The Great American Crackup

‘I LOOK at the underside of things” was Guy de Maupassant’s technique for finding out what is really going on with human nature. “What you see is what you get” is the American politician’s campaign slogan. It’s a clash of Titans-or at least one Titan.

Americans have held introspection at bay for most of our history, preferring what is self-evident (truths), pre-packaged (Manifest Destiny), catchy (“54/40 or Fight!”), and right smack in front of us (the West). Even 9/11 fit the established pattern. As long as our problems are unambiguous, like smoking ruins, we are not afraid to meet them. Trouble starts when an event or a person goes oblique on us. Ours is but to reason why, but we can’t. We are terrified of introspective “what-iffing” because the only way we are capable of getting to the underside of things is marketing T-shirts stamped “Sh** Happens.”

About the Author

Florence King

Florence King was a contributing editor of National Review.

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‘I LOOK at the underside of things” was Guy de Maupassant’s technique for finding out what is really going on with human nature. “What you see is what you get” is the American politician’s campaign slogan. It’s a clash of Titans-or at least one Titan.

Americans have held introspection at bay for most of our history, preferring what is self-evident (truths), pre-packaged (Manifest Destiny), catchy (“54/40 or Fight!”), and right smack in front of us (the West). Even 9/11 fit the established pattern. As long as our problems are unambiguous, like smoking ruins, we are not afraid to meet them. Trouble starts when an event or a person goes oblique on us. Ours is but to reason why, but we can’t. We are terrified of introspective “what-iffing” because the only way we are capable of getting to the underside of things is marketing T-shirts stamped “Sh** Happens.”