A phrase that's been in the news as of late is "American Exceptionalism." These words are bandied about both by conservatives and liberals. All throughout this nation's history, presidents and other leaders have touted that the US is the best and greatest nation on the face of the earth.
To this I say Phttttttttttttt!
Don't get me wrong. I love where I live. I cherish the ideals of democracy and I value the constitutional rights of free speech and the freedom to worship/not worship the religion of my choice. I think the country I live in has done a lot of good things in the world and we have the potential to be an ethical leader in a lot of areas.
But I do not think that Americans are any more exceptional than the citizens of any other country. Every person on this planet has the potential to make a positive difference and it doesn't matter if that individual lives in the US, Australia, Botswana, Iran, Sweden, Malaysia, Uruguay or anywhere else.
If a person or nation feels the need to run around announcing to themselves AND the rest of the world that they are exceptional...it most likely means that the individual or country suffers from sort of inferiority complex.
(Note: My feelings on this topic dovetail nicely with my comments on today's Line by Line post which will be popping up in another 90 minutes or so.)
To this I say Phttttttttttttt!
Don't get me wrong. I love where I live. I cherish the ideals of democracy and I value the constitutional rights of free speech and the freedom to worship/not worship the religion of my choice. I think the country I live in has done a lot of good things in the world and we have the potential to be an ethical leader in a lot of areas.
But I do not think that Americans are any more exceptional than the citizens of any other country. Every person on this planet has the potential to make a positive difference and it doesn't matter if that individual lives in the US, Australia, Botswana, Iran, Sweden, Malaysia, Uruguay or anywhere else.
If a person or nation feels the need to run around announcing to themselves AND the rest of the world that they are exceptional...it most likely means that the individual or country suffers from sort of inferiority complex.
(Note: My feelings on this topic dovetail nicely with my comments on today's Line by Line post which will be popping up in another 90 minutes or so.)
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