What makes an American? Something rather similar to that which made America. An American is willing to start the Mexican-American War under false pretenses, fomenting fear to gain control, wielding violence to have a personal hero’s journey. And why not? If one is God’s chosen people, in God’s congregation, the CEO of a corporate America, why shouldn’t one make the rules? And own the land. Such is the reason why the American powerful, the leaders of companies in particular, believe in competition and “natural” selection, and freedom: they are winning.
Think back to your favorite board game as a kid. It was probably one that you were good at, that you won consistently. Now maybe you didn’t build an entire worldview around that game, but you probably felt justified in proposing to play, and justified in winning. Now imagine that your worldview is based on how you’ve been winning, what you’ve been winning. (It almost certainly is already, so this might be difficult to imagine.) So your worldview is that Scrabble or Monopoly is the best game to play and that every player has a fair chance to win under the rules. But you know that you’re better than the players you almost always play against. And so the chances are not fair, you just believe in these rules and this starting point, because you’re already ahead if you convince the other players to play. Now you understand the perspective of people with money who prefer not to pay taxes, people running companies who believe in deregulation, people who are convinced that if their worldview reigned, the world would be a better place (looking at you, all of you with ideologies that include valuations and policy preferences, both aisles, all sides).
So now we’re set up to fight inside whichever game we’re playing, to fight about the rules, and to fight about whether we’re playing the right game. So American. Accepting the premise that a game is necessary. How could one go through childhood without games? Without the potential for winning and winning and every once in a while losing, to build the hunger for more winning? Unfathomable. Middle school soccer, chess, swim team, gymnastics, spelling bees. You train early in competition and fight and fight and fight (fight = practice). You’re always practicing to articulate your worldview upon the losers, to practice what you preach upon those who end up with less power that you, and resent those who have a little more power than you. And to pretty much only think in terms of power, in terms of the ability to win games.
So, winner-American, what will you do with your life? I think you know. You’ll work your self-righteous ass off to get yours or to change the world. There is no middle ground; you’re either making your impact or making your nut, control burning the prairie or harvesting your corn. And this metaphor applies widely, whether you’re a colonel in the military, a civil engineer, a doctor, a lawyer, a non-profit leader, a government employee, a politician. That which you do, you Instagram star, is attempt to win, either the numbers game you’ve chosen under the rules you’re writing or the arm wrestling match in your head and on the field. Enemies will help you put more fuel in that clean burning coal vehicle of yours, to be sure. Moral hazard and moral certainty will make it so your risks are nil and your confidence is manly. Bring your world into your American Century, James K. Polk. Start your border conflicts and send in the army. And whatever you do, make sure to win. All your doctrines depend upon it.
Roman Ryan 