The American Way of Life
History is the unfolding of the American Way of Life in time. There was a continuous progression of Reason starting with the Fall of Man until 1776. Due to the Fall of Man, mankind was seperated from God and plunged into Madness. From this period until 1776, mankind slowly, with the help of God, overcame this Madness and, in 1776 the “final goal of the world,” as Hegel says, was achieved and Reason purely manifested itself as the American Way of Life. As the Biblical Scriptures tell us, after this the progression of Reason halted and the progression of Unreason began. The American Way of Life represents the pinnacle of Reason and thus the Ultimate Truth. The problem with liberals, progressives, Hegelians, and Marxists is that they do not understand the climactic nature of history. For the first half of human history, the dialectic conflict between Reason and Unreason resulted in the triumph of Reason, but in the second half of history, the opposite is true. Conflicts are not longer transcended (sublated), but instead result in deflations. This, at least, is recognized by Thomas Adorno and his negative dialectics, in his own Germanic way – which is to say a non-American, and hence necessarily inferior, but still perhaps cute, way. Liberals, progressives, Hegelians, and Marxists fail to understand that progress stopped in 1776.
From the Fall of Man until 1776, revolution brought humanity closer to the Ultimate Truth and counter-revolution brought humanity closer to Madness.
After 1776, revolution only distanced humanity from the Ultimate Truth and counter-revolution distanced humanity from Madness.
Thus, in order to progress, in the truest sense of the word, we must actually move backwards in time.
The Apodicticity of the The American Way of Life
First Capitalist Contemplation
If we wish to discover the truest form of life for man, then we must found our endeavor upon an absolute certainty. We cannot base our inquiry upon historical circumstances or any other sensible quality of the world, for these circumstances are liable to change without notice and our senses often deceive us. The foundation of our way of life must be known with absolute certainty. The statement that “I shop therefore I am” is such a certainty. For whenever we shop, we are certain that we exist. If we did not exist, then it would be impossible for us to shop. Furthermore, what we commonly refer to as a “personal identity” is produced through the draping of various brands and styles over the physical flesh of an organic being. Without such brands and styles to cover one with, a man could not be said to exist, for he would merely be an object with no discernible qualities. The consumption of goods allows for us to emerge from the otherwise oceanic world of objects as a distinct person. Therefore, man is a consuming thing and his basic orientation to the world is consumption. As the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said, “It is true that the form of the body lasts for a time, but only on condition that the matter is constantly changing, that the old matter is thrown off and new added. And it is the chief work of all living creatures to secure a constant supply of suitable matter.” Without consumption man would not exist. Without the certainty that to shop is to exist, human life would be unintelligible.
Second Capitalist Contemplation
If one considers the nature of consumable goods, one cannot help but realize that they are not of equal value. The nature of a Gucci purse is superior to the nature of a Coach purse. The values of goods differ by degrees, forming a natural continuum from worthless goods all the way up to priceless goods, and to think otherwise is not human. This continuum of goods could not be infinite, for that would be an absurdity, and so there must exist an objectively perfect good. This perfect good is God. God is the almighty good whom it is mankind’s duty to consume. A man must consume in order to exist; and the greater his consumption, the greater his existence. There have been many who have tried to rationalize the metaphorical cannibalism of God in the ritual of the Eucharist – but none have understood the divine importance of consumption, and thus have failed to understand this holy practice. The consumption of God grants immortality to man, for as shown above, the greater a man’s consumption, the greater his existence, and since there is no greater good than God, the consumption of God produces the greatest existence. This is the real meaning of heaven.
Third Capitalist Contemplation
Without the American Way of Life, the United States of America could not exist, for the moment the American Way of Life did not exist, the United States of America would be transformed into something other than the United States of America. The American Way of Life is the ivory stilts upon which the United States stands. The American Way of Life denotes mans fundamental relationship with material reality and divinity. It is this relationship that allows for the United States of America to exist as such.
Fourth Capitalist Contemplation
The American Way of Life demands that a man deserves what he is entitled to. Only through a man′s own labor can he acquire the purchasing power to consume the goods which are the product of free-market capitalism. His labor entitles him to a consumption of goods proportional to his labor. If a man consumes goods which he is not entitled to, then he has violated the American Way of Life. As shown above, the proper end of man is consumption and without the universal maxim of entitlement such capitalistic consumption would not be possible. It should now be easy to see why the character Ragged Dick exemplifies the correct conduct of a man. Indeed the genesis of the American Way of Life is derived from the perfect union of Horatio Alger Jr. and Yahweh.
