THE MYTH OF AMERICAN CHILL: FROM COOL-HEADED FREEDOM TO AUTHORITARIAN ICE—AND BACK

Brant von Goble

Abstract


The American ideal of “chill,” once a myth of resilience, tolerance, and laid-back freedom, has been hollowed out by the combined forces of hyper-agency, punitive chivalry, and rising authoritarianism. Through cultural myths, legal frameworks, and media narratives, agency has been distorted into isolation, chill into coldness, and strength into domination. Drawing on examples from pop culture, legal policy, and tragic real-world failures—from family courts to drill rap to school shootings—this paper traces how the American dream of effortless cool was weaponized against the citizenry, men in particular. Yet even amid decay, hope remains. By recovering the relational roots of chill, tempering agency with compassion, and restoring principled skepticism toward power, a quieter, freer path can still be reclaimed. The foundational myth that once sustained America has led her astray, but it can be remade, and with it, a better destiny reclaimed.

 

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Keywords


American myth, authoritarianism, chivalric masculinity, isolation and community, pop culture narratives

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejsss.v11i1.1940

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