American Exceptionalism

I actually bought Sarah Palin’s $26 book: America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag.

More than “bought” it, I read it. More than read it, I gave it the deep think.

Today, I will address a topic to which Palin dedicated that book’s entire third chapter, entitled America the Exceptional – consisting of about 30 pages. [All quotes below are from this book.]

QUOTE:

But what do we mean when we say America is an exceptional country? We’re not saying we’re better than anyone else, or that we have the right to tell people in other countries how to live their lives.

:UNQUOTE [page 63].

My response: Actually, that’s exactly what we’re saying. Sarah certainly isn’t fooling anybody by saying otherwise. Oh, to be sure, in our public speeches and printed materials, our leaders won’t come right out and say anything like that. But, especially among Sarah Supporters, they make no bones about this. They say stuff like, “God made us better than anybody else and He gives us His divine favors,” and “Hey, hey, get out of our way, we’re the mighty USA,” and “It’s our way or the highway.” I could go on, but you get the general idea.

QUOTE:

When we say American is exceptional we’re saying we are the lucky heirs to a unique set of beliefs and national qualities, and that we need to preserve and value those beliefs. We’re saying America is a model to the world, not a bully to the world, or responsible for the world.

:UNQUOTE [again, page 63].

My response:  Ah, “lucky heirs,” you say? To a profound extent, those “unique…beliefs” were foisted off on us by the Founders and enforced by succeeding generations of authoritarians who refused to change with the times. As for “unique…national qualities,” those were not uniformly shared by even the earliest Americans. Basically, you had a bunch of propertied & moneyed intellectual fancy-talkers communicating in a manner barely intelligible to a sizeable, rowdier, uneducated, and disadvantaged portion of our citizenry.

In another chapter (page 191), Palin states: “He also personified what John Adams meant when he said, “our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.” This dovetails neatly with Palin’s assertion that we have “unique…national qualities.” Or does it? The Founders must surely have realized (and were leery of) the Great Unwashed – those among the great mass of citizens who did not own land, were a little rough hewn, and among whom dwelt (shall we say?) persons of ill repute or even scoundrels.

Any claim about what a “moral and religious” people we are surely doesn’t take into account how badly we treated native Americans. It also turns a blind eye to the fact that pious, churchgoing Negros weren’t allowed in White Southern churches. Not to mention that some of those White congregants donned white robes and burned crosses in the name of the KKK. In short, the Founders were trying to create a narrative to impress the rest of the world and create a national identity.

As for any need to “preserve and value those beliefs,” the greater need is to move on. The current generation can be Founders of a greater spirituality and can create their own Constitution, for which there is a crushing need. One of the greatest faults (though not of their own choosing) of our Founders: They indeed had a spirituality, at least to some extent, but that was a product of the religious turmoil in Europe. What they lacked, in all seriousness, was any grounding in Buddhist teachings, notably the Lotus Sutra. However, this hadn’t even been translated into any Western language until 1852, well after the US independence literature had been written.

This last bit is important because I, through the vehicle of my candidacy for US president in 2012, hope to use the teachings of the Lotus Sutra as the basis for a new American revolution.

And finally, that bit about “America is a model to the world” needs only one comment: Not as much now as it once was.

Other Exceptionalisms

I have a problem with claims concerning how “exceptional” America is. Especially with people who speak often of those claims, in bragging and demeaning tones, forgetting that modesty, too, is a virtue.

There are many noble examples of exceptional cultures – there are even some based on ideas. You’d have to look awfully hard to find a greater per-capita concentration of genius than existed in BCE Athens, Greece. Not to mention modern day Israel. Though I believe Israel has lost its way, it’s not entirely too late to right itself. Here, though, you can’t help but wonder how a people who had suffered so much during World War II managed to find the grit to try to reclaim an ancient legacy – return to their Biblical homeland.

And World War II itself provides many examples. Let’s use the USA as a basis of comparison, by noting that less than 1% of the US population at the time died in the war – combined civilian and military fatalities. In fact, only one-third of 1% had died. Not to mention that US cities and infrastructure had been virtually untouched.

The Soviet Union lost over 14% of its population, not to mention huge loses in its agricultural and industrial base. And yet they recovered sufficiently and quickly enough to mount a serious challenge to US international dominance.

Poland lost 16%. A special “hats off” to Poland here for having not only recovered but for having survived Communism by means of a strong sense of national identity. One can only wonder if the US, if ever suffering anything similar, would have the guts of the Poles or if our perennial partisan bickering and culture wars would prevent the US from ever rising again.

Moving on from WW II’s considerations, we have China. What amazing courage the Chinese leadership must have had to send a huge army against UN/US forces during the Korean War. This at a time when the US possessed the only appreciable nuclear arsenal in the world. And, yes, there was serious discussion at the highest levels concerning use of US nukes against North Korean/Chinese forces.

Conclusion

There are people who need to cling to the notion of American Exceptionalism. My response is: “Whatever floats your boat.” But I must direct to them a challenge: Instead of boasting about how great we are/were, what have you done lately? Have you examined your suppositions to decide how best to move forward or are you living in the past?”

These are good questions, though I fear the Palinians don’t do the deep think too often or well. However, I can promise them (and everybody else) this much:

I am going to re-read Sarah Palin’s book and post a lengthy rebuttal. All I ever ask of my potential presidential opponents is that they put their thoughts in writing. Then, for me, the rest is easy. I easily shredded Obama, McCain, and Hilary Clinton during the 2008 campaign. I shall have no problem similarly disposing of Sarah Palin.

Steven Searle for US President in 2012

Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party

“I suppose my last two sentences (above) must sound awfully conceited. However, I do not believe in false modesty, and that sentence happens to be the truth.”