The Fetishism of Freedom
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher once described America as the only country in the world “built upon an idea,” freedom. Whilst scholars of nationalism may choose to take argument with this statement, the central claim of Riley-Smith’s book is that even if the United States is not the only country built upon an idea, the fundamental principle of liberty is the idea upon which America is built. Inevitably, claims Riley-Smith, when a value such as liberty is the bedrock of a nation’s way of life, it brings about challenges and, in this case, seven paradoxes that define the “American crisis”.
In a field full of books about America from the British perspective, Riley-Smith’s contribution stands out from the crowd in two respects. Firstly, he has seen the British view of the American way from the perspective of the British Embassy – giving him the establishment focus. Secondly, and most importantly, his training as a social anthropologist has given him the cultural focus, the reference points and the methodology to make his account of the American fetishism and its consequent paradoxes contrast with the societies beneath the radar that have so often formed the basis of the social anthropologist’s studies. Riley-Smith’s training in the method of social anthropology, the ethnography – whereby the student of the society lives with the focus of their studies and makes observations about their lifestyle broadly from the vantage point of a critical citizen – makes this an account rich in quantitative and qualitative data and perceptions from Liberty Central itself. From this perspective, we here have what is a fresh and healthy addition to the debate on American liberty that has been ongoing since the Federalists and Anti-Federalists picked up their pens in 1787 to debate the merits of the new constitution.
The focus on seven key paradoxes of the American way – race, belief, innovation, the frontier, war/empire and freedom/conformity - is the backbone of this work. Each one provides an insight into the contrasting trend in their respective area that features in American life and each chapter could be read independently. Together, they helpfully frame how American society can be conceptualised, from the states that challenged the founding fathers to the ethnic classifications (and much more besides) that have confronted successive generations of American leaders, as the attempt to make e pluribus unum – out of the many, one. This was most obviously the case when the founding fathers sought to unify the thirteen newly sovereign colonies of the American continent after acquiring their independence from Britain, yet the paradoxes are so central to the American way that they persist and present challenges even today. In the opening chapter on race, for example, Riley-Smith highlights how America’s ethnicities are often defined by their status vis-à-vis the current dominant group (we need hardly remember the role of race in America’s natural sin, slavery, and how fundamental it was to the structure of society). However, despite this debunking of the “melting pot” in favour of a stew of mixed yet individual parts co-existing with bouts of animosity, the concept and identity of America belongs to every citizen in a way few countries can equal (for example, whereas 9% of Britons are currently living abroad, only 0.5% of Americans are).
For many Britons, America is a country that inspires admiration, envy, mockery and disdain – occasionally all at the same time. The basis of this, one may be led to infer, is the perceived purity of the former colonial master contrasted to the perceived perversion evident in the American way (although the dramatic changes in British society over the past fifty years contrasted with American constitutional fundamentalism poses a significant challenge to this). Therefore, chapter 8 is where the book really comes into its own when it shifts from the seven paradoxes of American life to a contrast between Britain and America asking a key question: are they an equation or an angle - do they equate or do they begin on the same basis (freedom) and diverge from that point. Here it becomes clear that the strongest cultural affinity in the Western world and the much-talked about political bilateral “special relationship” is indeed based on a shared heritage and a continued base of mutual interests. However, what becomes equally clear is that the two countries have since diverged significantly. In areas of race, tensions persist in both countries however Britain, Riley-Smith suggests, is structured much more on a dichotomy of “us and them” whilst each independent ethnic minority avoids being assimilated into one of two groups in the United States. Similarly, both countries have a penchant for consumerism, but in America it is taken to a degree that makes its European counterparts appear frugal to the extreme. Furthermore, both societies have Christian routes, but whilst American society has become increasingly proactive in its evangelism, Britain’s has become more and more secular. And so on. In almost every case, both countries begin at the same point, and broadly continue to hold similar core values, but Britain’s drifting towards the American way is constantly challenged and eventually mediated by its ultimate status as a European nation. In due course, key distinctions have developed in the Anglo-America.
Aside from this exploration of how the basis of the Anglosphere has branched out and fragmented, the book’s most interesting focus comes in chapter two when Riley-Smith focuses on something which has come to define America and was the bedrock of its power around the world - consumerism. Indeed, it is true to say that if liberty is the value of America, consumerism is its activity in a way that it never was for its European ancestors (its dominance in this area even surpassing Britain’s at the height of its Empire). This is epitomised by the decor of the U.S. Library of Congress featuring “commerce” amongst the other pillars of its national identity (history, art, philosophy, law, science etc). However, whereas law is the basis of civil society, philosophy the basis of theoretical conceptions and science the heart of endeavour, commerce for America need not possess any further goals – effective commerce is now, as it was for ascetic founders like Benjamin Franklin, a normative end in itself. For a social anthropologist like Riley-Smith, whose initial studies will have involved the study of gift-exchange societies, this will be especially important. Whereas the kula ring of the Trobriand tribe (a central study in Social Anthropology), through which shell bracelets and necklaces were exchanged, was the basis for social relations, American consumerism is not. It is instead an operation that centralises unknown relations between purchaser and consumer as the basis of economic life with its social consequences extending no further than the individual. This, along with the extent to which consumerism has reached quasi-religious status for many Americans, is amongst the standout observations of this book.
It is here, on consumerism, that reader may suspect Riley-Smith truly believes the issue at the hub of the American crisis lies. In his afterword, Riley-Smith allegorically speaks of the American society as either Hobbesville (after 17th Century English philosopher Thomas Hobbes whose emphasis lay on individual passions leading to war if unchecked) or Hobbiton (referring to J. R. R. Tolkein’s homogenous hobbit societies). Riley-Smith asserts that “the social cohesiveness of Hobbiton is undercut by the hyper-individualism of Hobbesville” is the underlying tension wrestling at the heart of American society. This individualism almost certainly finds strength in the extreme consumerism of America which consequently manifests itself in areas such as race and belief. If anywhere, this is where this work lets the reader down; it ought to focus more on how the individualist consumer is lacking the social framework to create a homogenous society and avert crisis, in the manner of Durkheim’s anomie, in modern-day America.
If America is, as Riley-Smith asserts, in a crisis then he is in no doubt that it is as a consequence of its liberty. However, as this work shows throughout, many areas of American life contain paradoxes, several of which even stand in contention with one another and result in a balance that founding fathers such as Madison often desired. Therefore we must take the foundational remit of this book and pursue more critically what truly underwrites the American paradoxes - consumerism. There ought to be a sequel to this book. Consumerism ought to be its focus.
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