“America is the original version of modernity. We are the dubbed or subtitled version. America ducks the question of origins; it cultivates no origin or mythical authenticity; it has no past and no founding truth. Having known no primitive accumulation of time, it lives in a perpetual present.”
― Jean Baudrillard
In the mid 1980’s, one of France’s prominent philosophers, Jean Baudrillard, traveled to America to undertake a road trip across the country. He was especially drawn to the vast open spaces of the West (California, deserts, highways), as well as cities like New York and Los Angeles.
Then he wrote a remarkable book on his observations, simply titled America.
He described driving thousands of miles, immersing himself in the landscapes, freeways, deserts, cities, and everyday American life. To Baudrillard, America was neither a dream nor a reality. It was hyperreality— “a utopia which has behaved from the very beginning as though it were already achieved.”
He came to see that America lives in a perpetual present of signs, images, and surfaces (TV, advertising, Hollywood, deserts as blank canvases). It has no deep historical “origin” or authenticity to cling to — it is the simulation.
America, he tells us, has realized the utopian ideals of modernity (wealth, speed, verticality, optimism about quantity and statistics). Its “crisis” is that of maintaining an already-achieved utopia, not struggling toward one.
Baudrillard’s America reads like a poetic travelogue mixed with sharp philosophical observations: driving on endless highways, observing billboards, shopping malls, TV culture, deserts, and the “banality” of American consumer life, which he contrasts with Europe’s heavy historical baggage.
The following extended passage perfectly captures the book’s spirit. I hope you enjoy it.
Admittedly, the irony of community is missing here (in America), as is the playfulness of social life. The charm to be found in social graces and in the theatre of social relations outwards into the advertising of life and lifestyles.
This is a society that is endlessly concerned to vindicate itself, perpetually seeking to justify its own existence.