Word: americanism
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Dates: during 1890-1899
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Business is the Alpha and Omega of American life. To it everything else is subordinated. One of the results of this mercenary spirit is the expression that a man is "worth" so much, when the amount of his property is meant. With the early acquired idea that anything is worth nothing that costs nothing, the average American loses sight of everything but the making of money...
There is often in Americans an air of condescension in treating Russian things. For example, Americans express surprise at the excellence of Russian music, implying the contrast between the Russians and the music. The Russian is tempted to add, when a remark to this effect is made: "And I, too, am surprised at the poorness of American music, when I consider the people who produce...
...American society lacks individuality. There is an artificiality in it all that deprives it of life and freedom. In the various grades of society, aristocracy and democracy are prone to assert themselves to excess. A man who emphasizes his aristocracy shows that he is ignorant of the true position of aristocracy; the man who boasts of his democracy does the greatest harm to the cause of democracy...
...Among American women there is a tendency to sacrifice the distinctive nature of their sex. The Woman's Building at the World's Fair, however successful in the character of its exhibits, is in its separateness the expression of the mistaken American idea. American children are the victims of the stern, practical life about. Childhood, which should be the time of light-hearted illusions, ends too early, if it even exists. But on the other hand, one of the best features of American life is the almost universal education of the youth...
...American artist, who is the one person who can realize the artificiality of society, and who is pained by the abnormally practical life, is worthy of the highest admiration...