Throw in democracy and you see how the combination of resources, not to mention long coasts on two oceans and non-threatening neighbors to the north and south, attracts the best human capital in the world.
Underneath it all, democracy makes the difference. We are exceptional, but without democracy we wouldn’t be, and if we cease to be exceptional it will be the loss of democracy that causes it.
There are valid measures that indeed show the U.S.A. to be “exceptional” in many ways. Reciting a litany of superlatives is pointless; it is more interesting to try to understand what made the U.S. exceptional.
For over a century the U.S. had almost unlimited land into which to expand. (The need to massacre or relocate the Indians was a hindrance but let’s set that aside.) Some of this land was blessed with rich natural resources: the U.S. had among the very best exploitable coal, iron, and petroleum deposits in the world. The huge expanse of cropland also helps the U.S. succeed. And the huge size provides geographical isolation — it was very convenient not to be within range of the Luftwaffe’s bombers!
If one wants to be impressed with a people’s greatness, rather than lucky geography, I think the Netherlands a few centuries ago is a more interesting case to consider — despite their small size they were a major sea power, and had numerous notable inventors, etc. (Some Italian duchies and Great Britain could also be singled out as impressively exceptional in the past.)
America’s diversity and its Statue of Liberty’s “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” is also a big part of America’s greatness. A list of America’s top billionaires is rife with immigrants: John Jacob Astor was born in Germany, Andrew Carnegie was born in Scotland, Stephen Girard was born in France, Alexander T. Stewart was born in Ireland, etc. This continues to the present with Google’s Brin born in Russia and — dare I say it? — Drumpf’s grandfather born in Germany.
And the U.S. is not held back by humility.
It’s true that the U.S. has been great for innovation and industrialization, but this quote reminds us that some treat the events of 1776 magically rather than realistically. What is the basis for the quoted claim? There were some impressive U.S. inventions in the 1830’s — Samuel Colt’s revolver to mention just one 
— but why does Derek start 60 years earlier?
Just for fun, I found a webpage which lists the “Greatest Inventions.” It lists 21 inventions between 1785 and 1830; only three of them were from the U.S.
American exceptionalism is a patriotically correct buzzword that all politicians are obligated to pay lip service to. We just happened to sit on a resource rich continent and came into being at the start of the Industrial Revolution. Success wasn’t a matter of moral superiority, it was a matter of blind luck. Now the US has a huge military industrial complex but cannot defeat ideologues with box cutters or small weaponry. We have the finest post secondary education institutions in the world but they’re inaccessible to most without taking on crippling debt. We give lip service to liberty and justice for all but our police don’t hesitate to empty their weapons into someone because of their skin color. If this is exceptionalism, we should strive to be ordinary.
How do our faults measure up compared to other countries? Our exceptional includes, almost necessitates exceptional failure as well as success, yet we survive, we endure, and we carry the rest of the world forward. Of course it is frustrating to deal with the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but ordinariness is our enemy, it is the worst thing happening to us now, the apathy that makes mediocrity an attractive feature of our leaders, risk aversion, timidity, fear of the unknown, all of this is another challenge we face. But we are the incubator of exceptionalism, we nourish progress and innovation, and despite the selfish nature of humans freedom allows our spirit to prevail. You can move to some ordinary country if you like, I’ve been plenty fed up with my fellow citizens plenty of times, but I still prefer to ride the roller coaster over the merry-go-round.
I suppose we’re better than most but not as good as some. What the current wave of hyper-patriotism and soldier worship seems to have done is make too many people think that the nation can do no wrong and has no faults. If the US does it, it must be right in their eyes. So we tolerate torture, insane rates of incarceration, outrageously expensive education and health care out of some morbid fear that if we change anything we won’t be exceptional anymore.
Awww, you keep telling yourself that, baby :o
I tend to fall in with the “exceptionally wealthy/fortunate” crowd. I suggest 240+ years may be too brief to adjudge our form of government a complete success, or model for others to emulate. Don’t need to remind blacks and women that we have NOT been a fully participatory democracy for all that time. Some construe certain current measures as attempting to limit participation by some.
As much as I abhor the idea of Trump as president, it would be curious to see what effect his election might have on our political and social institutions.
Sure, we’re exceptionally powerful and wealthy. I don’t think that makes us the greatest nation ever nor do I think that gives us any exceptional moral authority. “America will free the world from Islamism” is an odious statement and is an example of one of America’s worst qualities - its intolerance of other value systems.
We stepped up in WWI and WWII, but our military interventionism since then has a spotty record at best and has arguably made the world a worse and more dangerous place. We have a history of discovery and innovation, but we are falling behind the rest of the developed world in the quality of the education we provide our citizens – look at how many people reject scientific facts when it contradicts their faith or politics.
For a country that hasn’t fought a war on its own soil in over 150 years we are one of the most violent and gun-soaked cultures in the world, and a vocal segment of the population believe that the solution is to have people carry more guns around. So that’s exceptional, in a way - but not in a good way.
They’d only become classier of course.
The pitfall, the trap, lies in forgetting that “exceptional” DOES NOT EQUAL “superior”.
And in getting to believe “exeptional” means that therefore you are excepted from what applies to everyone else. As mentioned before, an Olympic Gold Medalist can die at 28 from cancer. Or end up living in poverty through bad business decisions. Same with nations.
To me, the only metric that is truly matters is “how happy/content are the people.” In an impermanent world, all the rest of it is arbitrarily defined fluff.
America ranks 13th in a recent report. So we’re good, but we’re not all that.
This being July 1st, I think we need to acknowledge the simple truth that it’s: Canada Uber Alles, eh!
**Q: ** How do you tell a conservative apart from a liberal?
**A: ** A conservative exaggerates America’s strengths; a liberal exaggerates America’s flaws.
I’m not following you here. What people? And what do they want to change that will make us “just like other nations?” Trump wants to make some changes, but not any that would make us “lust like other nations.” I don’t think Universal Health Care would ruin how exceptional we are. What are you getting at here?
Doesn’t every nation think itself “exceptional”? Aren’t they all, in some way or another?
We’re the biggest, baddest bloke on the block, for sure, but that’s temporary. Other nations were that before us, and still others will be that in the future instead of us. And to think we will lose that place if we change is nonsense. If anything, we will lose that place if we fail to change in the right ways that are needed to deal with a changing world.
Thank you.
I’d try to find one that doesn’t, but that would just prove it’s exceptional.
clap
The other western democracies also once limited rights for women and minority members once. Does that mean that there were no democracies in the world until the 20th century, or that societies evolve, and YES, things are relative sometimes.
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Now the US has a huge military industrial complex but cannot defeat ideologues with box cutters or small weaponry. We have the finest post secondary education institutions in the world but they’re inaccessible to most without taking on crippling debt. We give lip service to liberty and justice for all but our police don’t hesitate to empty their weapons into someone because of their skin color. If this is exceptionalism,
[/QUOTE]
Who else has defeated Radical Islam yet, or who else has the ability to do so? Also, sure, universities are expensive in the US, but we also don’t have a monster tax on everything like in Europe. In Europe, the same automobile costs twice as much to buy, even on the low end, ditto most other goods, like iPhones (1.5x as much), etc. Do we have racism here? Yes, but what society doesn’t? Europe is no bastion of racial liberalism; if they had blacks in their countries, it would be far worse. How come they have to enact laws and have movements against racist chants at soccer matches? Oh yea, they oppressed blacks in Africa, not in their own countries.
Is America perfect? No its not; and its OK to mention things that can and should be fixed. But we ARE comparatively better than Europe, forever thru the ages, even in perspective of the full picture, not simply the “grass is greener” approach.
For certain definitions of “better”. :rolleyes: