# Whence American exceptionalism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 21, 2013, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554 "2013-03-21T18:02:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/41 "2013-03-22T15:25:44Z")
That was a _long_ time ago. Remember, the Britain today is essentially composed of people who were born after the collapse of the Empire. It’s like Greece only minus 2500 years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/42 "2013-03-22T16:10:15Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I often hear politicians and commentators refer to America and Americans as **exceptional**. Do people actually believe that, I don’t think politicians and commentators actually believe that. Anytime you suggest that America implement a policy that has been successfully run in other countries they bitch and moan about how such a policy will be our ruin. Not only are we not better than they are, we can’t even successfully copy something they’ve already done. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/43 "2013-03-22T16:36:05Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I don’t think politicians and commentators actually believe that. > > Anytime you suggest that America implement a policy that has been successfully run in other countries they bitch and moan about how such a policy will be our ruin. Not only are we not better than they are, we can’t even successfully copy something they’ve already done. That goes to the “exceptional as in different” usage. A policy that works perfectly in Sweden, say, might well fail in the United States if Swedes and Americans substantially differ. See also: efforts to impose democracy on peoples with no experience with it. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/44 "2013-03-22T17:29:32Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > I never hear anything negative about Canada. And I’ve spent enough time in Denmark to know that you don’t see homeless people curled up in cardboard boxes on the streets. They are extraordinarily proud of their health care system. No one has insurance because it isn’t needed. The healthcare is free. (That includes maternity hospitals and nursing care for the aged. On worldwide polls, they often rank at the top for “happiness.” Petrol is very expensive compared to ours, but nobody drives gas guzzlers. And if you want to go to the next town, the trains are so connvenient. > They are taxed at about 40%, but everyone gets a month off from her or his job. > > Their form of government is a Constitutional Democracy. They also have the longest consistent monarchy line anywhere. > > Surely I love the United States. But we have a government that is on vacation while some veterans have been waiting almost two years for their benefits. Maybe our Congressional Representatives should bring their lap tops to the Veterans Administration and spend a week there helping out. Or maybe they should go to rehab to see if they can learn to understand that many, many people in Pine Ridge, South Dakota don’t have any way to keep themselves warm in winter. The houses are unheated and uninsulated. I’ve lived in Canada, so I’ve definitely heard people say bad things about that country. But they’re different bad things than what people say about the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/45 "2013-03-22T19:20:36Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > The charitable reading is that he meant that “America left the bullshit of Old Europe behind and just wants to be rich, peaceful, and happy” America left all of Old Europe behind, the treasures with the bullshit. And I think that given the choice, we’d rather be rich than happy. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/46 "2013-03-22T19:26:28Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > America left all of Old Europe behind, the treasures with the bullshit. And I think that given the choice, we’d rather be rich than happy. Speaking as an American, I don’t see any treasures that got left behind. I’m sure Europeans do. Material prosperity [is a major part](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs), though not the only part, of happiness. As Adam Carolla puts it, paraphrased, “Being rich won’t make you happy, but being poor will make you unhappy.” ---
**Author:** ![kneegrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@kneegrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kneegrow)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/47 "2013-03-23T11:34:37Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > And it’s coming to an end. Just like all the others… and the ones most responsible, Republicants and the like are gonna blame others. And god of course. they won’t take any responsibility. oh well. ---
**Author:** ![kneegrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@kneegrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kneegrow)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/48 "2013-03-23T11:42:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Dinsdale: I often hear people talk disparagingly about Canada, or Scandinavia. that’s not people, that Republicants > [@Zoe](#): > > Their form of government is a Constitutional Democracy. did you mean a \*Constitutional Monarchy?? \* > [@](#): > > Or maybe they should go to rehab to see if they can learn to understand that many, many people in Pine Ridge, South Dakota don’t have any way to keep themselves warm in winter. The houses are unheated and uninsulated. wow didn’t know it was that bad any nation is judged by how they care for their weakest, by that standard, America sucks a whole lot. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/49 "2013-03-23T12:48:08Z")
> [@RedFury](#): > > There is really nothing ‘exceptional’ about the US – 'cept what many of its citizens (are made to) believe. > > Then again, it isn’t something new either. Every Alpha nation throughout history felt the same way. It just happens to be the US’s turn. > > And it’s coming to an end. Just like all the others… Who’s next, then? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554/50 "2013-03-23T18:41:53Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > My experience in many is that when they say “you only see this here!” it’s as a complaint, though. Yes and it is often totally baseless, for example “political corruption? Why you only see that in \ not in a wonderland like the USA” to which I’m going oh please.:smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-american-exceptionalism/653554.md?page=2)