[quote=Halo]
I understand the point you're making, but would also say that those individual actions of generosity only affect one's locale and their community. My point was that Americans seem to take enormous pride in as a whole, yet refuse to contribute to the of American society. Sure, they will help the guy next door, but the guy a couple of towns over, or a couple of states away, can go fuck themselves. And yet the pride lies in all of American society, not just in the locale they're willing to help.I realise that I'm making sweeping generalisations here, and that it is not nearly so black-and-white as I paint it - don't worry, I'm not implying all Americans are inherently selfish individuals. I'm just highlighting this self-contradicting trend I've seen: this enormous, unconquerable pride in the abstract idea of one's country and culture and society (as opposed to simply pride in one's local community), while simultaneously actually opposing even the existence of any cohesive, "American" society which is unified and works together as one thing. How can someone take have such a fervour in their pride in the whole, in "America", yet not really want "America" to exist, desire everything to exist on a local, disconnected, individualistic level? That's the contradiction that confuses me.
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It's a mistaken perception. Everyone's fighting for a different and more personally-relatable notion of community. For the conservative camp, this usually sounds like 'Founding fathers!' and 'Speak English!' and 'Founded on such-and-such principles!' For the liberal camp, it sounds like 'Racism!' and 'Inequality!' and 'Offensive!' 

A lot of us want to see power become less federally-centralized. That's not because we 'oppose the existence of any cohesive society,' we simply reject the notion that a 'cohesive society' must be established by the government. Most of us play football, watch FOX and go to church. All of these are expressions of communal identity.