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Exceptionalism matters                                                                                    

Posted at: Jun/13/2023 : Posted by: Mel

Related Category: Politics & Gov, Society, Watching America,

From the beginning of America’s colonial history its people have exemplified a concept called “Exceptionalism.” Exceptionalism is conventionally the basis for producing risk-takers, warriors, leaders and innovators. American Exceptionalism includes the belief that our nation holds a unique responsibility and destiny in the global society. Following the example of the post-revolutionary American democracy other countries have pursued similar democratic models attempting to replicate the American success. Modern America is now entering an era of victimhood characterized by rewarding mediocracy, polarized identity politics and fading personal responsibility that are putting exceptionalism at risk. If American exceptionalism is waning, there could be far-reaching consequences.

There is a true story from World War II where the German’s, after much frustration with escape attempts from Allied prisoners of war, built a special prison camp (Stalag Luft III) where they relocated all the “worst” prisoners. Rather than reducing escape attempts, all the combined escape talent in one place worked together to create one of the greatest prison escapes of all time (reference book and movie “The Great Escape”). In a similar vein, the early days of America were populated by people willing to start life over somewhere new, facing unknown hurdles, no guarantee of success, but the chance to control their own destiny. We call this the pioneer spirit. Ultimately, the North American continent with its wealth of natural resources was populated by a preponderance of immigrants possessing the “pioneer spirit”. With all these risk takers and pioneers in one place the status quo was never good enough and innovation was continuous along with opportunities to create wealth. In general, pioneers want to control their own destiny while concurrently having very little patience for monarchs. This is the foundation for what eventually became a democratic country called the United States of America.

Maybe we are too many generations removed from our pioneering forefathers and are now entering an era of victimhood and an erosion of personal responsibility. There is clearly an increased dependence on government and government assistance. During the last few generations did we give our children too much? In sports we now give medals just for participating and a creative attempt in math is often rewarded more than a correct answer. I understand the value of not beating down a child’s self-esteem, but if there is no difference between winning and losing, why strive to win? Clearly, math does not come easily for everyone. Nevertheless, if you can’t balance your checking account, the bank doesn’t give you a “high-five” and blow it off without consequence. If you miscalculate the path of a satellite orbital injection, as it burns up you should not be drinking a beer and saying “that was cool.” Being diligent enough and producing right answers does matter.

It is clear that the divisive identity politics we see is eroding our national unity along with any sense of shared values. Some of this can be blamed on social media and mass media. We are clearly inundated with a tsunami of information, news and opinion. With each source competing for your attention, the more sensationalized their content, the more we are drawn to it over general news.

Side note:
In my teenage years I recall a conversation with my father in which I naively asked if there was a formula for how to get rich. He said that I should write a book predicting some calamity or disaster. He went on to explain that no matter how outlandish the premise, I would sell at least 100,000 copies. Apparently we are drawn to bad news and doom-and-gloom the same way we have to stare at a car wreck.

If you read enough history you will find that America has always been consumed by political and social turmoil; this is actually one of the messy characteristics of a democracy and multiple political parties. Democracy is not easy. What has changed in American politics over the past few decades is that respect has been replaced with extremism. Where political figures used to disagree on key aspects of their agenda, they respected each other’s right to their differing views. Now we have the “Extremism” of “I’m right and you’re wrong” with no tolerance for alternative points of view.

Winston Churchill once said: “No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

National unity is actually a fiction that exists only when looking at the past with rose tinted glasses and selective memory. There have been a few exceptions; When Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941 and the World Trade Center towers crashed down in 2001 we quickly joined hands in national unity with a common purpose. Other than these select periods in our history, we have always been wrestling with some social or political division.

While it's tempting to attribute our downward trajectory to external factors like growing global competition, the reality is that our failures are self-inflicted. The foundational high standards and personal accountability that once defined our nation have been reframed and vilified through the lens of inclusivity and identity politics. Left unchecked, our current trajectory could turn a nation built on exceptionalism into a nation defined by its attempt to "normalize" everything and everyone. This would mean we are all victims of something, with only an opportunity to strive for mediocrity. The erosion of personal responsibility would mean total government dependence. Anyone ever read George Orwell’s 1984?

But I’m still an optimist and haven’t lost faith in what my country is and can be.

America has faced far tougher challenges and persevered through them. Whether or not America returns to glory is completely dependent on us, and our willingness to rise above individual pettiness through sacrifice and strive to accomplish the “hard things”. On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a stirring speech that would come to symbolize the application of America's exceptionalism and its relentless pursuit of progress. He called for the United States to commit itself to the goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. This speech was not just about the space race; it was about the character of America and its willingness to face challenges head-on.

Kennedy's moonshot speech was a ‘call to action.’ He emphasized the importance of tackling difficult tasks for the sake of learning and growth, asserting that "we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are EASY, but because they are HARD." It was a call for Americans to return to the values of perseverance, determination, and self-reliance that had long been hallmarks of the nation's character.

The moon landing was a triumph for not just America, but the human race. It required this country to invest billions of dollars, thousands of hours of work into the space program, and endure the tragic loss of several American pioneers committed to the cause. Despite all of that, Neil Armstrong became the first human being to step foot on the moon. It demonstrated America’s ability to overcome seemingly overwhelming challenges while achieving what some thought was impossible. Along the way we advanced technology without offshoring or outsourcing.

This does not mean I am advocating for a moon or Mars mission. It does mean that we need to move away from complacency and victimhood towards a unifying shared sense of purpose, pride and accomplishment.

Identity politics may be our biggest enemy to overcome. If each identified group is in some way a victim, where do we draw the line? When do people with curly red hair become a protected class? Rather than finding reasons to separate people into class specific buckets, we should be focusing on chastising and educating those individuals who find reasons to discriminate. Otherwise, we are teaching and incentivizing victimhood over personal responsibility.

Unfortunately, we will still have winners and losers and we should not ignore those who fail to succeed or adapt will. We will always need to provide some assistance to those who are marginalized as society changes or moves past them. There will always be some portion of society that needs whatever assistance we can provide. If we reward personal responsibility and self-accountability we ultimately create more resources for those who need assistance.

The pioneering stock that we are descended from didn’t blame others for the shortcomings in their lives, they took risks and embraced doing the “hard thing”. Sir Edmund Hillary once said, “We don’t conquer the mountain, we conquer ourselves.”

Now more than ever, we face an enormous number of global challenges that demand innovative thinking and action. Domestically we are challenged by an aging transportation network, insufficient power grid, water shortages and a host of other hurdles. Now is the time to encourage risk takers and innovators to look for ways to overcome the hard things.

I know that many people will say that America is all “screwed up”. I agree that there is much we can and need to improve upon, but that does not mean we need to tear all our institutions down and start over. There is a reason that so many immigrants every year leave the poverty and corruption of their homelands in the belief they can do better here. Many years ago while in the Army I had to opportunity to go to parts of the world that made me feel like being an American was like winning the lottery.

Another important perspective I need to share came much later in my life. My family hosted a number of long-term foreign exchange students. These were not the normal 9 months and done, instead the average stay exceeded 3 years. One young man came to us from Saudi Arabia. In his second day at the local public high school the US History teacher was encouraging a healthy classroom debate on current events. I do not recall the specific subject, but the teacher told me there was a heated discussion on both sides about something then President Obama had said or proposed. Apparently, some of the students had very derogatory comments about the President. In response our young man started going around the classroom trying to get some of his new friends to stop saying what they were saying. It took a little while to pry out of him his concern. He was worried that his new friends would get arrested for saying negative things about a sitting President. Clearly, freedom of speech is not common across the globe, but we do take it for granted.

America is actually a pretty exceptional place. I know that poverty, discrimination, wealth gaps and a host of other challenges mean we have problems that need solutions. If American Exceptionalism is not dead. We have the creativity and resources to attack these issues and reinvent ourselves along the way. Victimhood and identity politics need to fade in favor of self-accountability and the pioneer spirit of trying to achieve. There will always, unfortunately, be those less fortunate at success, but if we accomplish the bigger challenges as a nation, we will have the resource to help those needing help.

It’s not too late to reclaim Exceptionalism. We can start by doing the hard things.

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