those attributes negative, but the stronger connotation for me is the importance of the freedom to go your own way.

It was only after I actually wrote the above down that I realized the common thread for me: Progress. In general, America is still a country that believes in progress, and I hold that ingenuity, freedom, and hard work are the keys to continuing to get it. I’m not a “my country, right or wrong” sort of person, but I’m happy with “my country, more right than wrong”.

John Carmack

Reply · Report Post