Political campaigns, like advertising campaigns, can live and die with slogans, sound bites and catch-phrases. They also, increasingly, engage in battles over the meanings of particular words and phrases. Consider the argument over what Bernie Sanders’ “democratic socialism” means, just as one example. Or, if you want something a bit more snarky, roll back to President Clinton’s dissembling over the meaning of the word “is” in relation to the Monica Lewinsky affair.
One phrase that’s always bothered me in this regard is “american exceptionalism.” It’s a phrase whose meaning always seems to be contextual, no matter if it’s advanced as a positive or as a negative. Some see it as a basis/justification for America living by a different set of rules than the rest of the world i.e. as “globocop,” justified in initiating force against other nations. Others see it as an epithet in that same regard, and argue we do not have a unique right to intervene in world affairs in that fashion. Then there are those who either embrace it as a declaration that this is the greatest nation in the world/history, and those who deride it as a jingoistic bit of nationalism/nativism.
Both these meanings (and others) are covered in in the various Web resources that seek to define the phrase. However, we find the truth in a third meaning.
America’s form of government was a radical departure from the norm. We may not think, nowadays, that the idea of a truly limited and representative government, devoid of monarchs or nobility, is something outlandish, but back then it was indeed an alien concept to all but philosophers and historians. The people who populated the colonies knew a Europe ruled by kings. The American Experiment in limited government is the true American exceptionalism. The embrace of individual liberty, which is itself at the heart of capitalism and free markets, produced the greatest nation in the history of the world. It is that exceptionalism and, vitally, its principles of freedom and the primacy of individuals, that we should embrace, extol and glorify. It is that exceptionalism that we should be proud of, and it is that exceptionalism that we should support by demanding the core principles remain paramount.
Nowhere in this form of exceptionalism is an imposition of our ideas of global order on other nations. Nowhere is there authority for America to be an initiator of force in foreign lands. Nowhere is there any mention of militarism. Nowhere is there the premise that, because we’re great, we’re either authorized or obligated to impose it on others.
That exceptionalism is, unfortunately, one that neither today’s Left nor today’s Right wants anything to do with. The Right wants all the things my preferred form of exceptionalism does not offer. The Left doesn’t like limited government or individual rights, so it sneers at the notion of american exceptionalism. The Left, instead, prefers that government be the solution to everything, and to agglomerate and sort individuals into identity groups, each of which gets different rights and priority on the grievance hierarchy. Both are wrong. Both ignore what truly made and make this nation “exceptional.”
“American Exceptionalism” is neither an epithet nor a “manifest destiny” declaration of moral authority over the rest of the world. It is an embrace of the values that made America great, that inspired the rest of the world to pursue freedom and self-determination, and that makes individual liberty paramount. That is exceptionalism done right.
And that is what I hope President-Elect Trump embraces as a governing philosophy.
Loading ...
Active Comment Threads
Most Commented Posts
Universal Background Checks – A Back Door to Universal Registration
COVID Mask Follies
When Everything Is Illegal…
An Anti-Vax Inflection Point?
“Not In My Name”
The Great Social Media Crackup
War Comes Through The Overton Window
The First Rule of Italian Driving
Most Active Commenters