The Continued Myth of American Exceptionalism

Having traveled in Europe last month and visited cities and nations ten fold older than the United States, I was reminded of the tunnel vision that too many Americans have when it comes to seeing the USA in the larger world context. Are individuals who are not well traveled, wouldn't know the Arts if it hit them in the head and who rely on Fox News for their world view really morally superior to citizens of foreign nations? Or more frighteningly, do they possess the answers to everything as they like to believe? I think not. But that will not stop politicians - especially those in the GOP - from seeking to get mileage out of the myth of American exceptionalism. In my view, this myth is a mechanism for ignoring all of the nation's many failings be it the obscene lack of health care for millions of Americans, declining social mobility and/or a wealth disparity gap that would have embarrassed a banana republic of old. The myth continues to be an excuse for Americans to not take a good look in the mirror and face the fact that despite the good things America has done, it has much to be ashamed about. A piece in Time looks at this myth of exceptionalism as we move closer to the 2012 campaign season. Here are highlights:

In the beginning — before the beginning, really — Americans have thought of themselves as exceptional, as the new chosen people of God.

The “city upon a hill” phrase — [John] Winthrop borrowed it from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount — echoes still. . . . . In a recent Pew poll, when asked if they agreed with the statement “Our people are not perfect but our culture is superior others,” 49% of Americans said yes, compared to 32% of Britons and 27% of French.

In rough political terms, the Republican presidential field argues that America is a place set apart, a nation with a divinely ordained mission to lead the world. A corollary to the case as it is being put in the 2012 cycle is that President Obama does not believe this.

The argument is well-suited to reassure voters who are pessimistic about the life of the nation and about the place of America in the world.

We are going to be hearing more about this notion of exceptionalism, possibly far beyond Iowa and New Hampshire and into the general election. So let’s be clear about the history — and the uses and abuses — of the vision of America as an instrument of God’s will on earth.

This sense that we are the new Israel, a chosen people, is among the most ancient and most potent of American ideas. It has informed our finest hours and some of our worst. It has given us the confidence to project our power in defense of the weak and of the innocent and the persecuted. It has sometimes fed a sense of hubris and moral self-certainty.

Lincoln had it right. During the Civil War a Northern minister once came to the White House and said how glad he was that God was on the Union’s side. No, no, Lincoln replied: we had to hope that the Union was on God’s side.

America is a great country, and we have done great things. We can again. And one key to national restoration lies in another, less-quoted part of John Winthrop’s sermon. “We must delight in each other, make others’ condition our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor, and suffer together.” To be exceptional we have to do the exceptional thing and unite in purpose.

Sadly, those who boast of American exceptionalism the most are the same politicians who most seek to divide Americans based on race, national origin, faith, and, of course, sexual orientation. It is far past time that America take a good look in the mirror and realize that hubris and an often unjustified inflated ego are obstacles to exceptionalism.