I'm an American. Who am I?

When a child is born it is free. According to Sigmund Freud they are in what he referred to as being in an Id state, in which their primal urges rules. They have not been socialized yet. Yet very quickly the child learns their existence depends on the mother, so behavior develops to get needs met. The child starts to develop an Ego, which according to Freud is the social aspect, to communicate in such a way that it surpasses some of they Id urges, again in order to survive. Once the child gets these needs met by the mother, it is time to branch out to others, where it be a father, sibling, friends, employers and the world. The child's identity now develops, according to Freud, a SuperEgo. Who am I? What are my morals and values? What is my status in the world? And of course if any of these needs are not met at any of these critical points in development it effects the child's self-esteem. 

Now, what if I told you America was once a child born July 4th 1776. And the growth of our country has evolved in the same way, trying to get it's need met, but by who? Who was our mother? England? We had not mother. (Perhaps the statue of Liberty has more significance than we realize.) So how do we survive? We become pioneers. We invent. We create. We work hard. And in that we create our own identity. But while the center of our American ideology revolves a maverick, free spirit, a risk taker...some American's are afraid. They feel abandoned by the mother, and frankly emotionally freaked out! They then are ruled by the "Uncertainly Principle", where patriarchy, or the father come in to save the day! (It is no wonder American's love superheroes!) This patriarchal influence brings with it some very interesting American ideology: bravery, competitiveness, capitalism, detachment, existentialism and superficiality. Suddenly, America, the child has someone to look up to, some guidance and someone to trust, e.g., Mr. President or in God we trust. Yet we have to survive, so due to the lack of trust in out mother and the absence nurturing these qualities need to be adapted into out identity to survive. Or do they? What if we were raised by a loving mother, and this patriarchal ideology conflicts with our own, perhaps more humanistic point of view? And then what about the Id, which wants to kill the father, and marry the mother, according to Freud's interpretation in the Oedipus Complex.  How can America have it's own identity, when it's own identity conflicts with reality, survival and itself? It is no wonder that American's question their own identity. 

In the 50's the American dream was to live in the suburbs, own a house, have a wife and 2 kids, and drive a shiny new car. This was the idea of success and both men and women wanted this. But the reality of this dream turned out to be dismal: bank debts, owing money, heavy drinking, smoking addiction  and suicide. Desperation replaced the depression and daily life turned into a rat race. Making more money seemed to be the only answer, so capitalism created a way out of the hole. The problem is a patriarchal cycle, can never replace the need of a mother. American's will always remain discontent, needy and unfulfilled, unless they realize they can become the pioneer mother and nurture themselves.