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We all know this crock of shit about Americans having no culture, don’t we? For sure that is the most offending prejudice for our American friends to be constantly reminded of, when they know it really doesn’t hold water. Now, where does that prejudice come from, may we ask? It already has been discussed time and again but it may be worth another approach.

But first, things must be unambiguous. Every human group has developed a culture of its own, be it Aborigines in Australia, Amazonian Indians in Brazil or native Indians in the US. This is what is known as collective culture and no one can say modern Americans have no culture on this basis. But ever since the Greek culture blossomed about 25 centuries ago, there is a concept that has thrived in Europe (and elsewhere in the world): works of art that can be assigned to individuals. This is probably the most everlasting legacy of the Greco-Roman world which eventually culminated with Christianity: the emergence of the individual, a value on which our civilizations have been built through the ages.

So when about everyone the world over (not specifically the French or the Europeans) goes with the cliché that Americans have no culture, I suppose they eventually refer to the second understanding of the word “culture”, that is specific individuals who can be held responsible for any given piece of art. Can you think of anything more senseless? Yet, this prejudice has its roots in History.

But why do people think so? May I dare propose three answers?

1. In the first place, immigration toward America saw largely uneducated, illiterate poor people – workers and laborers alike - leave the continent where artists could be counted by the tens of thousands with two thousand years of artistic treasures behind them. And these people would land in a country which was starting from scratch, with no history (we’re talking modern America here) and really next to no “artists” in the customary meaning of the word. Can you name an American painter or musician or writer or sculptor from the 18th century in the US?

So when Europeans, prior to the 19th century, were referring to Americans with no culture they actually weren’t entirely wrong. The overwhelming majority of Europeans with education and artistic merit stayed home and watched with some contempt those who were leaving and with whom they already didn’t want to be mistaken with.

2. The reason why these poor Europeans were leaving is that they were… poor. And, wanting to strike it rich in America, they sought to turn the page of their previous lives and make more than just a meager living. “The American dream” was the motto of these millions of immigrants. Hence the seemingly omnipresent obsession of money and pursuing of wealth in the collective mind of America. But wait, who could blame poor people for their desire to become rich? This is the very reason why they went to this country to begin with. So, there’s no reason to be surprised when considering the next to totemic place the dollar has taken in the American cultural landscape.

Now, as you know, money and wealth aren’t exactly values that were extolled in the Christian world. The real life and reason to live were supposed to be found in heaven, not among mundane pleasures. 

Save for the Protestants (see Max Weber) from the 16th century and on, money and wealth were sternly condemned as sinful and immoral in Catholic Europe. This is precisely the world the immigrants wanted to get free from. Their quest for more economic wealth was seen as vulgar by the remaining Europeans with some education, whereas art and culture were praised as the only moral accomplishment a decent person was supposed to achieve. 

This apparent opposition between the educated and the illiterate was also another form of class conflict which has had consequences to be felt to this day.

3. Coming from mainly protestant countries in the first place, the immigrants had to built a nation and they did it with no inhibition whatsoever regarding money and mundane values. With their English protestant origins for the majority of them, they soon became masters in engineering and technical prowess. But once again, these achievements were another form of mundane assertion which was very much frowned upon as “vulgar” and considered as sheer materialism by the Catholic world. History was repeating itself.

In the meantime Americans have created a culture second to none according to the tenets of the Greco-Roman civilization and the names of its artists are known and admired the world over. Be it musicians, writers, movie makers, painters, choreographers, sculptors, architect, you name it, no other country has developed such an amazing array of artistic wonders in so short a time span but America. To the point it is now the world standard bearer. Funny thing is, these American artists often get more recognition in Europe than in their own country.

So when you hear the old canard that Americans have no culture (again, what a crock of shit!), that may have been partially true 200 years ago but by now it can only be understood as an expression of jealousy and helplessness by sour, hapless, shortsighted, illiterate, and uneducated minds. Another wink of History… 

Note: The painting is “Broadway Boogie Woogie” by Piet Mondrian (1942/43) MOMA, New York.