America's Exceptionalism

I was watching some highlights of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that was held in Washington last week. Of the speeches made, two of the most notable ones were by Marco Rubio, U.S. Senate candidate from Florida, and Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate. One thing that was a big theme in both of their speeches was the defense of American exceptionalism. In short, that America is not like any other country, it stands above all others and has a special place in the world. Rhetoric like "greatest country ever" and "special place in history" was used quite a bit.

I'm not dismissive of the fact that America has great power and has a special role in this point in time. And I'm very proud of my country. The United States has been a great force for good in this world throughout its history. However, there's something about American exceptionalism's ideas that reeks of arrogance. There's something about it that leads to a tendency to sit on our laurels and forget about working hard and looking introspectively at what we as a country need to improve upon.

I love my country enough to recognize that there are things that it must change and injustices it must cure. We are not exceptional enough not to have any problems. One of the principles of American exceptionalism is that the world will take our example. This, I can agree to a degree: the world needs some more American humility.