American Exceptionalism
Nov. 9th, 2010 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribSo, Rand Simberg posted some thoughts on American Exceptionalism. My reply at his site was long enough that I decided to recycle it here.
Having spent five years in the military defending America, I believe in American exceptionalism. Speaking strictly for myself, exceptionalism isn't inherent - it's earned. It's like saying that "my football team is the best." Win-loss records matter, but the final arbiter is who wins this week's game. This leads to two observations:
1) A team can start the season with the best record ever, but if the team has spent the off-season sitting on their couches eating Cheetos, they probably won't win many games. Preparation and effort matter. It's not how hard you play (or fight) it's how hard you prepare to play. It doesn't matter how well motivated I am - if I had to run a marathon tomorrow I couldn't.
2) Exceptionalism is relative. Being the best football team means beating other teams. Those other teams may be improving over time. Last year's victory by four touchdowns may be this year's victory by a last-second field goal. Having seen data that suggest Europe has higher upward mobility than the US, I'm concerned that the other side is catching up.
In short, results matter. Saying "America is exceptional" is true but trivial. The real question is "how do we stay exceptional?"
Having spent five years in the military defending America, I believe in American exceptionalism. Speaking strictly for myself, exceptionalism isn't inherent - it's earned. It's like saying that "my football team is the best." Win-loss records matter, but the final arbiter is who wins this week's game. This leads to two observations:
1) A team can start the season with the best record ever, but if the team has spent the off-season sitting on their couches eating Cheetos, they probably won't win many games. Preparation and effort matter. It's not how hard you play (or fight) it's how hard you prepare to play. It doesn't matter how well motivated I am - if I had to run a marathon tomorrow I couldn't.
2) Exceptionalism is relative. Being the best football team means beating other teams. Those other teams may be improving over time. Last year's victory by four touchdowns may be this year's victory by a last-second field goal. Having seen data that suggest Europe has higher upward mobility than the US, I'm concerned that the other side is catching up.
In short, results matter. Saying "America is exceptional" is true but trivial. The real question is "how do we stay exceptional?"
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Date: 2010-11-10 07:43 am (UTC)What concens me is that what is perceived as exceptional was more apparent when I first visited the USA in the 70s and is much less so.
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Date: 2010-11-10 02:30 pm (UTC)perceived as exceptional was more apparent the other guys are catching up or we're spending too much time on the couch...
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Date: 2010-11-10 03:59 pm (UTC)I think the bit I find most alarming is the poor state of infrastructure, especially roads, in comparison to what I see when I visit home. We also both noticed that while the 80s/90s were boom building times across Europe for new "things", a lot of the US stuff that was new a couple of decades before it was in Europe was now looking old and tatty and needed replacement.