Something went wrong in Europe, something we Americans don't really understand because we had safeguards in place that protected us from it.
We, collectively, left Europe and European philosophy behind sometime in the 1600s. We got stuck on Locke and we never really picked up a philosophy book since then. We figured Locke was pretty much all we needed to navigate this modern world, and for the most part, we were right.
Europeans abandoned Locke. No, I don't think they ever understood him nor what it was he was trying to say. They went on and pursued absolute monarchy for a while, then got scared when Napoleon showed up, the literal embodiment of all they were asking for. So they threw him down and embraced "democracy" whatever that is. From then on it was a race to the bottom, with Germany taking last place when they rediscovered some very important ideas (and were blamed as the Great Satan for it.) Now Europe is wallowing in its own mire. It's funny because we see their problem, see the solution, and wonder why they aren't fixing it themselves.
Here in the US, we lived a different sort of life. The vast majority of us didn't have time for philosophy. We were too busy trying to survive against nature. We persevered and we conquered, over and over again, sometimes twice in a single day.
We read Nietzsche and we didn't understand what the big deal was. The guy makes a whole lot of sense, but it's like even he is missing some of the picture, probably because he never had to actually fight and win. I think that's the problem with the rest of the world, they don't know how to win. They don't understand it theoretically nor in practice.
We Americans defeated nature in brutal one-on-one combat. We defeated the natives. We defeated diseases and famine and pretty much everything else. And having won those battles, eventually we get to a point in our lives when we look up and question "What next?" After having fought so many dragons and having won, we wonder where the next dragons are, and how we are going to prepare our children and grandchildren to fight them.
To us, science and technology is a means to an end. We don't pursue science and knowledge for science and knowledge's sake. What's the point of that? No, we want better plows and stronger shovels. We want to see an increase in profit margins and better working conditions. If it can't give us that, then it's a waste of time.
What about religion? Our religion is immensely practical. The question we ask ourselves every day is what point religion has if it can't help us get our daily bread or help us deal with life's morbid end. Preachers can preach all they want, and for the most part, we ignore them. At the end of the day we turn our churches into soup kitchens and we show up with shovels and gloves ready to help old Mrs. Smith with her yardwork.
What about government? As long as government stays out of our way, we stay out of its way. Let all the lunatics and psychopaths spend their time talking about how to redistrict and whether to spend another million dollars on the roads or sidewalks. We just want our taxes to be low and we want to be left alone.
The Enlightenment ended for us almost when it began. The whole question of "liberal" or "conservative" doesn't even make sense to us -- we got the terms backwards, after all. Mao once said that government comes from the barrel of the gun, and we smile and nod and show people our gun that government comes out of.
If you are going to become American, you need to acknowledge these facts. No one is coming to save you. In the end you are going to die no matter what you do. You might as well try to do a little good before that day comes. The Savior of mankind told us to get up, dust ourselves off, and keep on going until the end. Whatever prize is to be won is not something we can win anyways. You are the salvation until then.
So get back to work and stop complaining. No one cares.
