Rare is the country that condemns itself. Jingoism is probably the predominate trait that keeps most countries sovereign. That is why, no matter where you go in the world, throughout history, there are men and woman ready to die for their countries.
People are trained from birth to love and honor their country. In America School days began with the Pledge of Allegiance as if 5 and 6 year old kids can even comprehend the words Allegiance and Republic and Indivisible much less what they are supposed to represent.
The Germans of the 1930s and early 40s believed and supported their country and their leaders until they started to get bombed into oblivion. The Japanese were loyal to their emperor until Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Italians were loyal to Mussolini until the Allies moved north from Sicily. People believed in their leaders.
Yes there are vocal minorities that attempt to speak out against their countries when they see injustice. In some countries they are thrown into jail. In other countries they are shot. And if you think it is just other countries remember Kent State and Jackson State in 1970.
We often hear about American Exceptionalism. Every country hears about their exceptionalism. What makes the USA exceptional?
We talk about the rule of law and how justice is blind but it would not take a blind person to see that race and finance tend to show through the blindfold. Why then are minorities who commit small drug offenses far more likely to be incarcerated for those offenses than young white kids.
Or we talk about voting and democracy while we hear everyday about attempts to make it harder and harder for people, especially poor and minorities, to vote.
We talk about smaller less intrusive government and more individual freedoms from the same people who want to take away a woman’s right to decide what to do with her body . They tell us that it is okay to get get drunk but you will be thrown in jail if you get high.
We talk about having the best health care in the world while in reality we have the best health care that money can buy.
We talk about education and opportunity but it comes at the cost of a starting life severely in debt. College tuition keeps going up while the starting pay for college graduates, and everyone else, has been stagnant.
We talk about the beauty of America from the “Red Wood Forest to the Gulf Stream Waters” while fires in those forests and global warming are killing our trees, and Deep Water Horizon pollutes our Gulf Stream.
We talk about how our Government is supposed to keep us safe from all threats foreign and domestic. Yet our Government cannot and will not do anything to keep us from killing ourselves and especially our kids with weapons that are meant for a battlefield. If you want to say the USA is exceptional, since we have more gun homicides than any other country on earth than maybe we are exceptional.
We talk about America as a melting pot of different cultures. But look out our history. The Protestants tried to keep out the Irish Catholics in the 1800s. The country turned away the US St. Louis with thousands of Jews trying to seek refuge and escape the Holocaust. We put our Native Americans on reservations. We kept African Americans as Slaves. We interred Japanese citizens during WWII. We are a country of ghettos and racial segregation. We have never been a melting pot only with very few exceptions. You can drive through the bluest of blue cities and in certain areas you will see only Blacks or only Hispanics. There are Chinatowns, and Moslem areas and Jewish Areas. We are more of a stew than a soup where the ingredients can easily be separated. You can pick out the potatoes, or the carrots, or the meat. Yes we are all in the same pot but we never fully and totally become a homogeneous mixture.
So the next time you hear someone use the phrase “American Exceptionalism”, do not accept it at face value. Ask them what specifically makes us exceptional. And do not let them get away with generalizations or platitudes like saying things such as our Democracy, or our Opportunities or our Freedom. Be prepared to bring up examples of why American exceptionalism is a myth not a reality.