Too Much of a Good Thing? Part 4. American Culture

I buy, therefore I am

This is Part 4 in the Too Much of a Good Thing? series, where I look at ideas and institutions that start out noble and end up… well, different. This one is about American culture; the most successful export of the modern world, now so deeply woven into our lives that we mistake it for our own reflection.

I have to thank Donald Trump for one thing: he exposes the real America to the world; one with clear double standards for itself and everyone else. It’s always been there if you look carefully. I still remember Obama on TV shedding tears over the latest school shooting while approving drone strikes that killed children the same day. But oh well, they weren’t American children. Trump simply removed the velvet glove to reveal the iron hand wrapped in barbed wire.

But this post isn’t about double standards. The world has learned to live with those, like background noise. It’s about what we call “Western” culture, which is really just American culture in a tuxedo. And let’s face it, America is the single biggest cultural influencer. A Taylor Swift concert can now move a city’s economy - GDP boosted by heartbreak and sequins.

You may ask, so what? America is doing many things right. Shouldn’t we emulate success?

Perhaps. But over time, the U.S. has quietly claimed the right to define what is right for everyone. Liberal or conservative, they agree on one thing; the primacy of the individual.

The American Dream says anyone can make it big. What it means is: anyone can make it alone. Individual initiative trumps everything; ethics, empathy, even gravity. It’s rights over responsibility every time.

It starts early. Children have rights too, including the right never to hear the word “no.” They are celebrated for their uniqueness, whether it’s drawing a tree, passing a test, or keeping quiet for three minutes while mama’s on a Zoom call. The result? A generation that can identify fifty shades of anxiety but no boundaries. They’re told they’re right so often, they believe it.

As these “right” people enter college or work, nothing can be their fault. If they can’t get along with the other sex, they’re “incels.” If they can’t get along with anyone at all, they’re “introverts.” And if they don’t get good grades, they’ll just redefine success on YouTube.

Divorce rates are high not because people don’t care, but because they care about themselves first. You’re supposed to find “the one,” and if they snore or, worse, chew loudly, it’s your constitutional right to move on.

Ironically, this worship of the individual leads people to seek out others just like themselves. They follow influencers who “see” them, usually while selling them something. The contradictions are dazzling: guns are sacred, masks are tyranny, billionaires are “self-made.”

Of course, a small percentage of Americans ride this individualism to greatness - building tech, writing books, even changing the world. They may be lonely, but they’ve built a nation that attracts both talent and envy.

By now, dear reader, you may be wondering what this has to do with “too much of a good thing.” Wait, I’m getting to it.

The typical American today is lonely, anxious, and vulnerable to anyone who promises belonging. A marketer’s dream. Advertising whispers, you deserve everything — even if you can’t afford it. From Wall Street bonuses to suburban Amazon boxes, the moral remains: I buy, therefore I am.

New “holidays” keep emerging to make sure you keep consuming. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Pet’s Day, soon to be followed by Ex’s Day (“Celebrate the one who got away - with a limited-time offer!”). Few cultures have industrialized love as efficiently. Every Hollywood rom-com assures you your soulmate is out there; probably running toward you in an airport you’re about to miss your flight at. The bar for romance is so high even Romeo would swipe left in despair.

So, is American culture too much of a good thing?

Yes. What we see is the glitter - the dazzle, the success. What we get is a culture of individual primacy - loneliness, intolerance, and vulnerability, sold to us as the ideal, the American way, the “right” way.

Across Asia, that dazzle has been reshaping young minds for generations. The Indian joint family is now an exhibit in the cultural museum, especially in cities. There are homes for the elderly, rising divorce rates, and an impatience so refined that two-hour delivery feels so 2010. We’re turning into a consumer-driven society on steroids; fashionable, fast, and faintly frantic.

In this explosion of individuality, we’re giving up older structures - community, compromise, care, that don’t fit neatly into the American definition of “right.” Trump is simply individuality gone wild, the logical conclusion of “me first.” His followers see freedom; the rest of us see the price.

So perhaps, it’s time to slow down.

Let’s skip the next Black Friday sale. Ignore the algorithm whispering about what we “deserve.” Let’s think not the American way, but our way; rediscovering what truly works for our cultures, our people, and maybe even our sanity.