American Exceptionalism?

[Mr. Shaman]

It's pretty hard to reconcile claims of American exceptionalism when the top debates of our nation are

1. how to get out of a mountain of debt

2. how to get out of untenable entanglements in the Middle East

3. how to get off our dependence on foreign oil

4. how to figure out how to sell more to the rest of the world than they sell to us

5. how to fix one of the most expensive (aka overpriced) healthcare systems in the world

6. and for good measure, how devalue our educational system, and our educators, even more.

...for starters...

Don't forget about.....

7. Our system-of-Justice.

 

[NYcarbineer]

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

 

[spectrumc01]

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

absolutely, couldn't have said it better myself.

 

[NYcarbineer]

I rarely engage in the futility of posting reading suggestions,

but this one is brilliant, and on-point:

Manifest Destiny

Excerpt:

"The conceit that we have a special mission from God to remake the world in our image is called American exceptionalism, but there is nothing exceptional about it.

The Babylonians, Assyrians, Medeans, Persians, Egyptians, Israelites and Romans all espoused foundation myths designating themselves the "chosen people" of God.

Scottish economist C.H. Douglas wrote in 1943 that the chosen-race myth "is the key myth of history… in it, we can find an almost complete explanation of the world’s insanity."

 

[Polk]

The fact that our free enterprise system has allowed us to be responsible for every major advancement in technology in the last 50yrs might make the world think we are exceptional. Where would the world be without the internet. computers, windows operating system, microwaves, and all the other advancements that came form allowing people to profit from their developments. Capitalism makes us exceptional.

You realize the first computer was invented by a Brit (Charles Babbage)?

And there are tons of other important advances that we not made in America. The car, the contact lens, and the x-ray are all German inventions. Antibiotics were discovered in the UK. The compact disc was invented in Japan.

 

[Polk]

How many countries have people risking death by either exposure in a desert or exposer in the sea, just to get here?

Make it easier. How many have people risking death of any kind to get in?

That's not as intelligent of a response as you think it is. How many other wealthy nations share a long border with a very poor nation? I can't think of single one.

 

[Polk]

It sounds alot like that "Master Race" crap Hitler was selling back in the '30s.

LOL what ever. It means because of our opportunities created by our system we are exceptional. It has nothing to do with Race.

Grow the hell up.

But does our system create opportunity? They are the kinds of vital questions that are often overlooked in these sorts of debates.

 

[Polk]

America has really made incredible contributions to science and the arts that have benefitted the whole world. Doesn't that count for something?

So have a lot of other countries.

 

[Polk]

The thing that I find really interesting about these sorts of arguments is that they rest of the idea that to love your home, there needs to be something special about it. Is there any other area of life where we precondition our love to the notion of exceptionalness?

 

[spectrumc01]

The thing that I find really interesting about these sorts of arguments is that they rest of the idea that to love your home, there needs to be something special about it. Is there any other area of life where we precondition our love to the notion of exceptionalness?

I believe that it all has to do with the personal opinion of ones self as to weather it is exceptional. If you have high self esteem than everything about you is exceptional, i.e. your home, school, neighborhhod, church etc. If you have low self esteem than the opposite is true you aren't satisfied with anything in your life. I don't believe all people are capable of putting themselves in another persons shoes, and viewing things from anothers perspective. Therefore people can't see what is exceptional about others.