In “Decline of American Exceptionalism” in Friday’s New York Times, columnist Charles M. Blow wrote about the increasing pessimism among Americans, reflected in a recent Pew Research Center poll. Only about half of Americans agree with the statement “Our people are not perfect but our culture is superior to others.” This is down from the 60 percent who agreed with the statement in 2002. Among young Americans, Blow says, the percentage agreeing with the statement that American culture is superior is lower than among young people in Germany, Spain, or Britain.
Blow cites other polls that reveal more or less the same thing. Many Americans think America is in decline, while China is on the rise. Blow labels all this a “dangerous pessimism,” arguing that in order to shake it off, and recover America’s greatness, “We must innovate our way out.” He argues that if American Exceptionalism” derives from what Americans have done differently from others in the world (he calls this American “grit”), rather than from God’s will, then it follows that if Americans think they’re in decline, they can use that grit to become great again. He concludes by arguing that the path to a great American future lies in investing in infrastructure and education rather than embracing a “cut and grow” philosophy.
Because Alexis de Tocqueville was the first to talk about America in terms of exceptionalism, I must turn—yes, sorry, yet again—to my worn and greasy, dog-eared copy of Democracy in America. There Tocqueville observes that “the position of the Americans is … rather exceptional, and … [probably] no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.”
Tocqueville meant by this that compared to other democratic revolutions, American democracy was not only lucky, but also exceptional among all the democracies in history for the way it started. Instead of being built on the ruins of an old aristocracy that first had to be destroyed, American democracy was built on a brand new foundation. The result was a democracy with an equality of social conditions—something never seen before.
Any American who has spent time abroad, or read a book or two about people in faraway places, or who simply possesses an imagination, understands that Americans are hardly alone in feeling they are exceptional. With some notable exceptions, most people are convinced they, too, live in the greatest country on earth and that their way of life, and their values, are superior to everybody else’s. Exceptionalism, then, is a relative thing—a powerful illusion that seems to well up naturally. As long as there are distinct nations and cultures on this planet, exceptionalist feelings will endure.
Blow’s column was directed at the way belief in American Exceptionalism undergirds a healthy America. Yet there have been many dark times in history (Nazi Germany, to take the most egregious example) when feelings of exceptionalism supported a terrible and dangerous nationalism. Exceptionalist feelings range from irrational feelings that a certain people are racially superior to others, to deep attachments to such things as cuisine, to rational assessments that one’s culture has produced astounding works of philosophy or art, or that one’s country has made good laws protecting individual rights, or come up with good ways to run an economy or make the trains run on time.
Although exceptionalism always comes with closed religious communities, cultures or countries, it doesn’t necessarily mean intolerance for others, and critics of American Exceptionalism (me included) must acknowledge that it does not follow that those who support American Exceptionalism are intolerant of foreign countries or foreign ways of doing things. Yet talking out loud about exceptionalism always reveals at least some small amount of insecurity, even if mixed in with feelings of proper pride. (As an aside, exceptionalism extends to the local level—as in New Yorkers feeling certain that they’re superior to everybody else and Ohioans being equally certain they’re superior to New Yorkers.)
Many Americans reject the idea of American Exceptionalism because, knowing history, they realize that exceptionalism is dangerous. Leftists reject the idea because of examples of America behaving badly in the world and because they think America is deeply flawed for never having overcome class divisions and racism. Still others reject American Exceptionalism because they think that when broadcast around the world, it invariably comes off as arrogant, and therefore does us harm.
At this point, probably using the word “exceptional” is so loaded with connotations of superiority and condescension that it’s become useless in genuine political discourse. Yet America is indeed different from other nations—in a good way—in that we offer a great historical experiment testing whether a nation that is not bound together by race, ethnicity, a common language or a common religion, but rather by shared allegiance to the abstract principles of liberty and justice in a Constitution, can hold together over the long haul.
If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, American Exceptionalism is the last refuge of American politicians. Beginning with speeches given by Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush, loudly proclaiming belief in American Exceptionalism has been fashionable for some politicians. Today it’s turned into a litmus test for Republican presidential candidates, and answering “no” to the question, “Do you believe in American Exceptionalism?” spells certain doom. In the eyes of many conservatives, it is precisely because President Obama does not talk about American Exceptionalism that his patriotism is called into question.
Feelings of exceptionalism, when moderate and unselfconscious, can be helpful to a people, making them feel they they belong to a good society. Endlessly talking about it, as we know all too well, can be very dangerous.
