US Exceptionalism is Dead: Long Live US Uniqueness?
After the shameful events of the afternoon of January 6th, 2021, can we
reconcile U.S. exceptionalism with the disgraceful invasion of the U.S.
Capitol? The short answer is no.
By Brian K. Muzás,
January 20, 2021
Credit: Joseph Sohm Shutterstock.com
Takeaways
·
The US’
alleged superiority is often used to justify a US mission -- or burden -- to
transform the world.
·
The phrase
“American exceptionalism” was first used by Stalin in 1929. He coined the term
to critique revisionist factions of American communists.
·
All flavors
of American exceptionalism have always been flawed theories.
·
The central
element of the US – its people -- makes the US the same as every other nation.
It is comprised of individual human beings.
·
The US does
not provide a cure for human brokenness.
An insurrection in a capital city, in which the halls of the national
legislature are violated by thugs, was never an unimaginable event.
When chaos truly hits
home
Most Americans, however, would have envisioned such a staggering act as
happening overseas in an unindustrialized, undemocratic backwater or similar
setting — definitely not in the citadel of U.S. democracy — the U.S. Capitol
building in Washington, D.C.
After all, the United States, as the leader of the free world, is supposed
to be somehow different, exceptional — hence the term, “American
exceptionalism.”
Two tenets
After the events of January 6th, 2021, can we reconcile American
exceptionalism with the disgraceful insurrection at the Capitol?
No, we can’t. And we shouldn’t.
If we are honest with ourselves, the idea of American exceptionalism was
overblown and ham-fisted ever since it was first articulated.
Now we see plainly that the concept ultimately can become self-destructive
— rendering a nation tone-deaf, and a populace unable to comprehend the
difference between “listening” and “waiting to speak.”
In the worst case, people turn brutish and speech turns violent.
Even so, facts of U.S. uniqueness can pull the United States through the
present crisis.
I submit two tenets as observations:
1. The United States is not exceptional — and never has been.
2. The country is unique — and hopefully always will be.
An important
distinction
These statements seem contradictory, but are not, because they draw an
important distinction.
It is vital that American citizens — and leaders — keep this distinction in
mind both during the present crisis — and as the nation moves forward.
To begin with, American exceptionalism argues that the United States is
inherently different from, and even superior to, other countries.
The United States supposedly became “the first new nation,” as Seymour
Martin Lipset famously put it, because it emerged from a successful founding
revolution to develop a distinctively American ideology.
That ideology was based on individual liberty, equality and responsibility
in the context of republicanism, federalism, representative democracy and
laissez-faire economics.
Superiority merely
alleged
In this framework, the United States’ alleged superiority is often used to
justify a U.S. mission — or burden — to transform the world.
This is expected to happen either by directly intervening in world affairs
— or by serving as John Winthrop’s “city on a hill” which other nations should
aspire to be.
American exceptionalism has a long history. French political scientist and
historian Alexis de Tocqueville was the first writer to describe the United
States as “exceptional” in the 19th century.
Stalin and American
exceptionalism
The phrase itself was first used by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1929. He
coined the term to critique revisionist factions of American communists. They
had argued that the U.S. political climate was so singular as to be an
exception to some elements of Marxist theory.
Closer to our own day, statements of American exceptionalism can be found
in sources as disparate as an interview with then-President Barack Obama or a
plank in the 2012 platform of the Republican Party.
Indeed, they are on the speaking menu of many public figures.
A flawed theory
Despite their distinguished pedigrees, all flavors of American
exceptionalism have always been flawed theories.
These flaws have now been powerfully underscored by the insurrection that
took place in the U.S. Capitol — but the faults have always been there.
Some scholars dismiss the theory of American exceptionalism by claiming
that all countries are exceptional in their own way. Others argue that there
are no essential differences between the United States and other countries.
Truth be told, far from exhibiting a liberal consensus since the United
States’ founding, U.S. history is in fact a story of competition between the
ideologies of civic republicanism and liberalism.
While conventional arguments against American exceptionalism often raise
salient issues, even the above objections to American exceptionalism often miss
the most vital point.
The people dimension
The central element of the United States — the American people — makes the
United States the same as every other nation: The United States is comprised of
individual human beings.
And despite humanity’s intrinsic strengths, resiliences and potentials,
these individuals are saddled with all the inherent weaknesses, vulnerabilities
and shortcomings that characterize the human person and that limit human
society.
Triumphalist or salvation — oriented rhetoric notwithstanding, — the United
States does not provide a cure for human brokenness.
Unique, but not
exceptional
However, there is a secondary — but vital — characteristic of the American
populace which, in my view, does indeed make the United States unique.
Although it is a learned — rather than innate trait — it is an attribute
that can be, and has been, measured.
A Pew Research Center 2014 survey highlights American attitudes which are
different from those of other nations, especially richer nations.
Americans are generally optimistic and believe in the power of the
individual and in the importance of hard work.
Trump’s downsizing of
American virtues
The outgoing U.S. President, rhetoric notwithstanding, has done much to
pollute this core, even constitutive, national belief.
What is now clearer than ever is that for these distinctive American
beliefs to have any real meaning and salience, they need to be translated into
concrete roadmaps for success.
This is no easy task. To the extent that these beliefs permit Americans to
focus on themselves as individuals rather than as members of something greater
than themselves, these outlooks can obscure, rather than resolve, real
divisions across lines such as race, gender and class in society.
How to combat poverty
Take class as an example. Some Americans of goodwill want to eliminate
poverty, but they believe that race and gender are not relevant to
understanding or solving the problem.
Although many Americans come to this view from places of compassion and
pragmatism, the fact remains that treating poverty on a one-size-fits-all,
individualistic basis cannot succeed unless the United States also grapples
with the complex and continuing connections between poverty, gender and race.
Rising economic tides do not necessarily lift all boats. And this economic
example is but one of many elements which must come together for the United
States to become and remain the country it aspires to be.
The post 1/6/21 era
In the era post 1/6/21, Americans must bring these unique attitudes to bear
against forces and patterns of inequalities while respecting legitimate
differences.
What the person and the presidency of Donald Trump did was to contaminate a
society’s most important virtue — respecting legitimate differences.
Worse, the contagion threatened to remake the U.S. value system into
something impoverished and selfish.
The agenda after Trump
To regain our footing as a nation, we must put much higher emphasis on
personal morality and professional ethics.
However, as we do so, we must engage across moral, ethical and ideological
lines collectively, cooperatively and civilly in such a way as to err on the
side of least imposition even upon minority positions.
Now more than ever, American predispositions towards optimism, individual
responsibility and reliable work ethic must be promoted, cultivated and
sustained by wisely chosen and appropriately designed educational, legal and
social policies that focus on the common good.
Democracy challenged
U.S. democracy has been challenged — and American exceptionalism has been
shown to be a fraud.
But U.S. uniqueness has a chance to remain a valid proposition.
If all goes well, this uniqueness can pull the United States through this
perilous hour, repair trust in its institutions and leaders and restore its
international reputation.
More on this topic
·
Beyond Trump: The US’s Wrong-Headed Priorities
·
Exploring
American Exceptionalism (Part II)
·
The New York Times and the Looting of America
Tags: United States, U.S.
democracy, American exceptionalism, inequality
About Brian K. Muzás
Stanton nuclear
security fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Full bio → | View
all posts by Brian K. Muzás →
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