Americanism: The New Civilization

"Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace."

-Theodore Roosevelt

The pioneers gave up their safety, their comfort, and sometimes their lives to build our new west. They were determined to make the new world strong and free - an example to the world. ... Some would say that those struggles are all over, that all the horizons have been explored, that all the battles have been won. That there is no longer an American frontier. ... And we stand today on the edge of a new frontier, the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils. ... Beyond that frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered problems of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus. ... I'm asking each of you to be pioneers towards that New Frontier. My call is to the young in heart, regardless of age. ... Can we carry through in an age where we will witness not only new breakthroughs in weapons of destruction, but also a race for mastery of the sky and the rain, the ocean and the tides, the far side of space, and the inside of men's minds? ... All mankind waits upon our decision. A whole world waits to see what we shall do. And we cannot fail that trust, and we cannot fail to try.

-John F. Kennedy

In both Greek and Hindu philosophy, there is a belief that everything in existence possesses a purpose that they must fulfill. Aristotle referred to it as the telos, while Vedic philosophy names it dharma. Naturally, the concept applies to nations as well. For modern nation-states, their purpose is to defend the ethnic, cultural or religious group that makes up the monolithic majority of the country. However, for countries who are made up of multiple different groups with no clear majority, they must look for more universal values to justify their existence. It is this situation that the United States of America finds itself in. It is not without precedent, as the various empires of Antiquity and Medieval times dealt with this same issue. 

The United States has for most of its history believed that it is a unique nation, unlike the rest of the world, and destined to play a pivotal role in human history, much as the great empires of the past. That belief is correct. America’s destiny was determined long before the nation itself existed. The American continents were always going to produce a highly influential civilization no matter what. Situated between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Americas are geographically positioned to be the intersection of all the cultures of the world. Paradoxically, the position of the continents means that while it can possess these cultures, it will also be isolated enough that it won’t be subjugated by the Old World, thus allowing itself to develop on its own path. At the same time, the continents were the last place to be settled in prehistory.  Thus, the Americas were not as developed as the Old World, making the continents a metaphorical tabula rasa. Combined with the abundance of natural resources, it was logical that a powerful civilization would arise, one that would be the vanguard of humanity’s evolution.

 The trend continues in the development of the current American nations. The indigenous empires and tribes that first inhabited the continents, though they were descendants of Asian civilizations, nevertheless evolved their own unique culture distinguishable from the East. These Native American cultures not only embodied the spirit of conquerors and frontiersmen, but also heavily incorporated astronomy almost as if they subconsciously recognized the importance of the cosmos. 

These nations then encountered the second group of settlers, the Spanish Empire. Due to the long Reconquista, the Spanish had become a society of crusaders- warriors who lived to fight and conquer in the name of God, while also exploring the world for new riches. However, the Spanish were merely the first. Soon, many other explorers and conquerors would emerge from Europe. The convergence of the Indigenous and European civilizations would be a defining moment of the Age of Discovery, an Age that would create the American nations, and solidify the legacy of the Americas as the land of the conquerors, destined to explore the frontiers of existence. 

Out of all the American countries to form during the Age of Discovery, it is the United States that has proven to be the nation that best epitomizes the potential of the Americas. While the rest of the Americas grew slothful thanks to the abundance of wealth available in the regions, the US was left with a comparably less bountiful territory, forcing the nation to develop an ethos of self-reliance, innovation, pragmatism, and dynamism. An ethos that would be coined the “American Way”. An ethos that would drive the United States to become the pinnacle of human achievement. It was George Washington who began this journey. Through his leadership, he established the culture of the United States as one that had a spiritual unity that went beyond mere ethnicity and religion. Washington created a religious tolerance based on his Deist philosophy, while also promoting the ideal of assimilating foreign cultures into the US rather than segregating them. Washington ensured that the US would be prepared to carry out the westward expansion he initiated, an expansion that would evolve into Manifest Destiny. Once the frontiers of the continents were explored, Theodore Roosevelt would reinvigorate the spirit of exploration within the American people, as best exemplified by his speech on the strenuous life. He implored Americans that the only way one can have a meaningful life was to achieve excellence in every way one can. Whether that excellence was achieved by material prosperity through hard work, new discoveries through science, creating masterworks in the arts, participating in imperial expeditions to foreign lands, safeguarding the ecosystem to protect nature and human society, or through the augmentation of the human form itself. By engaging in a struggle for excellence, “TR” believed that Americans could simultaneously benefit themselves and their nation, and protect themselves from the slothfulness that infested other countries. 

Finally it would be John F. Kennedy who would inspire the frontiersman spirit of the American way to its most important form: Interstellar Expansion. It was under Kennedy’s leadership that the US entered the Space Race, and thus a golden age of innovation and science. Never before was the US fully united in the pursuit of achieving the impossible- conquering the final frontier. This desire to explore the New Frontier was not limited to the stars, but also towards understanding the very mind and soul of man, as well as mastery of the forces of nature. Ultimately, Kennedy’s aspirations for the US would bear fruit, when America became the first nation to set foot on extraterrestrial soil, cementing its place as the progenitor of the next Age of Discovery. 

However, America cannot achieve its full potential until its society has a solid foundation. Currently, America is based on liberalism, which remains inadequate due to its suppression of spirituality. Liberalism claims its legitimacy from Greek philosophy, and claims that it carries on the legacy of the enlightened secular Classical Greece. This is false, which is why liberalism fails. The ancient Greeks were not a secular, let alone atheistic society. Early liberals tried to correct this flaw in the form of English liberalism, which unlike its French variant, which attempted to preserve the role of faith. However, English liberalism failed, as amply demonstrated by the dominance of French-style liberalism and atheism in modern western society. 

Even if liberals properly understood Classical Greece, it still would not be enough. While Classical Greece is similar enough to European civilization, the Americas are too divergent culturally to be compatible. And so a different period of Greek history is needed to serve as a philosophical foundation: Hellenistic Greece. The Hellenistic Age was the height of Greek civilization, when Hellenic rulers controlled vast territories that stretched across Afro-Eurasia. Through this conquest Greek culture heavily mixed with African and Asian cultures, created new strands of thought that are still being discovered to this day. Alexander the Great encouraged this process as he wanted to create a new civilization that would stand as the capital of the world. Amongst these new ideas was the concept of apotheosis. Otherwise known as deification, it is a spiritual version of the traditionally materialistic American way, where one achieves the highest stage of spiritual evolution through communion with God, usually through holy works, meditation, piety, and ritual. Apotheosis can be best understood through Alexander himself. He built his empire by utilizing what was at the time advanced weaponry, the sarissa. He used it to conquer the Achaemenid Iranian empire. And for his efforts, he was deified as the son of Amun-Ra and Zeus, thus achieving the pagan version of apotheosis. 

Apotheosis must become the centerpiece of the new American culture of frontier exploration, so that the material and spiritual are balanced in society. To reach this ideal, this new philosophy must be rooted in the philosophies of the Alexandrian School of Thought, mainly Neoplatonism, Aristotelianism, and Stoicism. These major philosophies are key to creating an understanding of the universe in general and how the American people can find their place within it. Through Neoplatonism, it is established that there are material and spiritual planes of existence that were created by God, and that communion with God can be achieved through henosis, another variant of apotheosis. Aristotelianism establishes that the creations and will of God can and must be understood through science in order to understand the nature of reality. This is also known as Natural Philosophy, the predecessor to science pioneered by Aristotle, which bridges the gap between spiritual and material knowledge. Stoicism teaches that the highest virtue is to obtain knowledge, and that God’s will is indifferent to the wishes of humanity, as such we must learn to live in harmony with it in order to better avoid suffering. To complement these beliefs, the philosophy of American Pragmatism should become the fourth. Pragmatism teaches that knowledge is only valuable as to its practical effects. This is arguably the cornerstone to ensuring the survival of the nation, as it functions as a filter to separate the good knowledge from the bad knowledge, therefore providing an important substrate for ethics and morals. After all, reality is the will of God, and if an idea produces bad results in real life, then it is against God’s will. 

Building on this philosophical foundation, a new religious unity will be needed. Fortunately, the dominant religious systems in the world, Abrahmic and Dharmic, possess concepts that are either parallel to or connected to apotheosis and the Alexandrian-American philosophies that support it. Deification has various counterparts in each faith: Hinduism calls it Moksha, Buddhism it is known as Nirvana, Sikhism refers to it as Jivan-Mukti, Christianity calls it Theosis or Sanctification, Islam describe it as Ta'alluh, and the Jews call it Ecstatic Kabbalah. Regardless of the name, the process remains similar: through various practices devotees can attain communion with the divine. To better support the creation of the traditionalist society, these religions will undergo an Americanization process through State-sponsorship of religious institutions so that they are compatible with the new philosophical foundation. The ancient form of Jewish faith known as Hellenistic Judaism will be resurrected in conjunction with an emphasis on Kabbalah. Christian sects that support mysticism, such as Counter-Reformation Catholicism and certain sects of Protestantism will be preferred. More importantly Orthodox Christianity will be promoted, particularly Oriental Orthodoxy due to its connections to Alexandria. In addition, the doctrine of Justin Martyr’s doctrine of the seeds of the logos will be emphasized in American christianity. The Sufi schools of Islam, especially those of Al-Andalus, are preferred. The non-dualist forms of Hinduism found in Shaivism such as Advaita Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism are the most compatible with the new America. Sikhism in general should follow the orthodox Khalsa sect of Sikhism. Finally, the school of Vajrayana Buddhism along with certain forms of Mahayana Buddhism are the most useful due to their more heterodox interpretation of the Buddha. To better emphasize spiritual unity, schools of thought that promote this should also be integrated into American spirituality in a limited capacity, such as Perennialism, Bahaism, and especially Hermeticism. With a new spiritual unity based on deification, the USA will not only have the backbone of a strong traditional society that unites the various cultures and ethnic groups under a single banner thus bringing true unity to America, but also a culture highly adapted to innovation and change, ensuring that society will not only advance technologically but also have the adaptive capacity to endure the social changes and upheaval that will come with it, ensuring that we are one nation under God.

The end result of these ideas is not only to create a new nationalism, but to create a new civilization. For our entire history the USA has been portrayed as a mere extension of Western Civilization. This connection to Europe was useful when it was the most advanced in the world. However, those days are over, and it is time for the United States to go forth and embrace its own destiny. It was clear from the beginning that the United States was culturally distinct from Europe, and as such European civilization has become incompatible with America. The modern civilizations that originate from Hellas all have their spiritual tradition centered in Jerusalem, but their cultural tradition is centered in different nexus points of the Greek world. Athens was the center of Classical culture, Constantinople was the center of Orthodox culture, and Alexandria was the center of Hellenistic culture. Just as Western European Civilization is derived from Jerusalem and Athens and Eastern European Civilization is descended from  Jerusalem and Constantinople, America will be founded on Jerusalem and Alexandria.