The ‘American way of life’ is the negation of what the European intellectual means by the word ideology. Americanism does not formulate itself as a system of concepts or propositions; it knows nothing of the ‘collective saviour’, the end of history, the determining cause of historical ‘becoming’, or the dogmatic negation of religion; it combines respect for the constitution, homage for individual initiative, a humanitarianism inspired by strong but vague beliefs which are fairly indifferent to the rivalries between the Churches (only Catholic ‘totalitarianism’ is considered disquieting), the
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