Starting with a discussion of the religious dimension of national purpose in America, this article examines the concept of American civil religion and the emergence of individualism as a fundamental aspect of American identity. It then examines recent history, looking at two social revolutions that America has gone through in recent decades—Woodstock and Wall Street. Following these revolutions, Americans are now more individually confident yet distrustful of institutions than ever before. The result is an imbalance toward self-oriented civic attitudes and away from interdependence in civil society. Using the metaphor of languages, I argue that in order to restore balance and collective responsibility in American society, we need civic education to focus more on the language and practice of social interdependence. Young people need to be educated for civil discourse and collective action more so than they have been in recent decades.