Why You Should Read, “America”
Making Sense of a Rambling Allen Ginsburg
The First World.
A land of riches; one with an awe-inspiring Dream.
Freedom. Liberty. Opportunity.
Economic sanctions. Border patrols.
Plagued by Big Macs and obesity.
Destroyer of rainforests, cultures, and countless lives.
A military power with enough bombs to kill us all hundreds of times over.
Most just call it “America,” as Allen Ginsberg did in 1959 in his poem regarding the titular country. Within, Ginsberg delves into American ideals and ideology in the midst of a Cold War and a War on Drugs, and most of its sentiments persist over fifty years later.
What does it mean to be American? Surely, it must be different than being German, Laotian, or Korean! Right?
We all know that darkness is “the absence of light,” but defining a word like “American” by excluding that which it is not is dangerous. We must consider the origins of a diverse and ever changing population.
The issue that the word “America” faces in finding a real meaning is that it strives to encompass an entire culture. There are “Americans” that run the gamut across political, educational, class, generational, racial, religious, and gender spectra. Finding a word that describes what every American is and is not devolves its meaning to nothing more than just “human.”
If this is the case, what makes “being an American” so special?
Ginsberg wrestles with this concept and others in “America.” He provides a voice to both American fear itself and as a citizen against the country’s numerous blemishes. Through it all, I only see one irrevocable truth in his words: honesty.
Ginsberg is certainly not afraid to point out America’s irrational prejudices and defects. There is a sense of hurt and betrayal conveyed in his words: the repressions of contemporaneous societal and economic systems surely affected Ginsberg personally.
If Ginsberg was only being honest about his emotions in “America,” then why did it resonate in the hearts and minds of an entire subculture, and further, why does it still resonate today?
Ginsberg and the Beat generation spearheaded ideas of change to society with their criticism. The art world, as a reflection on the modern condition, was reinvigorated by his work and the art surrounding other civil movements.
This in turn motivated a change in thought on a scale never before seen: artistic works became symbols that spread the ideas that American “culture” was pre-emptive of alternative ways of living life, and downright oppressive towards specific, marginalized communities.
In essence, the counterculture that Ginsberg helped develop found a foothold into a post-WWII McCarthyist culture of ostracism and conformist pressures, spawning movements such as the Civil Rights Movement, the Gay Liberation Movement, and second wave Feminism.
If you’ve read this far, you would probably agree that this was a good thing.
It occurs to me that I am America.
I am talking to myself again. — Allen Ginsberg
Today, Ginsbergian thought seems to beat as the heart and lifeblood of progressive communities. Many, under a love for the freedom that America espouses to be its highest priority, are bold enough to clamor for change towards inclusivity and a dismantling of oppression.
These outspoken few are heroically raising awareness to the fact that America’s primary threat is not external as some would try to persuade us to believe. As Ginsberg knew in his day and we would be wise to recognize in ours, the real threat is often brought about by the dominant culture itself.
Take current views and statistics on gun laws, for example. For every one American killed by an act of terror in the United States or abroad between 2005 and 2015, more than 3,210 died due to guns (https://qz.com/898207).
Why is it that when it comes to the fears of terrorism and guns, the majority and minority are reversed? Ginsberg would find this more than coincidental.
In fact, Ginsberg would likely say that this problem is merely a symptom of a more deeply rooted cultural problem. We do not self-reflect, as he does in “America.” Media outlets and their headlines aim to terrify us of outsiders, when statistically, we should be more afraid of ourselves.
Perhaps you are one who learns best by doing. A little self reflection can’t hurt.
Think hard about American culture today.
Really. I can wait. Here’s a picture if it helps you focus.
What came to mind first? If it is some aspect of the above image, you may have been focusing on it a bit too much.
Was your initial thought a central tenant of Americanism like mass consumerism or celebrity worship? Was it more contemporaneous, like political divisiveness and inequality? Perhaps it was racism, sexism, classism, or some other divisor of humanity? Ginsberg addressed all of these in “America,” and they all set dangerous precedents for the future.
In a time where the world is being driven towards higher temperatures and ever higher division among its inhabitants, we would do well to deliberate upon Ginsberg’s reflections.
In doing so, perhaps history will repeat itself, a wave of counterculture will arise, and we will once again see unfettered love, equity, and progress win out over their many obstacles.
