I am not a historian, an economist or politician. But as I look back on the past decade of the American Century, I am struck by two competing themes. The first, deeply held as truth, is American Exceptionalism. First, put forward by de Tocqueville who described "The position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.". de Tocqueville saw Americans as a culture that was not restrained by old strictures of Europe and tethered ever so slightly to religion so as to go forth with determination and focus upon "practical things". In its 20th-21st century iteration, however, (as espoused by Gingrich and Romney) emphasizes exceptionalism as a character trait that extends beyond our shores, much a a muscle to be flexed.
Juxtaposed to exceptionalism, in my mind, is the increasing recurrent phrase "a failure of imagination". This theme, if it continues, will be the death knell for exceptionalism as a American tenet of truth.
First coined by the 9-11 Commission as one of the major factors in the 9-11 attacks, I believe that this phrase has increasingly been used to explain America's missteps in the first decade of the 21st century. In quick succession, the failure to find WMDs in Iraq and the Katrina tragedy were soon explained by the same phrase.
It should be noted that "a failure of imagination" has a sister, "a failure of initiative". At the bottom of both, in my opinion is an even simpler explanation: lazy thinking and the maintenance of the status quo.
With the Oil Deluge, we are as a country, faced with a failure of institutions and persons. The phrase, "failure of imagination" has once again reared its head. again, once the dust has settled, we are confronted with the fact that this failure, like those catastrophes before it, were not only predictable, but presaged years before.
The Oil Deluge is a reminder that a failure of initiative, a failure to recognize the urgency for the need to correct and act, is more often at the core of these events than the seemingly immediate explanation.
President Obama is right: we are at an inflection point. Not only in our dependence on fossil fuels, but also the structure of our economy, the future status of our nation in the world and what we will hand to our children and grandchildren. Some the exceptionalists, would have us think (like the Old Testament prophets) if we just return to mid 20th century American values (or mid 18th century values for some), that all will be well.
So how does exceptionalism dovetail with a failure of imagination. It is this: our faith in exceptionalism can blind us to the distinct reality of failure. We are a people, presently, who view ourselves as exempt from the world's shortcomings. We rail that answers, solutions are not instant or fast. Yet we are unable or unwilling to do the hard thinking, ask and answer the tough questions: we are unable to inconvenience ourselves to make hard choices. Worse, we strive to cling to a past century vision of ourselves instead of seeing the world as it is, unfiltered.