We will celebrate the 4th of July this weekend with barbecues and fireworks.
But burgers and booms don’t really tell us much about the essence of this national holiday.
Independence Day commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock and 52 others.
It begins with the sentence “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
But the real essence of this holiday is that we had the courage to separate.
In 1765 the Stamp Act and the Townsend Act created serious animosity between the colonies and the British Empire and the colonies were at war by 1775.
Since that time America has grown and prospered and now is the greatest of all world powers. We all have a deep pride in being American with all of our energy and optimism.
Thus all those fireworks.
It may prove edifying to explore some of our British heritage since most of the settlers who came to the American colonies were from England.
This means that a large part of our character on the deepest level is British.
What is the American character, what is the British character and how are we the same?
Let’s take an anthropological excursion to the Americana Manhasset shopping center to compare an American brand versus a British brand and see what we learn.
I am of course referring to the Ralph Lauren store and Burberry’s.
When you gaze at a Ralph Lauren shirt you will see one thing, a guy on a horse playing polo. This implies lots of speed, energy and sportiness. And it’s also about the acquisition of class.
The Declaration of Independence may say ‘all men are created equal’ but Americans seem to be making great efforts to find some class.
Indeed, a polo player represents pure class and polo is referred to as the sport of kings.
When I walk down the promenade at the Americana Manhasset heading east away from Ralph Lauren you soon come upon Burberry’s a penultimate British store.
Burberry is a British luxury brand with headquarters in London. It was established in 1856 as a maker of outerwear and most people immediately associate Burberry with their tartan plaid check on scarves, trench coats and high end handbags.
The tartan print is taken from Scottish clans and symbolizes both authority and gentility.
When you look at these brands face to face you can see that the Polo brand represents youth, energy, movement and risk taking.
What is more risky than riding atop a galloping horse and trying to hit a little ball with a long stick.
This reflects the American spirit even more than the Marlboro man.
The Burberry tartan pattern symbolizes something older, more solid, orderly, authoritarian and upper class.
One can feel a solid British essence of manners and etiquette and refined culture in that pattern.
In the most famous essay on American character, written in 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville suggested Americans were ‘exceptional’ in our down to earth practicality and our energy and our naïve hopefulness. All still true.
But I can’t help but feel that we could use some more of that old-fashioned British etiquette and gentility to soften the edges.
Maybe then we would have less cursing and less anger.
We do well to celebrate the 4th of July with barbecues and with fireworks but it doesn’t hurt to think back to our British roots at this time of year and maybe even emulate some of those British good manners. I bet it would make our daily life better, our business more successful and even help out with our embattled international reputation as well.
I’ll see you soon at Ralph Lauren or Burberry’s.
Take your pick.
