Is the United States Exceptional?
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Is the United States Exceptional?
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Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#2Is this (from a 1992 satirical scifi book) still true?:
> There's only four things we do better than anyone else
music
movies
microcode (software)
high-speed pizza delivery
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#3I agree with the sentiment, but framing your argument by dunking on an Aaron Sorkin avatar is sort of low hanging fruit. I mean that'd be like "destroying Communism" by taking down North Korean state TV. Doesn't mean you're wrong, but nobody worth listening to ever saw these things as more than by-the-numbers propaganda.
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#4This was a good article, and before making a snap judgement and skipping it, you should note that the author means exceptional in the literal sense of being an exception or being different, rather than the colloquial sense of "really good."
I think the conclusion is interesting, so I'm going to paste it here in case you don't want to read the whole article.
> To put it simply then, the United States might be typified by an emphasis on achieving greatness (as traditionally defined) above almost everything else.18 The very bigness is the goal, driving forward towards larger profits, newer technology, more clicks and views, greater military power, more allies19, damn the consequences. That’s not the only thing at the heart of America, but it is one of the things.
> And on those terms it is hard not to conclude that the United States is a success, indeed, it is a country that has succeeded on those terms like no other country has ever succeeded. It has resulted in a country which is not merely exceptional, but exceptionally exceptional – that is, the United States is highly unusual in an unusually high number of ways. And, as I noted at the beginning, it is unusual in fairly obvious ways, evident enough that one has to accomplish some serious mental contortions not to notice what a strange, expansive and powerful country the United States is.
> The interesting question then is not if the United States is a great country but if it will be a good country, if all of that vastness in wealth, technology, influence and power will be put towards some worthy aim, both judged against our ideals20 and against the historical behavior of other great powers.21 It’s a question that only Americans can really answer, in our doing. I strive and hope that we answer well.
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#5This is a common misunderstanding of the meaning of the word 'exceptional'. The origins of the phrase "American exceptionalism" had nothing to do with greatness or thinking one country is better than another. It is exceptional only in that the country was concieved as an exception to the rule of where its power ultimately comes from. The normal foundation for the state was upon a divinely anointed monarchy. America was founded by the people who loan their power to representatives. That power can be revoked at any time by the people. It was a dramatic departure from the expactations of sovereignty at the time.
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#6Newsroom spoilers ahead!
> The diatribe that statement is treated by the visual language of the scene like a truth bomb, which is why it is so odd because Jeff Daniels’ character is not merely wrong, but (as I intend to show) laughably so
The scene in question is literally the first scene in the first episode of the show. Jeff Daniels' character is disillusioned, sold out to advertisers, lacking integrity, and alone. His character arc, over the entire season, is about him getting over the attitude shown in the clip.
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#7This was a good article, and before making a snap judgement and skipping it, you should note that the author means exceptional in the literal sense of being an exception or being different, rather than the colloquial sense of "really good." I think the conclusion is interesting, so I'm going to paste it here in case you don't want to read the whole article. > To put it simply then, the United States might be typified…
> will be put towards some worthy aim
Like self governance?
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#8This is a common misunderstanding of the meaning of the word 'exceptional'. The origins of the phrase "American exceptionalism" had nothing to do with greatness or thinking one country is better than another. It is exceptional only in that the country was concieved as an exception to the rule of where its power ultimately comes from. The normal foundation for the state was upon a divinely anointed monarchy. America w…
While this may be true originally or historically, I don’t think it’s what most people today mean colloquially when they say American Exceptionalism, and I think there’s a large group of people that agree more with the colloquial definition.
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#9This is a common misunderstanding of the meaning of the word 'exceptional'. The origins of the phrase "American exceptionalism" had nothing to do with greatness or thinking one country is better than another. It is exceptional only in that the country was concieved as an exception to the rule of where its power ultimately comes from. The normal foundation for the state was upon a divinely anointed monarchy. America w…
The thing is, the common misunderstanding is one of the core American tenets.
It's one of the core American myths which is directly transmitted through American education, and the vast majority of Americans believe it. Even those that say they don't will recoil when you disprove or contest some key aspects, it's a very ingrained idea.
Everyone wants to be part of an exceptional nation because then there's a chance they're personally exceptional, too :-)
Re: Is the United States Exceptional?
#10There are two ways one may interpret "American exceptionalism".
The first is that, being a rich country and democratically elected, our standards for fair and ethical behavior are higher than others'. We can afford to be generous and to be kind. Our declaration of universal human rights means we stick up for rights not just in our own territory, but for all our human sisters and brothers, extending due process to all, even those under the boot of foreign enemy governments, and aiding movements toward democracy, freedom, and recognition of inherent human rights and dignity.
The other is that, being so fucking rich and powerful, the rules don't apply to us, and we are justified in doing anything, no matter how harmful, anywhere it gets something for companies based here or people holding power here at the moment.
You can guess which way administrations who have promoted "American exceptionalism" jumped. I don't think I need to trot out examples, but it seems notable that Russia copied the verbiage that US published in support of its unsupportable invasion of Iraq when they invaded Ukraine. The US demanding International Criminal Court attention to Russian war crimes, while warning that any attempt at prosecuting well-known American war criminals would evoke military action, is particularly rich.
Arranging for Nobel Peace Prizes to be issued to war criminals is a neat touch.