Please note: this is an edited down version of an essay in Around the Block. For the full version click here: Around the Block: American Exceptionalism in action!
How’s it working out in the Age of Trump?
In many of my previous columns, I’ve invoked the term “American Exceptionalism.” As you might sense, my use of the term has been overwhelmingly ironic.
With that as background, I thought it would be appropriate to inspect the definition of the term American Exceptionalism and what it actually stands for in the “Age of Trump.”
American exceptionalism is one of three related ideas:
- The first is that the history of the United States is inherently different from that of other nations. In this view, American exceptionalism stems from its emergence from the American Revolution, thereby becoming what political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset called “the first new nation” and developing a uniquely American ideology, “Americanism,” based on liberty, equality before the law, individual responsibility, republicanism, representative democracy and laissez-faire economics. This ideology itself is often referred to as “American exceptionalism.”
- Second is the idea that the US has a unique mission to transform the world. As Abraham Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg address (1863), Americans have a duty to ensure, “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
- Third is the sense that the United States’ history and mission give it a superiority over other nations.
In Ronald Reagan’s version of American Exceptionalism, “America is the shining city on the hill.”
Wow, pretty heady stuff, this American Exceptionalism!
Given that, inspecting how in today’s “Age of Trump” America stacks up against the the ideas of American Exceptionalism and how we’re living up to Reagan’s “Shining City,” might be instructive.
- America is exceptional because its citizens have been banned from traveling to the EU because the U.S. has so mis-handled the Coronavirus pandemic, it continues to see a high number of cases.
- America is exceptional because it’s Coronavirus cases per capita are among the highest in the world, bested only by Peru, Singapore, Chile and Kuwait. Exceptional!
- America is exceptional because we have a bi-cameral legislature in which one House, the Senate…the Upper House, is so politicized that dozens of bills passed by the Lower House, the house of the people, are not even brought to the floor for a vote, including a vote on Washington DC statehood.
- America is exceptional because Americans can elect a member of that august body, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark) used dog whistle language in his speech opposing DC statehood.
- America is exceptional because unlike other powerful countries, the United States has closer relationships with its foes than its friends.
- America is exceptional because it is led by a man who is supposed to be the ultimate recipient of all U.S. intelligence, who said he did not know that Russia had secretly offered Afghan militants bounties to kill U.S. Troops.
- America is exceptional because its citizens have the such lack of intelligence and foresight that they elect governors who are sycophantic, toadies like Florida’s Ron DeSantis, Georgia’s Brian Kemp, Arizona’s Doug Ducey and Texas’ Greg Abbot, among others, whose “leadership” is distinguished by simply doing the bidding of their “dreadful leader.”
- America is exceptional because of its devotion to memorializing, through monuments, statues and flags, enemies of the United States…people and symbols commemorating an unlawful insurrection, by rebels and traitors against their country and its Constitution.
There are many, many, more examples of American Exceptionalism during this “Age of Trump.” Feel free to write back/comment if you want to add to the list. Just be aware, incredibly, the ones I’ve detailed above have occurred in only the last few days and weeks.