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American exceptionalism is a blessing and a curse. It gave the whole world the Internet, reaching the moon and the microwaves oven, among many other things, but

American exceptionalism is a blessing and a curse. It gave the whole world the Internet, reaching the moon and the microwaves oven, among many other things, but at the same time, it is used as facile excuse to avoid any kind of change: -Cheap high-speed Internet-> It won't work in America because... -Universal health care -> It won't work in America because... - Mandatory vacations -> It won't work in America because...

majormajor 7y ago
How did American exceptionalism, specifically, give the world anything? Would people not have invented things if they didn't believe that America was magically special?
- cambalache 7y ago
  Internet and reaching the moon would have not happened for many many many years if not for the US (this from a guy who is pretty stingy with his compliments to America). This only was possible due to the unique combination the US had of high income, high investment on science/technology, large population and a generally optimistic attitude towards technology. No other country in post WW2 had all those qualities (the closest being Japan). So yeah, by all that account we have to thank America exceptionalism for that.
  - majormajor 7y ago
    America and "American exceptionalism" as a mindset/ideology are very different things, though. The form of "American exceptionalism" that seems to be most common today is one of "we are uniquely important and many rules don't apply to us in the same way they would others, because of [various usually underlying differences like "freedom"/"democracy"/religious dominion/destiny]." The difference between "we're going to reach the moon because we're special" and "let's spin up this massive program to do it in response to discovering that another nation might be dangerously ahead of us."
- CalRobert 7y ago
  So, I'm not exactly a booster for the US, but having lived outside it for a while I really miss the can-do attitude and (even misplaced) optimism. I'm really sorry for the cliche but after you've been in a place where tall-poppy syndrome is _real_, trying to have some business success is called "notions", and making a mistake like a failed startup is considered some sort of personality disorder, it is, in fact, something I really miss about the US.
rayiner 7y ago
People look over the pond and they see, oh, Germany has universal health care and pays half as much per capita. They then conclude: "if only we got government more involved, we could do that too." That last bit of logical reasoning is, in my opinion, not supportable. Let's look at the things the government already does in America in compare it to what the government does in Germany. Germany spends $11,000 per student on public education. We spend $12,800 per student. But our schools are much worse. Transit is the same story. Germany spent $250 million per kilometer to build the U55 line in Berlin. New York spent $2.2 billion per kilometer for its most recent line: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/1/14112776/new-york-second-avenue-subway-phase-2 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/1/14112776/ne.... So yes, America is exceptional. For whatever reason, we are uniquely bad at running public services. Contrary to popular belief, its not because of "lack of funding." (The American government does less, but in the areas it does something, like education, it usually spends more to get worse results.) Americans understand this intuitively, and that's why they say "it won't work in America because." They may not be able to pull up statistics about how their municipal water/sewage system is poisoning kids and destroying the environment, but they perceive that their government just doesn't do a good job. When polled, they say so. Since 2006, 80-90% of people polled reported being "frustrated" or "angry" at their government: https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/2-general-opinions-about-the-federal-government https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/2-general-opinions-a.... Even in 1997, 2010, and 2015, all during Democratic administrations, only 1/3 of Democrats thought that the federal government did an "excellent" or "good" job running its programs. For the population as a whole in 2015, 33% said it did a "poor" job, and just 20% said it does an "excellent" or "good" job. As of 2015, 53% would rather have a "smaller government" offering "fewer services" than a "bigger government" offering "more services." The most remarkable statistic is for millennials: https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/db/14048862817887.pdf https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/db/140488628178.... When you ask millenials whether they want a smaller government providing fewer services (with low taxes) versus a larger government providing more services (with high taxes), 57% want a smaller government with fewer services, while just 41% want a larger government with more services. Basically, when you ask millenials--the most pro-government demographic there is--whether they want more of a European-style government, they say "no" with a 3:2 margin. Yes, America is exceptional. Americans hate taxes, hate their government, and frankly, on various measures, their government isn't very good at what it does.

majormajor 7y ago

How did American exceptionalism, specifically, give the world anything? Would people not have invented things if they didn't believe that America was magically special?

cambalache 7y ago
Internet and reaching the moon would have not happened for many many many years if not for the US (this from a guy who is pretty stingy with his compliments to America). This only was possible due to the unique combination the US had of high income, high investment on science/technology, large population and a generally optimistic attitude towards technology. No other country in post WW2 had all those qualities (the closest being Japan). So yeah, by all that account we have to thank America exceptionalism for that.
- majormajor 7y ago
  America and "American exceptionalism" as a mindset/ideology are very different things, though. The form of "American exceptionalism" that seems to be most common today is one of "we are uniquely important and many rules don't apply to us in the same way they would others, because of [various usually underlying differences like "freedom"/"democracy"/religious dominion/destiny]." The difference between "we're going to reach the moon because we're special" and "let's spin up this massive program to do it in response to discovering that another nation might be dangerously ahead of us."
CalRobert 7y ago
So, I'm not exactly a booster for the US, but having lived outside it for a while I really miss the can-do attitude and (even misplaced) optimism. I'm really sorry for the cliche but after you've been in a place where tall-poppy syndrome is _real_, trying to have some business success is called "notions", and making a mistake like a failed startup is considered some sort of personality disorder, it is, in fact, something I really miss about the US.

rayiner 7y ago

People look over the pond and they see, oh, Germany has universal health care and pays half as much per capita. They then conclude: "if only we got government more involved, we could do that too." That last bit of logical reasoning is, in my opinion, not supportable. Let's look at the things the government already does in America in compare it to what the government does in Germany. Germany spends $11,000 per student on public education. We spend $12,800 per student. But our schools are much worse. Transit is the same story. Germany spent $250 million per kilometer to build the U55 line in Berlin. New York spent $2.2 billion per kilometer for its most recent line: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/1/14112776/new-york-second-avenue-subway-phase-2 https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/1/14112776/ne.... So yes, America is exceptional. For whatever reason, we are uniquely bad at running public services. Contrary to popular belief, its not because of "lack of funding." (The American government does less, but in the areas it does something, like education, it usually spends more to get worse results.) Americans understand this intuitively, and that's why they say "it won't work in America because." They may not be able to pull up statistics about how their municipal water/sewage system is poisoning kids and destroying the environment, but they perceive that their government just doesn't do a good job. When polled, they say so. Since 2006, 80-90% of people polled reported being "frustrated" or "angry" at their government: https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/2-general-opinions-about-the-federal-government https://www.people-press.org/2015/11/23/2-general-opinions-a.... Even in 1997, 2010, and 2015, all during Democratic administrations, only 1/3 of Democrats thought that the federal government did an "excellent" or "good" job running its programs. For the population as a whole in 2015, 33% said it did a "poor" job, and just 20% said it does an "excellent" or "good" job. As of 2015, 53% would rather have a "smaller government" offering "fewer services" than a "bigger government" offering "more services." The most remarkable statistic is for millennials: https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/db/14048862817887.pdf https://reason.com/wp-content/uploads/assets/db/140488628178.... When you ask millenials whether they want a smaller government providing fewer services (with low taxes) versus a larger government providing more services (with high taxes), 57% want a smaller government with fewer services, while just 41% want a larger government with more services. Basically, when you ask millenials--the most pro-government demographic there is--whether they want more of a European-style government, they say "no" with a 3:2 margin. Yes, America is exceptional. Americans hate taxes, hate their government, and frankly, on various measures, their government isn't very good at what it does.