Who or what the U.S. is has been a reoccurring theme that plays out every day here and abroad. The world is asking that question more than ever before as the U.S. retains the dubious distinction of being ‘the last great super power’ in the world. Historically, that is far from the position the U.S. has sought. Most of our history is isolationist in nature. Even the Monroe Doctrine was of a similar bent. It placed the new world off limits to European super powers.
The U.S. Has never truly been a homogeneous culture. The melting pot theory stands at one level and the ‘City of Neighborhoods’ represented by major cities like Chicago stand at opposite poles. Acculturation has always a two edged sword here. The melting pot crucible was the ascendant power until recently. (The swing is strange because the ethnocentric political leaders are cavalierly proposing limiting income for their group by challenging the melting pot.)
Individualism has maintained this bipolar aspect of our society. It dates from the Boston Tea Party and the flag