Special Providence_ American Foreign Policy and How It Changed World - Walter Russell Mead

232 SPECIALPROV1DENCE

intheUnitedStateswillstillfight,sometimeswithweapons,whenthey
feeltheyhavenotbeentreatedwiththeproperrespect.Burevenamong
thelessviolent,Americansstandontheirdignityandrights.Managers
whosestyleseemsdemeaningtotheirsubordinates,teacherswhohumili-
atetheirstudents,politicianswhocondescendtotheirconstituents-all
willpaya pricefortheirtemerity.Conversely,thosewhoarecarefulto
respecttheindividualdignityoftheirsubordinates,andcandemonstrate
a rationalbasisfortheirauthority-knowledge,talent,experience-will
enjoyloyaltyandrespectinreturn.JacksonianAmericansareskepticalof
authority,butonceitisacknowledgedas legitimate,thehonorcode
demandsthatauthority,too,receiveitsduerespect.
Economicsuccess,whenclearlyduetohardwork,isalsorespected.
Jacksoniansbelievethateveryoneshouldhaveanequalstart,butJack-
soniansocietydoesnotinsistthatallitsmembersendupinthesame
place.TherehavebeentimesinAmericanhistory-suchasthelatenine-
teenthcenturyandtoa lesserextentduringthedepression-whenpopu-
larresentmentagainsttheperceivedinjusticesoftheAmericaneconomic
orderled tostrongpoliticalmovementsagainstwhatTheodoreRoo-
seveltoncecalledthe"malefactorsofgreatwealth."I7Thoseperiods,how-
ever,havebeenexceptions,andpopularresentmentoftherichremained
milderandlesspoliticallyeffectiveintheUnitedStatesthaninEurope.
Generally,whenJacksoniansbelievethattherulesofthegamearerea-
sonablyfair,theybelievethatwinnersdeservetherespectandadmiration
oftherest.
Respectisalsodueage.ThosewhoknowJacksonianAmericaonly
throughitsveryinexactrepresentationsinthemediathinkoftheUnited
Statesas a youth-obsessed,age-neglecting society. Infact Jacksonian
Americahonorsage.Jacksonwassixty-onewhenhewaselectedpresi-
dentforthefirsttime;Reaganwassixty-nine.'8Moviestarsoftenlose
theirappealwithage;butthosewhoseappealstemsfromtheirabilityto
portrayandembodyJacksonianvalues-likeJimmyStewartandJohn
Wayne-onlybecomemorerevered.Jacksoniansmaynotalways,oreven
veryoften,obeytheirparentsandtheelderly,burtheycareforthem.
SocialSecurityandthewholevastnetworkofprogramstocreateadigni-
fiedretirementforolderAmericanswasputinplacebya societythatwas
demographicallymuchyoungerthantheUnitedStatesis today.Thereis
perhapsnopointonwhichtheAmerican politicalconsensusisbroader
today than that this network be maintainedat all costs, and even
expandedwherepossible.ThewidespreadAmericannetworksofsenior
citizendiscountsforeverythingfrommovieticketstoairlinefaresare