Tiger, Tiger,BurningBright 235Creditis seen,tosomedegree,aslessanobligationthananopportunity.
Jacksonians havealways supportedloose monetarypolicy and looser
bankruptcylaws.Inearliertimes,beforenationalcreditagenciesmade
one'spastimpossibletoescape,themobilityofAmericansalloweda cer-
tainfreedomfrombadluckandbaddecisions. In today'sworldeasy
creditandeasybankruptcyprovidesimilarescapevalves.Inanycasethe
Jacksonianspiritisnotthesober,penuriousspiritofthehumble,gray-
garbedQuaker.Flashanddashareadmired,notcensured.
Finally,courageisthecrowningandindispensablepartofthecode.
Jacksoniansmustbereadytodefendtheirhonoringreatthingsand
small. Americans believethat theyoughttostickupfor whatthey
believeandinsistontheirrightsanddignity.Inthenineteenthcentury,
JacksonianAmericans foughtseriousduelsafteraristocratsinEurope
hadgiventhemup,andAmericanstodayremainfarmorelikelythan
Europeans tosettlepersonal quarrels withextremeand even deadly
violence.
Jacksonian America's love affair with weapons is, ofcourse, the
despairoftherestofthecountry.Jacksonianculturevaluesfirearmsand
thefreedomtoownandusethem.Therighttobeararmsis a mark
ofcivic andsocial equality.Formenandmanywomen,owningand
knowinghowtocareforfirearmsisanimportantpartoflife.Jacksonians
arearmed for defense: defense ofthehome andperson againstrob-
bers,defenseagainstusurpationsofthefederalgovernment,anddefense
oftheUnitedStatesagainstitsenemies.InonewarafteranotherJackso-
nianshaveflockedtothecolors;independentsoldiersanddifficulttodis-
cipline,theyhavedemonstratedmagnificentfightingqualitiesinevery
corneroftheworld.JacksonianAmericaviewsmilitaryserviceasa sacred
duty;when Hamiltonians,Wilsonians, andJeffersoniansdodged the
draftasinVietnamorpurchasedexemptionsandsubstitutesinearlier
wars,Jacksonianssoldiered on,ifsometimes bitterlyand resentfully.
FailuretodefendthecountryinitshourofneedistotheJacksonian
mindevidence ofat best distorted values and more probably con-
temptiblecowardice.Anhonorablepersonisreadytokillortodiefor
familyandflag.
J
acksoniansocietydrawsanimportantdistinctionbetweenthose
whobelongtothefolkcommunityandthosewhodonot.Within
thefolkcommunity,amongthoseboundbythecodeandcapableofdis-