Week #1 Is America Exceptional?

McClay, W. M. (2006). The Founding Nations. First Things.

Zinn, Howard. (2005) The Power and the Glory: Myths of American Exceptionalism.  Boston Review.

During America’s rise as an international authority over the past century, American exceptionalism has become a debate that’s slowly losing its legitimacy.

The idea is simple; those that believe America is exceptional believe the United States is superior to other nations.  Whether it was accomplished with divine intervention or because events just naturally happened, since the late 1800s, the United States has flown by standards of greatness previously set by other countries.  The idea of exceptionalism also follows the notion that Americans have high moral standards.  

Author Wilfred McClay enthusiastically writes in favor of American Exceptionalism, referencing the strong history of the United States. He focuses mainly on the past, because the U.S. had a relatively quicker rise in status than most countries have had.  McClay also comments on the beginning of the United States:

            “A constitutional republic like the United States is uniquely grounded in its foundational moment, it’s time of creation….It requires of us a willingness to be constantly looking back to our initiating promises and goals, in much the same way we would chart progress ….by reference to a master list of resolutions.”

By creating a government and constitution that has the ability to adjust to modern times, the United States could arguably be considered exceptional…..if it were still the 1800s.  In modern times, the freedom argument is not a legitimate basis for argument of American Exceptionalism.  Nearly every first and second world country (with a couple exceptions) enjoy basic freedoms. So that’s not what makes America great anymore.

Author Howard Zinn boldly argues against American Exceptionalism.  He also uses American history to back up his claims.  The first big stain on American history happened shortly after the country was settled by Europeans; the massacre of American Indians. 

Furthermore, Zinn criticizes the size of the American military (with more than 10,000 nuclear weapons and military bases all over the world, the U.S. easily has the world’s most expensive army.)  He strengthens his argument by noting that with the belief in divine intervention coupled with a massive military, our leaders could easily throw out the norms of human morality.  His reasoning throws out the idea of American moral eliteness, something that deeply splits the ideology of American Exceptionalism. 

On a more personal note, I do not believe America is still exceptional.  I whole-heartedly believe at one time, the United States created an example for other countries to follow into the future.  However, America has slowed its advancements down to a crawl.  For issues like universal healthcare, free (or at least cheap!) education, and distribution of wealth, the United States lacks sorely behind the rest of the modern world. 

And as for morals, I believe with our outstanding military power, America does not hold itself to the standards that it created for the rest of the world.  Depending on the official approval of Congress later this week, the United States could be heading into another Middle-Eastern war.  The conflict in Syria is not America’s doing, however with a military the size of America’s, peace-keeping missions are arguably its duty to the rest of the world.  What makes this area blurry is that the United States hasn’t always gone into conflict with the utmost of moral intentions, thus credibility has been lost. 

The rest of the world cannot tell America no.  The United States is still the top world economy, and its military could easily crush almost any other military in the world. 

But if the rest of the world does not trust us (due to lost credibility, then do we really have a right, let alone duty to police other nations in the world?