Because no culture has conflated knee-jerk defiance with heroic independence and tenacity quite like America has, from John Wayne to Marlon Brando to James Dean to Elvis to Fonzie. We’ve metabolized decades of stories in which the day must always be saved by a renegade who exists above the law. The heroes of our dramas, movies, reality TV—and now our celebrities and political leaders—share a lack of respect for traditional limits guiding their behavior. Rules are there merely to be broken.
