America isn't perfect, but it's exceptional regardless of what Democrats say
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Two foreign observers deserve credit for coining the notion of American exceptionalism. It was Alexis de Tocqueville, in his book " Democracy in America ," which remains the greatest examination of American government ever written, who first connected the idea.
“The position of the Americans,” he wrote, “ is therefore quite exceptional , and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.”
It is easy, now that more than half of the world’s nations are democracies , to think that this was always the standard, but in the 1830s when the first volume of the book was released, the American model remained quite abnormal. It would be an additional 100 years before the growth of democracy really began on a global scale. In America, Tocqueville recognized something uniquely forward-looking, separate from a mere inheritance of the European tradition, but a bold new direction that the rest of the world would have to learn from.
What for him was a defining American characteristic was for Karl Marx, decades later, a source of confusion.
The world became more like America
Though Marx never visited America, he was enamored with it and the conundrum it created for his worldview. America was an industrial nation with the supposed prerequisites for communism, yet it never developed a class system or seriously entertained a proletariat uprising. This, he reasoned, could only be temporary. The United States might be an exception now, he reasoned, but as the population grew, land became less abundant and more time passed, it too would bend toward communism. America’s future, Marx reassured his followers, was to be more like Europe, the opposite of Tocqueville’s proclamation.
Tocqueville was right, and Marx was wrong. America’s conditions never led to a communist revolution, yet Europe and the rest of the world did grow more democratic. Thinking more in line with Tocqueville’s view, that America is not merely an exception but that it is exceptional, took root and has long been central to the national identity.
There is an evident effort by the postmodern left to change that today though, to reduce the notion not only of American exceptionalism but also American history as a whole to nothing more than a vile unsalvageable blip, relevant only as a study in institutionalized power structures.
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A combination of this influence and the omnipresent fear of angering the “woke left,” ready at their keyboards to unleash social media rage, has encouraged many Democratic politicians to refrain from patriotic gestures, or worse, to seek a pathway by undermining America’s achievements.
This trend was evident on this year’s remembrance of Juneteenth, which was hijacked by a contingent of postmodern leftists who went through the preposterous public exercise of proclaiming that America had effectively made no progress , as if the nation’s remarkable journey from Antietam to Bloody Sunday to Barack Obama did not occur.
Patriotism is not a dirty word
Recently, New York Times columnist Bari Weiss, appearing on Bill Maher’s television show, raised frustration with the reservation of Democratic presidential candidates to appear patriotic. They are “ scared to touch ” patriotism, she said. “They are scared to touch anything that will give them the whiff of xenophobia and bigotry and all the rest of the things that they are terrified of being accused of. And they need to come up with sensible answers to those things.”
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This is most plainly understood as a rejection of American exceptionalism and one that has infected parts of the Democratic base. A Gallup poll this year , conducted annually near Independence Day, found that only 22% of Democrats are “extremely proud” to be American, a 10-point decrease since last year and a 34-point decline since just 2013. Among self-identified liberals, only 21% say they are “extremely proud” to be American.
Which brings us to this week’s celebration of Independence Day, where this ruinous exercise is likely to play out again.
There is any number of statistics that could demonstrate the contrast, displaying that America remains an exceptional nation, from donations to charity, to work ethic, to religiosity, to the nations that still look to us for inspiration. But it is even more so what the most liberal of critics willfully ignore. America is not exceptional because it is perfect; it is exceptional because it measures itself against, and strives for, perfection. We retain the greatest structure of self-government ever created and a people who strive constantly toward a more perfect union.
For that reason and more, feel no shame in being extremely proud to be an American.
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“A combination of this influence and the omnipresent fear of angering the “woke left,” ready at their keyboards to unleash social media rage, has encouraged many Democratic politicians to refrain from patriotic gestures, or worse, to seek a pathway by undermining America’s achievements.
This trend was evident on this year’s remembrance of Juneteenth, which was hijacked by a contingent of postmodern leftists who went through the preposterous public exercise of proclaiming that America had effectively made no progress, as if the nation’s remarkable journey from Antietam to Bloody Sunday to Barack Obama did not occur.
Patriotism Is Not A Dirty Word
Recently, New York Times columnist Bari Weiss, appearing on Bill Maher’s television show, raised frustration with the reservation of Democratic presidential candidates to appear patriotic. They are “scared to touch” patriotism, she said. “They are scared to touch anything that will give them the whiff of xenophobia and bigotry and all the rest of the things that they are terrified of being accused of. And they need to come up with sensible answers to those things.”
This is most plainly understood as a rejection of American exceptionalism and one that has infected parts of the Democratic base. A Gallup poll this year, conducted annually near Independence Day, found that only 22% of Democrats are “extremely proud” to be American, a 10-point decrease since last year and a 34-point decline since just 2013. Among self-identified liberals, only 21% say they are “extremely proud” to be American.
Which brings us to this week’s celebration of Independence Day, where this ruinous exercise is likely to play out again.
There is any number of statistics that could demonstrate the contrast, displaying that America remains an exceptional nation, from donations to charity, to work ethic, to religiosity, to the nations that still look to us for inspiration. But it is even more so what the most liberal of critics willfully ignore. America is not exceptional because it is perfect; it is exceptional because it measures itself against, and strives for, perfection. We retain the greatest structure of self-government ever created and a people who strive constantly toward a more perfect union.”
America is an exceptional nation founded by divine providence, a city on a hill, a light shining upon a dark world, a force for good, the greatest nation ever known to man kind.
Exceptional?
We practiced genocide on the Native population, went to war to abolish slavery etc., as I said we are no more or less exceptional as any other culture.
Thank you, it was easier to copy and paste from your other seed. While we have a great Country, we have and have had our flaws.
Yes, we have our flaws and yes we can do better.
But can you explain why there is this push to eliminate or at least remove from the public sphere anyone who wasn't perfect?
It is time to make whether we are an exceptional nation founded by divine providence and are and have been a force for good in the world or not the defining issue of the 2020 election.
They want to destroy all of our history invalidating them and the time they lived based on their present day interpretations knowing if they can sever us from our founding, founders, and history they can much more easily transform us into their dystopian vision for our future.
As I believe we learn from history (or should at least ), no I cannot. Acknowledged imperfections of the past should make one strive for perfection ( at least try ) in the future. As much as one may wish to, we cannot change what has occurred only insure it does not happen again.
And removing key figures From our historical record and taking down their paintings and monuments will not prevent History from repeating itself if we don’t have it to learn from.
Although a rare occurrence, I am in agreement with you.
“There is any number of statistics that could demonstrate the contrast, displaying that America remains an exceptional nation, from donations to charity, to work ethic, to religiosity, to the nations that still look to us for inspiration. But it is even more so what the most liberal of critics willfully ignore. America is not exceptional because it is perfect; it is exceptional because it measures itself against, and strives for, perfection.”
Why is it so critical to you that you can refer to yourself (Americans) as exceptional?
Why is it so important to you to claim that America is exceptional because God chose it to be so?
Human beings hopefully do the best they can, that is all anyone can do.
Your idea that we should state that the 2020 presidential election is a referendum on whether America is the most exceptional nation in the history of the universe is bizarre.
I believe in God, but I dont think God chose America anymore than It chose any other nation, because God doesnt choose nations.
And God certainly did not choose Donald Trump. That particular claim is actually offensive.
Why is it so critical to you that you can refer to yourself (Americans) as exceptional? Because we Americans are just that. Why is denial that there is anything great about America so critical to progressives?
Why is it so important to you to claim that America is exceptional because God chose it to be so? Because He did.
Human beings hopefully do the best they can, that is all anyone can do.
Your idea that we should state that the 2020 presidential election is a referendum on whether America is the most exceptional nation in the history of the universe is bizarre. What really is bizarre is the progressive view that there’s nothing special about our country.
I believe in God, but I dont think God chose America anymore than It chose any other nation, because God doesnt choose nations. God does choose nations. He made Israel His people and he brought up nations to achieve His purposes leading to the 2nd coming. We as a country are not his chosen people but God has richly blessed us up to now. The Christian Church are His people now.
And God certainly did not choose Donald Trump. That particular claim is actually offensive. we will have to agree to disagree on that.
Why is it so critical to you that you can refer to yourself (Americans) as exceptional? Based on the wording of the question you asked, are you yourself not an American? If you are an American, do you not consider yourself as well as all Americans to be a part of a very exceptional nation in the world?
Seems America-bashing is in vogue now.
Pitiful.
Who saved the world from tyranny during WWII?
Which country has the most immigrants--about double of the next two-leading countries COMBINED?
Which country first flew? Went to the moon?
What is wrong with being proud to be an American, and thinking we ARE exceptional?
Saw a GREAT sign the other day:
Be the type of American worth dying for.
Think about that.
Good points. Well said. Why the left America bashes and denigrates America, our exceptionalism, and the American Dream and engages in 1984 San Francisco Democrat Blame America first rhetoric, I have no idea.
True. I remember then democrat Jean Kirkpatrick our UN ambassador under Reagan talking about the San Francisco convention democrats and their blame America first attitude. Nothing with them has changed since then except they purged themselves of the ones that got Clinton/Gore elected and re elected. Gore separating himself from Clinton and the DLC cost him Arkansas, Clinton’s home state, Tennessee, his own home state and turned West Virginia red and he would have been president had he won any one of them. Now almost all democrats are 1984 San Francisco democrats or secular progressives.