{"id":21,"date":"2008-04-04T17:04:42","date_gmt":"2008-04-04T22:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/eye\/2008\/04\/04\/taking-exception-to-american-exceptionalism\/"},"modified":"2008-08-31T15:18:19","modified_gmt":"2008-08-31T20:18:19","slug":"taking-exception-to-american-exceptionalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/eye\/2008\/04\/04\/taking-exception-to-american-exceptionalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Exception to American Exceptionalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/a>I spent my elementary school years in Africa, and when my family returned to the United States, I found it strange that my classmates and teachers talked as if the United States was the only country in the world mattered. Still to this day I wonder why most Americans believe there is no need to listen to what\u2019s happening in other countries or to learn from them. What I didn\u2019t realize was that I was taking exception to \u201cAmerican exceptionalism<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The traditional explanation for America\u2019s failure to listen is American exceptionalism<\/a><\/u>,\u00a0 which simply put is the belief that other countries cannot compare to the United States because it is so special.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0in 1831 created the concept as he traveled through the United States.<\/p>\n

\"alexis-de-toc.jpg\"<\/a>\u00a0(Doesn\u2019t he look young for being\u00a0a notorious sociological commentator and world traveler?)<\/p>\n

Later sociologist Martin Lipset<\/a><\/u> cast it as the historical explanation for American\u2019s rejection of socialism and the welfare state.<\/p>\n

\"lipset.jpg\"<\/a>\u00a0(Now he looks more like the stereotypical famous sociologist.)<\/p>\n

Exceptionalist beliefs differ from, but go hand in hand with, convictions of moral superiority, ethnocentrism, and nationalism.<\/p>\n

Is America so special it does not have to listen to the rest of the world? Of course not, but the world thinks Americans hold that opinion of themselves.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0A 2007 BBC international opinion poll in 18 countries <\/a>concluded \u201cListen <\/strong>more is the world\u2019s message to the US\u201d\u00a0 The poll found that most of our allies did not<\/strong>\u00a0agree with the United States handling of:\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n