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I never took "American exceptionalism" to mean the USA was morally superior. I always saw it as a dusting-off of Manifest Destiny, which was always morally ambiguous.
American exceptionalism means the USA is destined to be the leading country of the world, regardless of concerns for morality. Its demographics, geography, momentum, wealth, and power make it unstoppable.
The poverty rate in the U.S. is currently less than 12.3%. That is the lowest rate since the mid-2000s and close to historic lows in this country.
And most of the "poor" in the U.S. have a material standard of living that would be considered middle-class by most of the world's standards.
But, you didn't say you were comparing to "most of the world", you specifically responded to the two mentioned entities; Canada and Europe, stating that to live the lifestyles in either would be akin to living in America circa 1950's.
You obviously didn't read the links because the stats are compiled in such a way to compare exactly those "standards" of living.
I repeat, get out of your bubble and look around you. Travelling extensively in the U.S. and Europe reveals there's nothing exceptional about the U.S. worth bragging about to the extent described here.
The U.S. has been a frontrunner for decades of post WWII development but that pace has slowed considerably due to a number of metrics from education to the stalled upward mobility of your society in general.
What is evident to most is that merely claiming exceptionalism because you've heard that phrase repeated so many times causes reticence in striving for improvement, complacency if you will.
All western societies got to be where they are by constantly demanding improvement, not being satisfied with the merely satisfactory. Take Kennedy's speech regarding the race to the moon as an example... had the U.S. thought it was 'exceptional enough', one small step would not likely have happened, would it?
The U.S. has been exceptional and will be again. At this moment however, there are too many petty distractions and it's coasting on past accomplishments and resting on it's laurels. I'm sure the condition is temporary.
Why is that always the typical answer for someone who understands that we’re not the greatest nation on earth? Better yet, what makes you think we are?
Why is it always "America sucks" for someone who does NOT understand just how good we have it in this country.
Again, when you see how others live in other countries, you will realize that this is, indeed, an exceptional country.
I don't have any rights in some countries. You don't have any rights in some countries.
And as was pointed out - which I thought went without saying, but apparently not:
We have a Constitution that was created to PROTECT US from the government overreach. Not that many seem to understand that since they want to do away with so much of it because they are control freaks who want the government to be their parents.
This is, very much so, the land of opportunity. Plenty of countries around the world do NOT have the same opportunities. It's all on you, in this country, no one can stop you if you really, really want to make something of your life.
All I hear from the sour people is "we destroy, we cause problems, we make wars", but instead of realizing that there is never, never has been, nor will there ever be a "perfect country", and that what we got going on in this country is pretty fricken amazing, some people just want to whine and moan about anything negative.
As much as some of the chowder heads spew nonsense in their posts in this thread about how no one on the right sees anything negative, I could say the same for some of those very chowder heads who never see the positives, and there are plenty, that this country offers them just because they are citizens here.
If people can't see the positives here, and how many there are, and how this country really is an exceptional place to live over so many other places in the world, then fricken leave. Go to that so called utopia you all think exists.
American exceptionalism means the USA is destined to be the leading country of the world, regardless of concerns for morality. Its demographics, geography, momentum, wealth, and power make it unstoppable.
Why is it always "America sucks" for someone who does NOT understand just how good we have it in this country.
Again, when you see how others live in other countries, you will realize that this is, indeed, an exceptional country.
I don't have any rights in some countries. You don't have any rights in some countries.
And as was pointed out - which I thought went without saying, but apparently not:
We have a Constitution that was created to PROTECT US from the government overreach. Not that many seem to understand that since they want to do away with so much of it because they are control freaks who want the government to be their parents.
This is, very much so, the land of opportunity. Plenty of countries around the world do NOT have the same opportunities. It's all on you, in this country, no one can stop you if you really, really want to make something of your life.
All I hear from the sour people is "we destroy, we cause problems, we make wars", but instead of realizing that there is never, never has been, nor will there ever be a "perfect country", and that what we got going on in this country is pretty fricken amazing, some people just want to whine and moan about anything negative.
As much as some of the chowder heads spew nonsense in their posts in this thread about how no one on the right sees anything negative, I could say the same for some of those very chowder heads who never see the positives, and they are plenty, that this country offers them just because they are citizens here.
If people can't see the positives here, and how many there are, and how this country really is an exceptional place to live over so many other places in the world, then fricken leave. Go to that so called utopia you all think exists.
No one is saying that the U.S sucks but for a country that’s only 200 plus we’ve reached a level of greed, corruption, etc I’m betting took other countries much longer to reach then we have. No such thing as a utopian society/country either. Like other countries our government favors the rich and WE let them because we’re easily divided. Hell in third world countries they overtake the government if they get out of hand.
Again we have become the biggest arms dealer in the world, let that sink in the moment.
Sure we have it good here just as some other countries do as well but we are FAR from being the most amazing, awesome perfect, etc in the world.
American exceptionalism means the USA is destined to be the leading country of the world, regardless of concerns for morality. Its demographics, geography, momentum, wealth, and power make it unstoppable.
America was pretty stopped in Vietnam. Overestimating America's power projection has caused this nation a lot of problems.
America was pretty stopped in Vietnam. Overestimating America's power projection has caused this nation a lot of problems.
Yes, and Rome was sacked by the Gauls before conquering them.
It's not going to be a perfect win record. What matters is the long run. Hell Vietnam is practically an ally now against China, and they've emulated our economy and society since the 90s.
The USA is just getting started.
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