What does "American Exceptionalism" mean to you? And do you think it's a GOOD thing?

[Ken Burch]

This term gets used a lot in domestic political discourse...but can anyone agree on what it actually means?

And is there a reason this country SHOULD still try to present itself as being somehow different from the rest of the world, or immune to the rest of the world's problems?

[RKP5637]

1. IMO "American Exceptionalism" today means "American Ignorance." n/t

[asdjrocky]

2. Total scam.

It's was made up to make us think we are better than everyone else in the world.

We are not.

[jah the baptist]

6. once upon a time we were unique in the sense of freedoms like speech

but lots of countries have adopted similar approaches to dissent post ww2

hey man, long time no see :-)

[asdjrocky]

11. And in many, many ways

our freedom of speech is on tenuous grounds at best.

America has given 3 good things to the world, American music (mostly the blues & hip hop) American Baseball, and representative democracy. We've been doing our best to bastardize that last one since the constitutional congress.

[jah the baptist]

3. 2 things one good one bad

the good version - we are a nation founded on principals and not an ethnicity

the bad version - we are better than everyone else and other countries dont really count

[LWolf]

4. It means we're better than everyone else, so

we get to decide the rules. And there are different rules for us than for the rest of the world.

[monmouth]

5. It is a thing of the past if it ever existed at all. After WW2 and Korea

the US thought their **** didn't stink, I think that's where it came from. Not anymore by a long shot.

[Ernesto]

12. The fact is: the rest of the world was in shambles after WWII

A temporary gravy train for US manufacturing and our comparative standard of living.

[jah the baptist]

7. a comedian whose name i dont remember that i saw in austin

in the early 2000s at the apex of the boosh era of nationalism comes on stage and asks enthusiastically

so is america the greatest country in the world or what?

crowd cheers wildly

comedian deadpans

so nobody here has been to the netherlands?

[Ozymanithrax]

8. American exceptionalism is a nationalistic myth...

I think its disadvantages outweighs any positive benefit.

[quinnox]

9. basically it means America is the biggest baddest country

and that it does anything it wants and orders all the other countries to do what it says.


Whether that is a good thing depends on perspective and opinion.

[Dawson Leery]

10. American Exceptional-ism:

American Exceptional-ism: A myth that justifies and legitimizes illegal activities such has illegal wars (Vietnam/Iraq) and overthrowing democratically elected governments
such as the government of Salvadore Allende in Chile.

[marmar]

13. A dated crock......

It was easy to be exceptional after WWII. ..... The United States is like an aging movie star, still clinging to past glories, unable to accept that the marquee days are over.

[Ken Burch]

16. "We're Ready For Our Close-up, Mr. Breitbart"?

OR "Gloria, Gloria Swanson Hallelujah".

[nadinbrzezinski]

No it is not a good thing

it is integral to Empire, and goes back to Jacksonian days, when somebody revived John Winthrop's speech on that city on a hill, a new Jerusalem.

It is functional of American Empire and myth.

And this is very much the very short Cliff's Notes on this. It literally should take pages upon pages to really get to the meat of it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. No it is not a good thing

it is integral to Empire, and goes back to Jacksonian days, when somebody revived John Winthrop's speech on that city on a hill, a new Jerusalem.

It is functional of American Empire and myth.

And this is very much the very short Cliff's Notes on this. It literally should take pages upon pages to really get to the meat of it.

[bemildred]

15. Jingo horseshit. nt