Thinking Out Loud
Have more than two conversations with an intelligent European, and you'll discover two irreconcilable notions about America:
1. America is no different than any other nation; it only thinks it is. It ought to be made to play by the same rules as everyone else. America has no right to hold itself up as a model for any nation. It's historical "exceptionalism" is a myth.
2. America is unique because it is so powerful, and therefore it can expect to be resented, ridiculed, villified, even attacked. Therefore, too, it has to be subject to special restrictions and handicaps in the international setting. Its history, too, is fraught with blood-curdling aberrations that place it outside the mainstream of civilization, as exemplified by, say, France. When Rumsfeld dismisses "Old Europe," that's arrogance. When political leaders of Frence, Germany, and Spain maintain their grip on the electorate by non-stop trampling the American flag, that's good governance.
All the good ideas Americans ever had are really European ideas (democracy, religious tolerance, freedom of speech, secular government). All the bad things about America's history (slavery, racism, wars of conquest, Indian genocide, religious fanaticism) are its own inventions having nothing to do with Europe, and they signify how uncivilized and brutish the place is.
* * *
Americans tend to believe our nation, for all its flaws and historical stumbles, is a beacon of freedom, and that we are a generous people who willingly help out less fortunate nations.
So if you're the rest of the world, why not encourage us to think that about ourselves, then remind us to live up to our standards? See what good can come of it.
One wonders whether the world would be better off if more people encouraged the citizens of the United States in our will to believe that we are a generous, warm-hearted, freedom-loving people, and applauded us for it. And let us believe we are respected, and that our respect in the world depends on our spreading the towering wealth we've accumulated, for the good of all.
It would seem to me to be at least more productive than constantly bashing and belittling the America dream about itself, to be fixated on making us believe we're the worst nation that ever marched across history's stage.
1. America is no different than any other nation; it only thinks it is. It ought to be made to play by the same rules as everyone else. America has no right to hold itself up as a model for any nation. It's historical "exceptionalism" is a myth.
2. America is unique because it is so powerful, and therefore it can expect to be resented, ridiculed, villified, even attacked. Therefore, too, it has to be subject to special restrictions and handicaps in the international setting. Its history, too, is fraught with blood-curdling aberrations that place it outside the mainstream of civilization, as exemplified by, say, France. When Rumsfeld dismisses "Old Europe," that's arrogance. When political leaders of Frence, Germany, and Spain maintain their grip on the electorate by non-stop trampling the American flag, that's good governance.
All the good ideas Americans ever had are really European ideas (democracy, religious tolerance, freedom of speech, secular government). All the bad things about America's history (slavery, racism, wars of conquest, Indian genocide, religious fanaticism) are its own inventions having nothing to do with Europe, and they signify how uncivilized and brutish the place is.
* * *
Americans tend to believe our nation, for all its flaws and historical stumbles, is a beacon of freedom, and that we are a generous people who willingly help out less fortunate nations.
So if you're the rest of the world, why not encourage us to think that about ourselves, then remind us to live up to our standards? See what good can come of it.
One wonders whether the world would be better off if more people encouraged the citizens of the United States in our will to believe that we are a generous, warm-hearted, freedom-loving people, and applauded us for it. And let us believe we are respected, and that our respect in the world depends on our spreading the towering wealth we've accumulated, for the good of all.
It would seem to me to be at least more productive than constantly bashing and belittling the America dream about itself, to be fixated on making us believe we're the worst nation that ever marched across history's stage.
Labels: America
