The End of American Exceptionalism?

I was brought up to believe that this was a great country and that the prospects for success were essentially limitless. This belief is not a function of self-importance, but a reflection of American and world historical fact. For decades, the American military has helped defend and support freedom and liberty throughout the world and at home, and has also provided needed aid in humanitarian crises throughout the world. American innovation and inventions have improved the lives of millions, through medical advancements, scientific achievements and technological accomplishments. Immigrants still come to our shores in droves, seeking opportunity and freedom.

What is the reason for this exceptionalism? I believe that it is a combination of the principles defending individual freedoms that our Founding Fathers enumerated in the Constitution, the nature of our country as a ‘melting pot’ where immigrants contribute the best ideas and ethics from their home countries and geographical isolation from much of the world that shielded the United States from events in the “Old World.” Will this extraordinary nature of our populace come to an end during my lifetime? I fear that it might.

We now have a President who obviously does not believe that Americans are extraordinary. He has equated his purported belief in American exceptionalism with the idea that the leaders of other countries also consider their citizens exceptional. In other words, ‘we are all special in our own way.’ He has also clearly made it a goal to remake our society in the form of European countries where almost everything is a right, and citizens look to their government for many of their necessities. A nasty by-product of cradle to grave entitlements will be the failure of citizens to take responsibility for their lives.

Our President and the Democrats in Congress recently forced through massive ‘health insurance reform’ legislation despite substantial opposition. Although the goals of the legislation are admirable, the procedural aspects of the bill’s passage, as well as the methods for achieving these goals leave much to be desired. Legal actions challenging the constitutionality of the health insurance mandates have been filed, and may lead to the finding that these mandates are unconstitutional. Even if not, however, where will it end? Do we really want a nanny state where the government takes care of all of our needs and makes important decisions for us, or do we want our citizens to act and be treated as adults who nay actually have to deal with the ramifications of their decisions? I know what kind of state I want, and what kind of country I want my children to grow up in, and it is not a nanny state.

Increased governmental control of the medical field may stifle medical innovation. Realistically, one of the major motives for any kind of innovation is the profit that may eventually be made. When the potential for profit is removed from the equation, there is less incentive for research and the development of new, better medications, medical technologies and diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. People used to come to this country for the best medical care, when they could not receive comparable medical care at home. Now, where will they go? Where will we go?

During the past week, the President has proposed changes that would radically change the face of the space program. His proposals include abandonment of the Constellation program that was begun five years ago as the next step in space exploration after retirement of the space shuttles, as well as turning over much of the future of space exploration to private companies. The President has also established an excessively long time frame for achieving the next milestone in space exploration.

There are a myriad of problems with these proposals. The most obvious is that our astronauts and our space program would be at the mercy of the Russians, who would provide transportation to the international space station for a fee. Who would establish and enforce safety standards for privately developed vehicles, what would motivate private contractors to expend huge amounts of money both for infrastructure and new technologies when the potential profit realization is so far in the future? How will the country deal with the potential brain drain of our best and brightest scientists who may go elsewhere for research opportunities? The most critical concern is the impact that this change in direction may have on our national security. If the saying that: “He who controls space rules the world” is true, than are we willing to cede our status as a superpower to another country, such as China, that does not have our equitable moral foundation?

It appears that President Obama is willing to do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo_rNtJ6yrc&feature=related His apparent lament that the United States remains the world’s lone superpower is worrisome. What does “whether we like it or not” mean? This is not a state that we have been forced into, but a stance that our leaders have desired and pursued, until now that is. It is critical for our national security and the security of our allies that we remain a superpower, so that we can continue to use our military might as a force for good in the world, not only in wartime but also after natural disasters. It is critical that the flame of American exceptionalism not be extinguished in the name of social justice.