The Leftist hate here is revealing, especially its lack of understanding of what American Exceptionalism actually *is*.
Does that phrase mean that America is best at everything and anything? Hardly, which is what Leftists are setting up as a "straw man nation".
So what actually IS American Exceptionalism?
To be succinct, three factors:
First, because it is the freedom for more people to re-invent themselves if they wish, than most (or dare I say just about ALL) other countries. People from other lands move here and do it *all the time*.
In most other countries, as nice as many of them that I have seen are, and in some ways they are even superior in one aspect or another, the citizens there are pretty much *stuck* in the social, economic or even in many cases the local geographic strata in which they were born.
Now does that freedom to reinvent oneself have a downside? You bet it does. You are free to fail. You are free to not eat right and get fat, as the caricature often is made. No nanny state (or much less of one) to tell you how to behave and what to eat. So, behaving and eating properly *is up to you*.
Second, it is truly diverse. But you know, that diversity has a downside too. And isn't it funny how the leftist Eurotrash who like to find fault with the USA can't seem to handle *their* newly found "Diversity" better than the USA can? In fact, they handle it much worse, from Sweden to the Balkans.
And that brings me to the third reason: In the 20th Century and now in the 21st, The USA saved the world first from Fascism, then from Soviet Communism, and now from Jihad. But can it save itself from an Academic, Media and Entertainment "Deep State 5th Column" that has infiltrated it and is undermining it?
And yet, the Euros come here to buy goods all too often. The Euros are taxed up their wazoos in ways Americans would not tolerate (like the "Value Added Tax", stubbornly resisted here). And they have levels of unemployment year in and year out, even in robust economci times, that would trigger massive electoral shifts in the USA.
Since the EU is far more superior, why haven’t you packed your bags and moved? Perhaps the EU is as good as you make it out to be? And GDP is but one metric. Since you find yourself superior enlighten us with more. One metric among gonna cut it.
@Jonnyanalog I keep telling him that. If America sucks, and Europe is so great, please move to Europe. Take those who think like you do too. Good riddance
@Kingofkings1992@Jonnyanalog And what is more is his stupid non-answer to me. He can't even acknowledge what is plain as day about American Exceptionalism as it should be properly understood, and he compares it unfavorably to a "European Union" (sic) that is in reality a confederation, or dare I state it, a Confederacy. (@OddBeMe Leftist head is now word triggered and explodes).
The facts are plain as day. First, when legal immigrants come to America, they all too often reinvent themselves and become entrepreneurs and start careers or businesses that they could not in their stratified Old Countries. I saw this growing up in "Silicon Valley" all the time. In Europe? The "migrants" become "Gastarbeiter" at best, which, while a better life than from where they came, they never quite get to fit into the much more stratified societies over there. And the USA is just about the only country where this happens. (maybe a few other lands like Canada and Australia too, but hey, those countries have much the same origins and settlement history, now don't they?)
But more importantly, when people in other lands are in trouble, do they beg the "European Union" for help? Hardly. They appeal to the USA, and @OddBeMe knows this but cannot admit it.
I used to. I think there was a time when we may not have been great, but we strived to be. I think now every aspect of the government and the market has been compromised and used to spread ideological agendas, create power grabs, control people and enrich the wealthy while the American people waste away and are manipulated into hating each-other.
I actually agree with that. I was so about to ream you…but it makes sense. The 50s were terrible for blacks and women but we passed the GI bill and invested in the national highways which made the middle class.
That is actually how I personally define patriotism versus nationalism. Nationalism seems to want their countries success at the expense of others. Whereas, like you and me, common patriotism is healthy.
Not in quite some time. I haven’t felt like we’ve been “the good guys” in a war since WW2…and turning Hiroshima and Nagasaki into sheets of glass doesn’t exactly fill me with immense national pride, so really just the European theater.
Our country prioritizes prosperity and strength over decency, and that’s just not something I consider to be admirable.
what about helping south vietnam for a decade... until they were conquered and forgotten. and even the bomb that you said and i partly agree truman dnx did worse than poison gas that crime geneva convention, but think of u s. liberating france and italy and more. in a way u. s. liberated even germany from a harsh government.
@strateguy632 well, I mean, I’m not a Communist myself, but I also don’t look at Communism as this terrible evil that has to positively be stopped come hell or high water as some of the world does, it’s just an alternative governmental/societal system. Remember, not everyone in Vietnam was opposed to that system, and just because America doesn’t like Communism and fears it’s spread for whatever reason doesn’t mean that America is correct in that assessment, nor does it mean that it’s America’s place to “help” anybody by inserting ourselves into their country’s affairs. America wasn’t there out of the goodness of our collective hearts, we were there in opposition of a political system that America has for whatever reason decided is a threat to America, direct or indirect. If you think Richard Nixon have a shit about the well-being villagers in funny hats harvesting rice and raising water buffaloes, guess again. We’re not some unwavering force of good combatting evil the world over, we ain’t Superman in this story the way we like to imagine ourselves.
@strateguy632 European theater in WW2 is tough to argue against because obviously Hitler was committing genocide. But if he wasn’t, it’s none of my concern if Europe is Europe as we know it, or if it’s just The German Empire. Not for nothing, there was a mass of land that was once lived upon by smaller groups who would occasionally fight each other, and people came over on boats and decided they were more sophisticated and thusly more deserving of the land, and they just took it over. THEN, THOSE people and/or younger generations of their group decided they wanted to break away from the country that first sent them there, not even because of some maniacal genocide, but they just didn’t like paying taxes without parliamentary representation…. and it’s just like “but…. that’s how a colony usually works, this isn’t new.” I’m not here to say colonial revolutionaries were right or wrong, but like “why is Fidel Castro a villain for what he did, but George Washington is a hero?” And we of course get told these stories through a specific lens in our country, but if someone pulled some George Washington shit in Guam or something, we’d be like “these Polynesian islanders are savages!”, because WE’RE the colonizer in that situation. I don’t know the first thing about life in Guam, it’s probably fine, but I’m just illustrating a hypothetical point of how we always just assume America was right to do anything it does, and I don’t think that’s always objectively the case.
It's American exceptionalism as an idea is due to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Uneducated Americans believe they are above everyone else, but the more you learn the more you realize that the United States is lacking behind other countries in many areas.
Education, transportation, safety and electoral system just to name a few.
The US is the best in the world when it comes to quality of healthcare, but one of the worst with regards to affordability of healthcare.
Now what I don't understand is when people cannot take criticism and say "love it or leave it" then turn around and complain about some other bs that they don't agree with. That's the attitude that doesn't lead to any improvements or impact. Constructive criticism is an essential element of any society and it should be welcomed, not shunned. If you don't agree with a solution, provide a better alternative instead of pretending like a problem doesn't exist in the first place.
@Datboi65 The IS has excellent educations, many come here for the universities which are top notch. The government run public schools have issues depending in where you live. Our public schools where my kids went are rated very highly for about $12,000 a kid vs Baltimore at $21,000 a kid where not one kid in 23 schools is at grade level for reading or math. Thats just the voters tolerating mismanagement, corruption and inefficiency in their schools and we don’t have to look but they are sure to be heavily democrat areas :D
Transportation, you must mean trains because we have excellent roads and interstates. We also have a large number of airports and airlines, very cheap, timely, efficient and with a lot of choices. This squeezes out trains which have a very limited range where they are competitive here.
Safety, I have never been robbed or seen a murder. How about you? We know that is primarily due to drugs and democrat voters shooting each other. Cities that defunded their police and have DA who do not do their job are in trouble. My area is just fine as we have good police, DA and they have the support of the community.
Elector system keeps this country from breaking apart. The Democrats have control of the large cities and they are a mess… especially in regards to safety and education. Now their stores are closing and more food deserts are being created due to basically looting and no consequences.
But you are 21 if that is true, you have been told “America bad”. You guys are weak and the world is going to eat you alive.
@Jersey2 When you resort to ad hominems, you lose the bout. Thank you for proving my point sir.
1) You wanna know what's also important to note about US education? 54% of American adults read below a 6th grade level, and low literary rates end up costing the government $2.2 T USD (Trillion with a T) every year.
2) Transportation sucks. The United States has great infrastructure for roads, but not everyone has money to buy a car and uber is expensive. Most cities are not pedestrian-friendly and forget about metroes because they are terrible and poorly-maintained. If you want to see what great transportation looks like, go to Europe.
3) For a first world nation the United States ranks very high on the crime rate above countries like Pakistan, Ghana and Russia. The US has the highest prison population in the entire world. I can care less about Democrat vs Republican bs, they're both part of the same nation.
4) Which leads me to point 4. Electoral system is garbage. 2 political parties that are very polarizing and extremely divisive, equally stupid and zero to no neutrality. A bunch of radicals hating on other radicals, while everyone else suffers. There's almost no nuance or consideration, it's that "us vs them" mentality. You just tried to pull it off on me, but I'm a centrist and I care less about your dislike for the Democrats.
@Jersey2 Oh and I might be 21, but I've lived in 3 different countries in my short time in this Earth, which has given me a lot of perspective. May be you wanna drop that snobbish attitude and show some, respect old man.
1 Government schools suck especially where it’s heavily Democrat. We produce enough great minds to drive the economy and we import the best in the world when there is a shortage. Burger flippers don’t need that much education.
2 Transportation is amazing. I said trains because I knew Europe was coming up when you said transportation. Big cities have wasted their money trying to build subways, many of which are unfinished or never started. Get on the bus. :D No not everyone can afford cars and it will be fewer with the democrats in charge due to higher gas costs, higher taxes. by the way, I have been to Europe about 70 times and its not all that great. Riding in the snow and slush, waiting for a bus or train in the rain, the cost of a car with the mammoth tax on it and the gasoline… no thanks. Trains suck mostly of you don’t have a waiting car and driver as I did. Cheaper than buying a heavily taxed car and the gas but when you get there you need a car, uber or walk.
3 Take out African American crime which is half the murders etc and the crime rate is normal. They are left to themselves and they run wild with their drug gangs.
4 The polarization is due to the use and continued use of Identity Politics. It deliberately drives a wedge between people. The democrats used this since about 2011 to get Obama re-elected since the economy was so bad. They taught everyone to hate straight white people, especially straight white Christian males. They won’t stop that anytime soon and those that are targeted will band together of course.
@Datboi65 He wasn’t referring to best Education in people, I assume. The US has demonstrably excellent UNIVERSITIES. Leading everyone around the world coming here and the diversity you prob hate.
University education is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. Your lack of awareness of world-affairs, language skills and knowledge of geography is very telling. It's embarrassing when I see videos of other Americans struggling to name their own country map upside-down or not answering very basic questions about their own history, let alone other important events in world history.
Also, I didn't say anything about diversity, you brought that up claiming that I have a problem with it. That's the exact attitude I was talking about. You're just like that other guy @Jersey2 in terms of hostility, but a leftist instead of a conservative. You guys both probably hate each other, but are more similar than you can imagine with how intellectually lazy you are, it's quite fascinating.
@Jersey2 1) I can give less of a damn whether they are Democrats or Republicans. All I'm hearing are excuses. This partisanship is what's ruining the country. Fact of the matter is, there's room for improvement and you know it.
2) You don't need a car if you have great transportation. You can take a tram anywhere (street car) to any part of the city you want, and commercial trains can connect you between cities. It's very cost-effective, convenient and punctual. Compare that with putting a down-payment on a car and paying for insurance and ridiculous gas prices, heavy traffic and all kinds of road rage. I think I will pick trains any day.
3) They are still Americans, it doesn't change the fact. Instead of making more and more excuses, learn how to deal with the problem. American culture is violent and everyone has public mistrust. White people are also capable of extreme violence, and they have done so multiple times. Figure out the problem and fix it, rather than pointing to others like they are not also a part of the country.
4) Identity politics exist everywhere, but that's not an excuse. Case in point White Evangelicals also have a voting pattern that represents their interests as a group of people no different than other ethnicities that vote in their own interests. That's an example of identity politics. There's nothing wrong in diversity of thought or political views, the problem stems when there's a lack of collaboration between these different groups for a greater good. Americans can only get together when there's a major event like WW2 or 9/11, otherwise they all just hate the other side.
Some fair points there. We are being divided though by our politicians and I don’t see that stopping soon. I don’t know what will fix that as we have a new generation that that is all they know.
@Jersey2 The road to solving a problem begins with acknowledging its existence. I applaud you for that.
I believe the cause of this issue becomes clear when you follow the money. American political views are shaped by the media/cable news networks, and those networks are usually funded by wealthy billionaires that have their own agendas. Whether that's CNN propaganda or Fox news propaganda, there's a bigger picture behind it. The goal here is to encourage people to have crtitcal thinking skills and not be like sheep. Blind loyalty to a party never gets you anywhere, that's why you have to think about issues practically and not politically. In order to get things done, you will need momentum and that can only exist through alternative media that reports the truth without any political biases so people can decide for themselves. This will not get the funding of billionaires because they don't like people that think independently, they like sheep. If we can manage to create a large news network that's neutral and truthful in reporting, that's one problem solved. If people are on the same page irrespective of their political ideology, they can collaborate to come up with an effective measure to find a solution for the most pressing issues.
In a way yes. Cause every time there's a global crisis everyone turns to America and asks what they're gonna do about it. They wouldn't do that unless they had an inate notion that America was the best for the job.
America was the only British colony to successfully revolt against the Crown and win. And yes, the frog leg eating Frenchies helped with that.
America fought a war with itself to end slavery.
It wasn't Chamberlin style appeasment that defeated Germany and Japan in WWII, it was American determination and firepower. It was America's lend-lease program that kept Britain, China, Australia, and Russia in the fight and from becoming footnotes in history.
And I just want to remind folks that America desperately tried to stay out of world affairs for most of its existance right up until world affairs violently arrived on American soil.
It was also America that won the Space Race and the Cold War. All while supercharging global commerce and communication.
America has accomplished truly great things and in a fairly short timeframe.
Basically, this era of commerce, communication, and relative peace between the great powers is more or less because of America. I know lots of people will disagree and thats fine. I would point out, however, that every time American suggests washing its hands and letting someone else take over, the Free World begs it not to do that.
Every time tyranny shows its face somewhere in the world America is always number 1 on the world's speed dial to go sort it out.
Sort of. It's rooted in the idea that, no matter who is mad at us for what, some member of that country, religion, or race is living here and can at least in theory speak on our behalf. Our whole nation is crafted around the "I can't be racist because I have a black friend" philosophy while we also try to get that black friend sent back to Mexico or whatever.
Wow…somehow I found an interrelation of your BS I agree with ish. Our constitution was phenomenal. A moment where Americans didn’t put their interests above everyone else’s. It was inspired.
But we’ve been dining out on that for centuries and are now a cesspool of oligarchs who make us believe is actually a cesspool of immigrants when it’s the immigrants who make the economy great not the oligarchs. Lol
On the positive side, this nation is still a place where ordinary people can achieve extraordinary things. We have some of the highest quality of life in the world, more food security than much of the planet, and are the social, economic, military, and cultural powerhouse of the world. Could we be better - absolutely but on the balance we are still the greatest nation on earth.
@AngryCarl2 I will go a middle ground…as India’s theocratic shit stained streets are several rungs below. BUT…we are not far from that, if the US can’t kick this oligarchy.
Yes. Millions break in to this country every year. The US is tops in GDP, military, technology, space, entertainment and others that if not the top are near it such as food production, energy production, tourism and much more. We are the global policeman which saves lives and brings some stability, we help democracy grow, we have helped the world come together by initiating the UN and other institutions. US Universities are amount the best in the world. We have a huge financial sector… we are the world leader and we are exceptional.
The future is always better. Even in a slump we still rise. Read Steven Pinkman and actual statistics. Science chugs along day after day making life better.
I am not a US citizen. The continent is exceptional in having the security of two oceans and a lot of natural resources and it's citizens are fairly homogeneous no matter what they think.
It has also created a system in which exceptional people get rewarded and so as a whole are exceptional.
1
0 Reply
Anonymous
(36-45)
+1 y
Yes but what it means has been hidden away from almost everyone. So there is no longer such a thing as American exceptionalism. Both left and right wing parties have moves far far away from the original mindset or spirit of liberty that America stands on.
Until we embrace that spirit of liberty again, we will never achieve the status of "exceptionalism" again.
I wasn't around then, not positive. But I suspect so... at least I saw some "values" in those elders around me. That's back when the middle class was broad, people didn't have a lot, but they grew gardens, gathered on porches, life was simple, etc.. I don't know the reality everywhere... some maybe had it bad or unfair. I can tell you one place that's bursting at the seams... our church. And it's mixed and hard to get a parking spot. Not true of every religious place and I suspect, not enough such places to take everyone in that NEEDS a positive message.
That said, we surround ourselves with good people, best we can find, we create that vibe around us and I hope others do as well. We don't do enough to help those desperate, drowing in the despair of our environment, and failing. Working on that. Some do, not enough. When you've got filthy rich on one side of the street and people that can't afford food on the other, it's a real problem. I've been to Europe recently, I have opinions on that too. Americans have become obese, their values deteriorated, families disjointed, too much cell phone and stress and disconnection, we don't value the sacrafice of our ancestors enough, too many kids are in junk schools where teachers lack ability to discipline, too many criminals get away with crap, and executives pay themselves too much, etc etc.. blah blah... I could whine all day... changes nothing.
I view it as... we suck, until further notice. that said, it's still better than many other places, but we are coming apart.
Again. I feel I’m attacking you on this page too much, I apologize. Colonialism was nothing but cruel atrocity. BUT, the measles British isles having the largest empire ever? You fcking kidding me?
I just came back from there so I may be still Anglophiled. Feel free to admonish me. I’m in a peckish mood today and need to be put in my place.
Only to the extent that they are exceptional because some Americans are believing in their exceptionalism. Usually the not very well-educated and well-traveled ones.
I have in the past, but Gramps has fouled the nest. The pendulum will swing back (I hope) but I (MAGA guy) think we need New Blood to restore it. Ramaswamy is saying good things.
So 50s-90s when crime rates shot up, civil rights were being fought and not enjoyed, right up to the point crime drops and Clinton balances the budget.
Haters gonna hate. Don't buy into it, we still dominate and will continue to do so if we are smart. They have been calling for America’s demise since the 1980s when Japan was supposed to do us in. Then Europe, EU, in the early 2000s (have you seen their Euro, its really dropped a lot since then) and now the Chinese who are in real economic trouble if you read up in them.
@Jersey2 Arguable but granted. But exceptional is quite a high bar. The Russian army was considered the best in Europe, and it’s getting slaughtered. Lol
Some would argue that the Russians and the Chinese are overrated in order to expand military spending un the US, which is happening now and actually across Nato, Sweden, Japan, Australia, S Korea and New Zealand.
There never has been a time in human history when the majority of women didn't have it better than the majority of men. Certainly, many women have been treated horribly by their mates but no worse than the majority of men. Recent DNA evidence has proven that 80% of women had reproductive rights but only 40% of men. Moreover, never in human history have women died in wars in anywhere near the number of men that died in wars.
lets see vietnam to help a victim, korea to help a victim , kuwait to help a victim, iraq to help kurds twice, afghanastan to help a victim... can you notice a pattern? and thanks to u. s. the one and only democracy in middle east still exists: israel.
if you split hairs many of those democracies are incomplete democracies such as u. k. and those mimicing u. k. democracy but only u. s. separated powers of law makers from the management called executive.
Girl's Behavior 
Guy's Behavior 
Flirting 
Dating 
Relationships 
Fashion & Beauty 
Health & Fitness 
Marriage & Weddings 
Shopping & Gifts 
Technology & Internet 
Break Up & Divorce 
Education & Career 
Entertainment & Arts 
Family & Friends 
Food & Beverage 
Hobbies & Leisure 
Other 
Religion & Spirituality 
Society & Politics 
Sports 
Travel 
Trending & News 
+1 y
+1 y
Most Helpful Opinions