American exceptionalism

:Amerocentrism redirects here. For the generalised topic, see Ethnocentrism

Arguments against American exceptionalism

Opponents of the notion of American exceptionalism argue that, while all societies differ in their history and social structures, the notion that the United States is uniquely virtuous overstates the importance of differences between American and other present-day First World countries. It ignores aspects of American history and society that contradict ideals of freedom and equality, such as slavery, segregation of schools in the South, the annexation by force of the Hawaiian islands, McCarthyism, the poverty and sometimes ghettoization of millions of citizens, the inequality of health care and education between rich and poor, and the genocide and displacement of the Native American population. Proponents of American exceptionalism counter that these examples indeed show the failure of America to live up to its putative ideals. But actions such as these are hardly unique to American history, and that on the strength of those ideals, later generations of Americans have admitted these errors and have made attempts to redress them, through programs such as affirmative action.

Related Topics:
First World - Slavery - McCarthyism - Genocide - Native American - Affirmative action

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A typical argument against the American exceptionalist position is to identify positive qualities in specific other countries that correspond to allegedly unique qualities of the United States. These arguments are seldom convincing to proponents, who reply that the historical uniqueness of the United States is the result of a combination of many factors and not captured by particular aspects of the national character.

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A further argument which can support an exceptionalist view, but not an innate exceptionalist view, is that accidents of geography (limited borders and a growing internal market), history (avoidance of the worst effects of 19th- and 20th-century warfare) and natural resources (for example, gold, oil, arable land, and fish stocks) have given the US an economic boost in the short term. This advantage can now be seen diminishing slightly but increasingly due to the effects of globalization, which has a mitigating influence on geographic differences.

Related Topics:
Gold - Oil - Globalization

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The article "Canadian and American politics compared" explores this issue by contrasting a nation often considered similar to the United States that has had a quite different history.

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