America the Dutiful - Across the Pond: An Englishman's View of America - page 62

Religion in America goes hand in hand with a strong civic spirit. It is a more Victorian
society than Britain in several ways, not least in its cult of philanthropy. Most British stu-
dents would not care to depend for their labs and dorms on the charitable whims of mil-
lionaire businessmen in pursuit of tax breaks. They would want this no more than they
would wish to see Prince Charles handing out food parcels to the deserving poor in Trafal-
gar Square. They regard education as a right, not a privilege. In fact, most British students
would like to see college education free of charge, funded perhaps by the tens of billions of
pounds lost to the country each year in tax evasion.
Even so, the mighty lineage of American philanthropy reflects the nation's civic consci-
ence, which is a great deal more vigorous than it is across the Atlantic. Public-spiritedness
is a resplendent American virtue. In his American Notes , Charles Dickens reserves some of
his most rhapsodic prose for the civic life of Boston. “Above all,” he writes in florid vein,
“I sincerely believe that the public institutions and charities of this capital of Massachu-
setts are as nearly perfect, as the most considerate wisdom, benevolence, and humanity, can
make them. I never in my life was more affected by the contemplation of happiness, under
circumstances of privation and bereavement, than in my visits to these establishments.” He
is speaking of such places as the Boston asylum for the blind and hospital for the insane,
and is rather keener on these institutions than he is on the Washington Senate. The Sen-
ate is, he allows, “a dignified and decorous body,” but one whose dignity is somewhat tar-
nished by the state to which the carpets have been reduced “by the universal disregard of
the spittoon.” He also notes the curiously swollen faces of some of its members, “caused
by the quantity of tobacco they contrive to stow within the hollow of the cheek.” U.S. sen-
ators who were caught stashing tobacco in their cheeks today would probably be forced to
spend the rest of their lives hiding out in the Nevada desert. It might be better for them to
be caught illicitly consorting with a donkey.
Anarchy, Law, and Eccentricity
Puritan cultures can be both repressive and individualist. No doubt this is one reason why
the United States is such an odd combination of anarchy and authoritarianism. This is not
as surprising a mixture as it may seem. If everybody is allowed to do their own thing, you
need a particularly stout framework of order with which to contain this potential chaos.
Things are rather different in the United Kingdom. The British are a largely law-abiding
bunch, but they also have a streak of libertarianism. So do Americans—but whereas in the
States this tends to be an ideological affair, complete with high-pitched rhetoric about the
dangers of state control, it is a less political matter in Britain. The British dislike author-
ity not because they are opposed to the state on principle, but because they want to be left
alone to breed pigeons or attend classes in flower arranging. They do not want to be free of
regulation so that they can aspire, rise through the ranks or accumulate profit, but so that