AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM

Some politicians, and their cheerleaders in the media, like to toss around the concept of "American exceptionalism", and how much it means to them, as part of the endless game of patriotic one-upping. They attempted to embarrass Barack Obama when he said that he believes America is exceptional, in the same way people in other countries feel their country is exceptional. Apparently there was little political hay to be made, because the controversy was quickly dropped, but the question of our country's being somehow special beyond mere national pride, as some universal truth, is worth exploring. After all, it has been brought up, and it will be brought up again.
Is it the country itself--our half of the North American continent? If so, how is the arbitrarily defined area known as the U.S.A. better than the other half of the continent and the rest of the world? Are our mountains higher? Our prairies more golden? Our oceans whiter with foam? Is the United States exceptional because of the people who reside within the borders? True, the United States is home to descendants of practically everywhere else, but many other countries are similarly populated, and more will be as the world grows more homogeneous all the time.
And science has proven that there is but one race: human.
America may be one of the first, but it is certainly not the only multi-cultural society. And yes, within our borders more people from differing cultures attempt to get along peacefully with each other than is evident in many other societies. But we still have human failings. And it seems to be that most Americans who most stridently insist on America's unique status tend also to define "true Americans" in restrictive terms. Yes, individuals are valued, and given many opportunities, but this happens in some other nations as well, and one look at our country's current situation is enough to remind us that not everyone gets the same opportunities.
Our founding principles, while not exceptional, are unusual. America was the first nation founded on core principles of the Enlightenment: equality of all, and the universal endowment of inalienable rights. As such, America has continued to survive with those principles more or less intact, despite some very rough episodes in our history. Since our founding most nations, new and old, have followed our example, but most have been nowhere near as fortunate as the United States in adhering to our ideals. A few countries, such as Britain, have come to the Enlightenment gradually. Others, like France, Germany, Italy and Japan, took to the Enlightenment after a series of severe shocks. In our hemisphere, only Canada and Costa Rica have, like the U.S., remained steadily democratic for any length of time.
So our country is the first to break with the traditional method of nation founding: clans, following strong and successful leaders, convinced of their superiority over the rest of the human race, went from there in search of conquest and plunder, eventually forming what we call nations. The United States, unlike the others, has its origins in the conviction that all humans are equal. We have conquered and plundered, however, and our history is rife with internal imperfections in putting equality into actual practice, and we are not arrived yet. Still we have made slow and halting progress, but progress nonetheless, up to the present time. Even with our tenacious imperfections, we still remain generally committed to egalitarian goals.
Here, if anywhere, is America's exceptional standing among nations: a long standing commitment to securing for humanity equal rights including "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." But if our stated goals are the achievement of equal rights belonging to all people, then the concept that our country is exceptional is by its nature un-American.