One of the most frequently used phrases during any election season is: “American Exceptionalism.” Wherever you find bunting and a flag draped backdrop you will find “American Exceptionalism.” It is a phrase used by every hopeful politician to elicit patriotic feelings of mom, apple pie and country. It’s a throwaway line that has become the all encompassing catch phrase of who we are as a country. Exceptional! To disagree is to be labeled “unpatriotic” or worse.
We would very much like to believe that it’s true. That among all the nations in the world we are in fact “exceptional.” But at this moment in time there are far too many things that say otherwise.
In twelve short years we have a amassed a national credit card debt of over $16 trillion dollars. Our spending is out of control. And our elected leaders just kick the can down the road; passing the problem along to our children and grandchildren. That’s not exceptional…that’s irresponsible.
We are the wealthiest nation in the world. We have the world’s largest economy. Yet 60 million Americans are living at or below the poverty level. That’s $23,000/year for a family of four. That’s not exceptional…that’s inconceivable.
Our infrastructure is crumbling. We lag behind most modernized nations in terms of mass transit and high speed rail. Yet 8.1% of our population is unemployed. The real unemployment number is double that because millions of Americans have simple given up the search. There is desperate work that needs to be done and millions of Americans willing to do it. But for some reason we can’t seem to put the two together. That’s not exceptional…that’s unimaginable.
We have some of the greatest institutions of higher learning in the world. But our primary and secondary schools are in disarray. Our schools are crumbling and our best educators are often let go in favor of less effective teachers who have tenure. The results are evident in our children’s performance. Our children lag behind most of the developed nations in terms of math, reading and science skills. That’s not exceptional…that’s unconscionable.
We pride ourselves on being a nation of laws. Yet we violate the Geneva Convention as we deem necessary. And to this date not one of the persons responsible for the banking travesty that nearly brought down our economy has been prosecuted. That’s not exceptional…that’s unfathomable.
We have the largest military in the world. We are the self proclaimed “world’s policeman.” Congress spends billions in borrowed dollars on our military and procures million dollar weapons that they don’t even want. We spend more on our military than the next seventeen nations combined. Yet our infrastructure is outdated, our schools are crumbling and millions of our children are literally starving. That’s not exceptional…that’s unreasonable.
One of the cornerstones of our democracy is the right to vote. Millions of Americans have suffered great hardship and many have given their lives in pursuit of the right to voice their opinion via the ballot box. Yet today we see a blatant racist attempt to suppress the voting rights of a certain segment of our society. Citizens who have voted for decades are finding their names purged from the rolls. Poor folks are suddenly told they need to spend money they don’t have to procure documents they never needed if they want to exercise their voting rights. All orchestrated under the guise of preventing voter fraud; instances of which have historically been infinitesimal. That’s not exceptional…that’s unthinkable.
There are those who will say that we are wrong. There are those who will say that every other nation suffers from these same problems and deficiencies. They will tell us that in spite of all our faults millions still flock to our shores to enjoy the freedoms of the greatest nation on earth.
To those we ask this question…does that make us “exceptional”…or simply the best of a sorry lot.
We can fix our problems. We can do big things. We can once again be what Ronald Reagan called “That shining city on a hill.” But until are willing to do the hard work that is necessary to be “exceptional” …”American Exceptionalism” is nothing more than a campaign throwaway line
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