This blog will allow me to blow of steam from my frustrations about the current economic, political and social environment in America. Having recently retired, I now have more time to both read about and comment on "current events".
It is disheartening that Americans always feel that they must, at all times and under all circumstances, wrap everything in "American exceptionalism" ("...we are a beacon of opportunity and freedom...") even when describing facts which paint a completely different picture of America and Americans. This need to immediately frame the discussion in the context of the supposed "American exceptionalism" prevents us from truly appreciating the depravity to which we, too, are capable of descending, and prevents an HONEST self-examination.
This "enhanced interrogation" scandal is but the latest of a continuing stream of actions by Americans which are anything by "exceptional" in the positive sense:
Slavery; the Civil War; racial discrimination for 100 years after the Emancipation Declaration, continuing to this very day; McCarthyism; assassinations of Presidents and other leaders; the Vietnam War; the "Axis of Evil"; the lies and deception surrounding the Iraqi WMD; NSA; Abu Ghraib atrocities; Guantanamo; and the list can go on and on.
This compulsive need to cloak these kinds of events and facts with "American exceptionalism" (which supposedly makes all these issues relatively unimportant) only shows the fragility of America's and Americans' continued belief in their own "essential goodness" and "exceptionalism" - we are scared to admit to ourselves that we are potentially just as stupid and evil as any other country. Such delusional behavior prevents real and lasting solutions.
Yes, agreed - that is certainly the image of America I had when I immigrated here over 50 years ago, and is, in many ways, still true. However, more and more, especially when the military and perceived "national security" are involved, Americans now switch to a hyper-patriotic mode, the "love it or leave it" syndrome, which prevents us from learning important lessons from some of our more dramatic failiures (Vietnam, and most recently, Afghanistan and Iraq) - and the enhanced interrogation scandal is certainly one of those failures. Even beyond that, however, politician and opinion-makers like Mr. Friedman, use the "exceptionalism" argument much more broadly in order to avoid hard truths about where we are no longer "the biggest", "the best", "the richest" etc., in order not to have to make difficult political and policy decision. Up until recently, and even now, it is not unusual to hear politicians pontificate about how we have the best medical system (even after ACA that is still laughable), or that The American Dream is still alive and well (not - France now has greater upward mobility than the US). So, in many ways, "American exceptionalism" has become a cop-out for not facing tough issues....
This "enhanced interrogation" scandal is but the latest of a continuing stream of actions by Americans which are anything by "exceptional" in the positive sense:
Slavery; the Civil War; racial discrimination for 100 years after the Emancipation Declaration, continuing to this very day; McCarthyism; assassinations of Presidents and other leaders; the Vietnam War; the "Axis of Evil"; the lies and deception surrounding the Iraqi WMD; NSA; Abu Ghraib atrocities; Guantanamo; and the list can go on and on.
This compulsive need to cloak these kinds of events and facts with "American exceptionalism" (which supposedly makes all these issues relatively unimportant) only shows the fragility of America's and Americans' continued belief in their own "essential goodness" and "exceptionalism" - we are scared to admit to ourselves that we are potentially just as stupid and evil as any other country. Such delusional behavior prevents real and lasting solutions.
Response to ConcernedCitizen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/opinion/thomas-friedman-were-always-still-americans.html?comments#permid=13547213:13551640
Yes, agreed - that is certainly the image of America I had when I immigrated here over 50 years ago, and is, in many ways, still true. However, more and more, especially when the military and perceived "national security" are involved, Americans now switch to a hyper-patriotic mode, the "love it or leave it" syndrome, which prevents us from learning important lessons from some of our more dramatic failiures (Vietnam, and most recently, Afghanistan and Iraq) - and the enhanced interrogation scandal is certainly one of those failures.
Even beyond that, however, politician and opinion-makers like Mr. Friedman, use the "exceptionalism" argument much more broadly in order to avoid hard truths about where we are no longer "the biggest", "the best", "the richest" etc., in order not to have to make difficult political and policy decision. Up until recently, and even now, it is not unusual to hear politicians pontificate about how we have the best medical system (even after ACA that is still laughable), or that The American Dream is still alive and well (not - France now has greater upward mobility than the US).
So, in many ways, "American exceptionalism" has become a cop-out for not facing tough issues....