quote:

Is America exceptional among nations? Are we, as a country and a people and a culture, set apart and better than others? Are we, indeed, the “shining city upon a hill” that Ronald Reagan described? Are we “chosen by God and commissioned by history to be a model to the world” as George W. Bush said?

This year, for the first time, most Americans did not say yes.

According to a report issued on Thursday by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project, when Americans were asked if they agreed with the statement “our people are not perfect but our culture is superior to others,” only 49 percent agreed. That’s down from 60 percent in 2002, the first time that Pew asked the question.

We are settling into a dangerous national pessimism. We must answer the big questions. Was our nation’s greatness about having God or having grit? Is exceptionalism an anointing or an ethos? If the answers are grit and ethos, then we must work to recapture them. We must work our way out of these doldrums. We must learn our way out. We must innovate our way out.

We have to stop snuggling up to nostalgia, acknowledge that we have allowed a mighty country to be brought low and set a course to restitution. And that course is through hard work and tough choices. You choose greatness; it doesn’t choose you…

We must look out at the world with clear eyes and sober minds and do the difficult work as we’ve done time and time again. That’s how a city shines upon a hill.

quote:

Is the United States inherently superior to every other country on Earth?

quote:

Is a child born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to parents who are American citizens inherently superior to, say, a child born in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, to parents who are citizens of the Republic of the Philippines?

quote:

Is the United States federal government inherently superior to, say, the national government of Australia?

quote:


Is the United States inherently superior to every other country on Earth?

quote:

ORIGINAL: SternSkipper
   But we have something going on here that's special, but it doesn't have to do with 'superiority'.

quote:


care to elaborate on the "something" that is special? Can you describe what you see that as being?

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

FR

Capitalism is inherently superior to any other economic structure, both theoretically and in practice. To the extent that we were more capitalist, and when the population was committed to capitalism and self-reliance we were superior as a country. As we become more socialist and fiscally liberal we are coming back to the pack.

No individual is born superior just by virtue of being American. That seems so obvious that the purpose of asking it is questionable.

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy
No individual is born superior just by virtue of being American. That seems so obvious that the purpose of asking it is questionable.

quote:

Is this a great country or what?

"American exceptionalism" is a phrase that, until recently, was rarely heard outside the confines of think tanks, opinion journals and university history departments.

But with Republicans and tea party activists accusing President Obama and the Democrats of turning the country toward socialism, the idea that the United States is inherently superior to the world's other nations has become the battle cry from a new front in the ongoing culture wars. Lately, it seems to be on the lips of just about every Republican who is giving any thought to running for president in 2012.

"This reorientation away from a celebration of American exceptionalism is misguided and bankrupt," former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney writes in his campaign setup book, "No Apology: The Case For American Greatness."...

For former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, the concept is a frequent theme in her speeches, Facebook postings, tweets and appearances on Fox News Channel. Her just-published book, "America by Heart," has a chapter titled "America the Exceptional."

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, contends in his speeches that Obama's views on the subject are "truly alarming."

In an interview in August with Politico, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee went so far as to declare of Obama: "His worldview is dramatically different than any president, Republican or Democrat, we've had...To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation."

And last week, Rick Santorum, the former senator from Pennsylvania, told a group of College Republicans at American University: "Don't kid yourself with the lie. America is exceptional, and Americans are concerned that there are a group of people in Washington who don't believe that any more."

Some, however, wonder whether Obama's conservative critics are sounding an alarm about the United States' place in the world - or making an insidious suggestion about the president himself.

With a more intellectual sheen than the false assertions that Obama is secretly a Muslim or that he was born in Kenya, an argument over American exceptionalism "is a respectable way of raising the question of whether Obama is one of us," said William Galston, a former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Much of this criticism harkens back to a single comment that Obama made at a news conference a year and a half ago in Strasbourg, France, during his first trip overseas as president.

Obama was asked by Financial Times correspondent Ed Luce whether he subscribes, as his predecessors did, "to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world."

The president's answer began: "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism."

That may have been a nod to the fact that many abroad hear talk of American exceptionalism as worrisome jingoism. But it provided ammunition for Palin and other Republican critics.

quote:

...the idea of American Exceptionalism can serve as a rallying point against a president that some Republicans have labeled an apologist, a socialist and all manner of other anti-American and anti-capitalist buzzwords.

For an example, look no further than the GOP’s current campaign to capi­tal­ize on President Obama’s “lazy” remark. The American Exceptionalist crowd is very much the target of such efforts, as for many of them, the insinuation that Americans are lazy — which isn’t what Obama actually said — makes their blood boil.

quote:

They don't believe we have a special message for the world or a special mission to preserve our greatness for the betterment of not just ourselves but all of humanity. Astonishingly, President Obama even said that he believes in American exceptionalism in the same way "the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Which is to say, he doesn't believe in American exceptionalism at all. He seems to think it is just a kind of irrational prejudice in favor of our way of life. To me, that is appalling.

Sarah Palin, America By Heart, pg 69

quote:

“The president went about this all wrong. He went around the world and apologized for America.”
- Mitt Romney

quote:

In the hands of Palin, Beck, et al., American Exceptionalism boils down to little more than a synonym for the tautology “we are powerful because we are God-blessed; we are God-blessed because we are powerful.”
- The Nation 02-02-2011

quote:

ORIGINAL: SternSkipper

quote:


care to elaborate on the "something" that is special? Can you describe what you see that as being?

Sure right after you answer the question I have been asking you for a while. You list yourself as being from the OC, yet you act as if you're not in the US and that you really aren't at all fond of America. And please don't take this to mean I am flag waving or expect to out you or some crap like that I am just trying to understand where you are coming from on these issues.
    Hook me up my answer, and I'll be happy to answer yours.

quote:

ORIGINAL: BanthaSamantha

American Exceptionalism has nothing to do with inherent superiority. The concept of American Exceptionalism deals with how America is different, not how America is better.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

quote:

ORIGINAL: BanthaSamantha

American Exceptionalism has nothing to do with inherent superiority. The concept of American Exceptionalism deals with how America is different, not how America is better.

The dictionary I consulted (a hard cover book on my shelf published in 1958 which I inherited from my father, not an on-line source) defines "American Exceptionalism" as "an attitude toward other countries, cultures, etc. based on the idea of America is quite distinct from, and often superior to, them in vital ways".

quote:

ORIGINAL: kdsub

Yes… I feel on average a US citizen is superior to a small degree for one reason...genes. This nation is made up of mostly immigrants.

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

FR

Capitalism is inherently superior to any other economic structure, both theoretically and in practice. To the extent that we were more capitalist, and when the population was committed to capitalism and self-reliance we were superior as a country. As we become more socialist and fiscally liberal we are coming back to the pack.

No individual is born superior just by virtue of being American. That seems so obvious that the purpose of asking it is questionable.

quote:

ORIGINAL: erieangel

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

FR

Capitalism is inherently superior to any other economic structure, both theoretically and in practice. To the extent that we were more capitalist, and when the population was committed to capitalism and self-reliance we were superior as a country. As we become more socialist and fiscally liberal we are coming back to the pack.

No individual is born superior just by virtue of being American. That seems so obvious that the purpose of asking it is questionable.

Capitalism measured with governmental regulations is what made this country great from the end of WWII until those regulations began being dismantled.  Capitalism without regulations is what brought us the economy we are now suffering, just as it brought us the depression.

quote:

that America would be the only country in the world that gets it's supposed tendencies due to immigration patterns?

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy



Wrong. Its capitalism with WRONGHEADED regulations that brought us the economy we are now suffering. I agree some regulation is good, but when that regulation takes the form of social/economic engineering that interferes with capitalism, rather than ensuring that the rules of capitalism are followed, you have what we have had for the last 50 years or so.