What is an American?

Ever since S asked me whether I was thankful to be an American, I've been trying to figure out what that means.

I still don't know. But it's fun to probe.

Like most cultural classifications, being an American seems to be a vague property. That makes it unlike being an American citizen, which is pretty cut and dried. I mean, supposing Charo has citizenship by now, whatever she doesn't have is what being an American is in the sense I mean it.

One thing that has nothing to do with being an American is race. It's not like that in Berlin, where it seems to me that national identity is thought of as more than just a matter of culture, language and citizenship. All black people are African. People with Turkish parents are Turkish, even if they've spent their whole lives in Berlin.

Can one become an American by choice, or is it just something that happens to one?
I think the answer is yes, but if so it's a matter of acquiring a second nature, not just doing or saying a certain thing. One cannot just become an American, but one may make choices that lead one to become an American.

Can one stop being an American? If so, can one do so by choice?
I don't think so. Or, at least, once one is an American it would be very hard to stop being one. John Walker Lindh, for example, was and is an American.

Is it easier for some people to become American?
Yes. Canadians, for example.

Is it harder for some people to become Americans?
Yes. Canadians, for example.

What's the fastest way to seem like an American?
Use the word 'ain't'.

More on this theme later.