I have been assigned a fiendishly large topic. How do you deal with so vast a subject? Perhaps I should change the topic. Indeed, I shall - not by eliminating it, but by using my legal skills to turn it into something that is more digestible and coherent.

It is, of course, impossible, in talking about a sprawling country like the United States, to touch on every divisive issue that arises in its popular culture. Instead, I want to identify a single fault line that will allow us to see and understand some of the perennial splits in American society. To put this in the context of Paul Johnson's reference to the problem-solving nature of Americans, I will talk not about the way in which the United States has solved its past problems, but rather about a set of problems it faces today - problems that in many ways have had Americans growing further apart rather than coming closer together.

Tradition and liberty

As a way of approaching this large theme, I want to back off to address a strong theme in America political thought, which has shown a deep attachment and respect to our 'traditional liberties'. Rather than praise this sensible and sonorous notion, I want to address the implicit tension that resides within it. No matter how hard we tug and pull, the twin concepts 'tradition' and 'liberty' do not work in harmony in all areas of social life. Indeed, at some points they are profoundly opposed, and it is that opposition between them - where the forces of tradition and liberty collide in strange fashions - that is the source of so much political tension in the United States today.