the system is a great external apparatus, an implacable machine...it is a monstrous complex
of myths, of values, of formulae, of slogans, of symbols, and of rites. but it would not do
to think that it is deposited in the head of every american as descartes' god has deposited 
the primary notions in the mind...it is, in fact, outside; it is presented to the citizens; the most skillful propaganda presents it to them ceaselessly but never does more than present it; it is not in them, but they in it; they struggle against it or accept it, they stifle in it or transcend it, they submit to it or reinvent it every time, they give themselves up to it or make furious efforts to evade it; in every way it remains external to them...there is a dread of the american in the face of americanism; there is an ambivalence of dread, as if asking, am i american enough? and, how can i escape americanism?


jean-paul sartre,
"presentation", 
les temps modernes, I