On American Exceptionalism

[Kondor3]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zqOYBabXmA&feature=kp

Great video...

Labeled as "The most honest three minutes in television history", in a couple of similar YouTube postings...

And a wake-up call for anybody that takes this American Exceptionalism business TOO seriously...

--------------------

But America is, indeed, exceptional, in a great many postive ways, historically, and at present, and as far into the future as one can foresee...

America is rooted in revolution and egalitarianism and self-reliance, and those roots and their attendant traditions and political philosophy are what facilitate or enable and sustain that Exceptionalism...

We sometimes stray - sometimes, quite far, and for long periods of time, from those roots, but, so far, we've always managed to find the Reset Button and to apply the necessary Patches and Updates to our society, as these manifest and unfold...

I also find it highly encouraging that we have both the courage and the desire to examine ourselves from time to time in a political and cultural context, and to criticize ourselves (including the marvelous wake-up-call -caliber critique we see in that video clip), and to work to fix what's wrong...

Because we are less 'collective-ized' and less regimented than some of our peer societies and cultures around the planet, we tend to be less forward-looking and more knee-jerk reactive than some, but there is also much to be said for Living-in-the-Now, rather than always Looking-to-the-Future, and yet, we do the latter well enough, in most respects, to give a good account of ourselves in that area of human planning and endeavor, as well, without making ourselves slaves to the future... that, too, is 'exceptional', and does us credit.

There are a number of things on the macro-level, in our interactions with the rest of the world, that we should probably not be doing, or doing differently, and we, too, can be selfish, or stupid, or savage, just like any other people on the face of the planet, but that is far from the truth about us overall, or in the main, despite what foreigners and despite what the self-denigrating, self-flagellating hair-shirt types amongst us would have us believe.

One of the inconvenient things about being Top Dog is that all the poodles and ankle-biters and yip-yip dogs keep snarling and snapping at your heels, and pissing and moaning and whining about how bad you are, because they can never be Top Dog themselves, or because they want to be, or because they once were, and have run out of steam, and now evince a faux superiority that would disintegrate in a millisecond if they ever got the chance to play Top Dog again themselves.

Americans are, indeed, an exceptional people, and mostly that in a positive sense.

No sense pretending otherwise... when you're good, you know it, and, so long as you don't get too cocky or obnoxious about it, there isn't anything wrong with that, either.

 

[PaintMyHouse]

4. Because America is an idea, isn't it?

Yes, it is. A Liberal Idea. Carry on...

 

[Erand7899]

It always makes me smile when conservatards use the phrase "American exceptionalism" as if it were something positive.

The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one. Their strictly Puritanical origin — their exclusively commercial habits — even the country they inhabit, which seems to divert their minds from the pursuit of science, literature, and the arts — the proximity of Europe, which allows them to neglect these pursuits without relapsing into barbarism — a thousand special causes, of which I have only been able to point out the most important — have singularly concurred to fix the mind of the American upon purely practical objects. His passions, his wants, his education, and everything about him seem to unite in drawing the native of the United States earthward: his religion alone bids him turn, from time to time, a transient and distracted glance to heaven. Let us cease then to view all democratic nations under the mask of the American people, and let us attempt to survey them at length with their own proper features.

In short, America is exceptional because:

1. Americans are religious extremist zealots.

2. Americans are greedy, commercialized sell-outs.

3. Americans are inherently repulsed by civilized topics such as science, literature, and the arts.

4. Americans are only saved from becoming complete savages due to other countries developing our own culture for us.

5. Americans are only concerned with materialism and the petty struggles of day-to-day life, with no concern for anything greater.

De Tocqueville's Democracy in America coined the phrase "American exceptionalism" as an insult to the greedy, uneducated, crony capitalist, right-wing nutjobs that ran the country back in his time and continue to do so today. EVERY time you use this phrase, conservatards, the left joins the rest of the world in laughing at your complete lack of understanding of the buzzwords you cling to.

And by the way:

God bless Bono.

God bless America.

God doesn't exist. Deal with it.

Life must have really tossed you a turd. Your obvious hatred for all things American is so deep, that you either live somewhere else, or you should live somewhere else.

American exceptionalism is based on one simple recognition. Individuals, working in their own self interest, will always produce more in all areas than any other system. And, when individuals produce more, the entire society benefits, and an otherwise average nation becomes an economic super power.

That is why an immigrant who arrived here with $0.50 in his pocket could become a millionaire in his lifetime. That is why no one is tied to the conditions of his/her birth, and can rise through his/her own efforts, industry, intelligence, and talents to establish a new life parameter for themselves and their children.

Liberal/Socialists don't like individual anything, because that would mean they are responsible for their own failure to thrive. They regard working in one's own self interest to be greed. They desire the collective, where they can hide their personal lack of endeavor in the crowd, while taking their needs from the hard work of others. They fail to understand that their needs are being met by individuals who are still working in their own self interest, but struggling to also provide for the under producers.

 

[occupied]

The "American exceptionalism" that many find so distasteful is the conservative attitude that people in other countries deserve somewhat less honesty and decency when dealing with our government or corporations than we would ever accept for ourselves and then thinking other peoples hate us for our freedoms. People hate us because American power is all too often duplicitous, reckless and greedy.

Another post from an inhabitant of the Liberal echo-chamber.

As Bono says....that's not how the world sees American exceptionalism.



In “Escaping Submission,” Egyptian-born Nonie Darwish writes:

“I now belong to the greatest and most moral country that ever existed on the earth. The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights [practiced in] this graceful country allowed me to practice any religion or no religion and gave me human rights I could only [have] dreamed of under Islam. I am lucky and more than lucky, I am saved. I was never discriminated against even after 9/11.”


God bless America.

I don't care what Bono thinks about anything. American power, politically, economically or militarily, has not been projected outside our borders in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades.

 

[PoliticalChic]

The "American exceptionalism" that many find so distasteful is the conservative attitude that people in other countries deserve somewhat less honesty and decency when dealing with our government or corporations than we would ever accept for ourselves and then thinking other peoples hate us for our freedoms. People hate us because American power is all too often duplicitous, reckless and greedy.

Another post from an inhabitant of the Liberal echo-chamber.

As Bono says....that's not how the world sees American exceptionalism.



In “Escaping Submission,” Egyptian-born Nonie Darwish writes:

“I now belong to the greatest and most moral country that ever existed on the earth. The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights [practiced in] this graceful country allowed me to practice any religion or no religion and gave me human rights I could only [have] dreamed of under Islam. I am lucky and more than lucky, I am saved. I was never discriminated against even after 9/11.”


God bless America.

I don't care what Bono thinks about anything. American power, politically, economically or militarily, has not been projected outside our borders in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades.

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

 

[NYcarbineer]

American exceptionalism, conservative style, is just an expensive delusion of grandeur.

(with apologies to the paleo minority on the right)

 

[PoliticalChic]

American exceptionalism, conservative style, is just an expensive delusion of grandeur.

(with apologies to the paleo minority on the right)

"...conservative style, is just an expensive delusion of grandeur."

Expensive.....

Interesting that you use that term in the pejorative.....

...revealing in that Liberals are well known to fall well behind in charitable donations.






Now, real Americans, conservatives....

"Last year Americans gave $300 billion to charity. To put this into perspective, that is almost twice what we spent on consumer electronics equipment—equipment including cell phones, iPods and DVD players. Americans gave three times as much to charity last year as we spent on gambling and ten times as much as we spent on professional sports. America is by far the most charitable country in the world.

There is no other country that comes close.
https://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis/archive/issue.asp?year=2010&month=01





There is no other country that comes close.

ex·cep·tion·al (k-spsh-nl)
adj.
1. Being an exception; uncommon.
2. Well above average; extraordinary: an exceptional memory. See Usage Note at exceptionable.
3. Deviating widely from a norm,
exceptional - definition of exceptional by The Free Dictionary



I am always amused at how frequently I am forced to teach you the English language.

 

[occupied]

Another post from an inhabitant of the Liberal echo-chamber.

As Bono says....that's not how the world sees American exceptionalism.



In “Escaping Submission,” Egyptian-born Nonie Darwish writes:

“I now belong to the greatest and most moral country that ever existed on the earth. The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights [practiced in] this graceful country allowed me to practice any religion or no religion and gave me human rights I could only [have] dreamed of under Islam. I am lucky and more than lucky, I am saved. I was never discriminated against even after 9/11.”


God bless America.

I don't care what Bono thinks about anything. American power, politically, economically or militarily, has not been projected outside our borders in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades.

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

 

[Peach]

I don't care what Bono thinks about anything. American power, politically, economically or militarily, has not been projected outside our borders in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades.

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

Yes, and strive to maintain ever greater goals, not rest on past accomplishments.

 

[Moonglow]

Americans are better than any other civilization that ever existed before???HA! Just another collective of humans that think the rape, pillage, murder and subjugation is a God given right..

 

[PoliticalChic]

I don't care what Bono thinks about anything. American power, politically, economically or militarily, has not been projected outside our borders in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades.

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

Painting yourself as 'a good parent' looking at his child?


I'm certain any child would grow up secure and loved with a parent who claimed "has not [behaved] in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades."


No, you have revealed yourself to be simply a boilerplate America hater.


And a government school grad....true?

 

[occupied]

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

Yes, and strive to maintain ever greater goals, not rest on past accomplishments.

Good point, It's why we have continued to fall behind in so many areas and pretty much screwed everyone 30 and younger out of a decent future. The fruit of our past international meddling and knuckling under to narrow corporate interests is bitter indeed.

 

[occupied]

I'm certain there must be some other country that is one idiot short.....

....drop a card when you get set up.

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

Painting yourself as 'a good parent' looking at his child?


I'm certain any child would grow up secure and loved with a parent who claimed "has not [behaved] in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades."


No, you have revealed yourself to be simply a boilerplate America hater.


And a government school grad....true?

Conservatives hate the government and most of the people who live here, how can you lecture me on love of country? You can't, conservatives only love the patriotic/militaristic image they have of America and not the actual country.

 

[itfitzme]

I was never much of a U-2 fan, nor really paid much attention to the pronouncements of Bono......

...but in his speech at Georgetown University, he said some things that got right to my heart.....and on America's birthday, July 4th, they should be shared.





1. "[Here he was speaking of helping others].... the power of technology, is the leverage they give us…If we're willing to use it. And I think we are. I know we are, I know you are.

2. Anyways, it's not a right-left issue, it's a right-wrong issue. And America's consistently been on the side of what's right.





3. Because when it comes down to it, this is about keeping faith with the idea of America.

4. Because America is an idea, isn't it? I mean, Ireland's a great country, but it's not an idea. Great Britain's a great country, but it's not an idea.

5. That's how we see you around the world… as one of the greatest ideas in human history. Right up there with the Renaissance... right up there with crop rotation… The Beatles' White Album...

6. That idea, the America idea, it's an idea. The idea is that you and me are created equal…





7. It will ensure that an economic recession need not become an equality recession. The idea that life is not meant to be endured, but enjoyed. The idea that if we have dignity… if we have justice… then leave it to us, we can do the rest.





8. This country was the first to claw its way out of darkness and put that on paper. And God love you for it. Because these aren't just American ideas anymore. There's no copyright on them.
You've brought them into the world. It's a wide world now.



9. I know Americans say they have a bit of the world in them. And you do. The family tree has a lot of branches. But the thing is… the world has a bit of America in it, too. These truths… your truths… they are self-evident in us.

So those people I've been talking about today… the poor… they're not those people. They're not "them." They're "us." They're you. They may be separated from us by oceans and circumstance. But they dream as you dream. They value what you value.
There is no them, only us…





10.That American anthem is not exceptionalism… it's universalism. There is no them, only us.
Ubuntu: I am because we are… There is no them, only us."
Bono turns up the volume for social enterprise | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional




God bless Bono.

God bless America.

Uh, he wasn't talking about you.

 

[Kondor3]

Oh, dearie me...

So many America-haters coming out of the woodwork...

It's one thing to be arrogant, and believe that we're superior to everyone else...

It's another to put on the self-deprecating, self-denigrating, self-flagellating hair shirt, and rant-on about how bad we are...

Flip sides of the same coin, by the look of it...

As with most things, The Truth lies somewhere in the middle...

And, as a nation, we do pretty damned well, for ourselves and others...

I'm glad that I live here, and I'm glad to be an American...

 

[NoTeaPartyPleez]

I was never much of a U-2 fan, nor really paid much attention to the pronouncements of Bono......

...but in his speech at Georgetown University, he said some things that got right to my heart.....and on America's birthday, July 4th, they should be shared.


................
God bless Bono.

God bless America.

So the Obama "ploy" thread was a disaster and this one is supposed to deflect from it?

 

[PoliticalChic]

I was never much of a U-2 fan, nor really paid much attention to the pronouncements of Bono......

...but in his speech at Georgetown University, he said some things that got right to my heart.....and on America's birthday, July 4th, they should be shared.


................
God bless Bono.

God bless America.

So the Obama "ploy" thread was a disaster and this one is supposed to deflect from it?

I do so appreciate the close and personal attention you apply to my threads.

I'm going to suppose that the reason is because of how deeply they wound you.

You've made my day.

 

[PoliticalChic]

I was never much of a U-2 fan, nor really paid much attention to the pronouncements of Bono......

...but in his speech at Georgetown University, he said some things that got right to my heart.....and on America's birthday, July 4th, they should be shared.





1. "[Here he was speaking of helping others].... the power of technology, is the leverage they give us…If we're willing to use it. And I think we are. I know we are, I know you are.

2. Anyways, it's not a right-left issue, it's a right-wrong issue. And America's consistently been on the side of what's right.





3. Because when it comes down to it, this is about keeping faith with the idea of America.

4. Because America is an idea, isn't it? I mean, Ireland's a great country, but it's not an idea. Great Britain's a great country, but it's not an idea.

5. That's how we see you around the world… as one of the greatest ideas in human history. Right up there with the Renaissance... right up there with crop rotation… The Beatles' White Album...

6. That idea, the America idea, it's an idea. The idea is that you and me are created equal…





7. It will ensure that an economic recession need not become an equality recession. The idea that life is not meant to be endured, but enjoyed. The idea that if we have dignity… if we have justice… then leave it to us, we can do the rest.





8. This country was the first to claw its way out of darkness and put that on paper. And God love you for it. Because these aren't just American ideas anymore. There's no copyright on them.
You've brought them into the world. It's a wide world now.



9. I know Americans say they have a bit of the world in them. And you do. The family tree has a lot of branches. But the thing is… the world has a bit of America in it, too. These truths… your truths… they are self-evident in us.

So those people I've been talking about today… the poor… they're not those people. They're not "them." They're "us." They're you. They may be separated from us by oceans and circumstance. But they dream as you dream. They value what you value.
There is no them, only us…





10.That American anthem is not exceptionalism… it's universalism. There is no them, only us.
Ubuntu: I am because we are… There is no them, only us."
Bono turns up the volume for social enterprise | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional




God bless Bono.

God bless America.

Uh, he wasn't talking about you.

Brilliant.

With your skills, you could get a job as a seeing-eye man for a blind dog.

 

[occupied]

Oh, dearie me...

So many America-haters coming out of the woodwork...

It's one thing to be arrogant, and believe that we're superior to everyone else...

It's another to put on the self-deprecating, self-denigrating, self-flagellating hair shirt, and rant-on about how bad we are...

Flip sides of the same coin, by the look of it...

As with most things, The Truth lies somewhere in the middle...

And, as a nation, we do pretty damned well, for ourselves and others...

I'm glad that I live here, and I'm glad to be an American...

The topic is about American Exceptionalism, a form of blind patriotism that excuses bad behavior by our government and corporations as they deal with our international neighbors. No one doubts that we all love our country in some way but I am tired of dummies using patriotic cliches to shout down pragmatic discussion of our flawed foreign policy.

 

[PoliticalChic]

To use a metaphor: A good parent does not blindly think their kids perfect angels while they run the streets committing petty vandalism and stealing from stores, they see their kid's shortcomings as a reflection of their lapses in their parental duties and take the time to address the bad behavior with appropriate criticism and punishment. Similarly a good citizen does not think their country is always right and good when it is plain that it is not. A good citizen loves their country enough to be critical and demand better.

Painting yourself as 'a good parent' looking at his child?


I'm certain any child would grow up secure and loved with a parent who claimed "has not [behaved] in a way that makes us look like a just and moral country in decades."


No, you have revealed yourself to be simply a boilerplate America hater.


And a government school grad....true?

Conservatives hate the government and most of the people who live here, how can you lecture me on love of country? You can't, conservatives only love the patriotic/militaristic image they have of America and not the actual country.

Notice how I used your own words to identify your breed.

I do so enjoy watching insects like you squirm as you're forced into a corner, and claim the ability to explain what your betters think.