On American Exceptionalism

In a September 11th New York Times op-ed, Russian President Vladimir Putin challenged one of the bedrock assumptions Americans make about ourselves: that we’re somehow different and special.  “It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” wrote Putin.  “We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.”

High minded words from the Russian strongman, but I wondered if there was any truth to what he was saying.  After all:

The Longfellow Bridge used to connect Boston to Cambridge, but Cambridge-bound traffic is blocked—for 3 1/2 years!—while the 1,700 foot bridge is rehabbed.  I wonder if the Army engineers who took 10 hours in 1945 to build a 1,000 foot bridge across the Rhine would consider our modern timetables exceptional?

This fall, some in Congress are gearing up to hold the nation’s creditworthiness hostage unless their demands to defund Obamacare are met.  It’s certainly a flawed law, but it’s an unexceptional strategy to suggest that America default on US Treasury Bonds unless some politicians get their way.  Sort of like pointing a loaded gun at a kid who won’t eat his peas. 

For exceptionalism these days, we breathlessly wait for the latest product announcement from Apple.  And it’s true that the innovation from Silicon Valley is the envy of the world.  Just as Hollywood remains peerless in the global entertainment industry.  But while this sort of exceptionalism grabs the headlines, it’s tangential to the daily life of the average American.  Sure, my iPhone allows me to pass the time as my morning train takes 20-30 minutes to trundle 9 miles through the congested one-track tunnel between Newark and New York, but I’d rather have back the 13 minute ride and Motorola StarTAC of my youth. 

Above all, it seems to me that the truly exceptional wouldn’t continually point to themselves and say “Look at me.  I’m exceptional.”  One need only YouTube “Rafael Nadal Press Conference” to see how the exceptional carefully measure their words about themselves.  Instead, the exceptional leave it to others to either acknowledge or disparage the exceptionality.  And by that test, according to Putin, we’re still exceptional.   

And yes, I’ll be upgrading to the iPhone 5s.