American Exceptionalism — Alive, Dead or on Life Support ? Part 3
The “Slippery Slope” & “Moral Equivalency” fallacies along with deep erosion of “Trust in Institutions” are harming American politics, progress and standing in the world.
Why are major American cities decaying and crime ridden while their European counterparts appear to thrive?
Every time I travel overseas, I am reminded of the erosion of America’s standing in the world, its crumpling infrastructure, its crime ridden decaying cities & its dysfunctional politics.
This is the third in a series of short takes on American Exceptionalism that oftentimes does not look and feel so exceptional.
I recently returned from Paris and Amsterdam. Both are charming cities, where city life is vibrant and thriving, the vibe egalitarian, and city infrastructure like public transportation are easy to use, safe most of the times, clean and efficient.
This is not to say these cities (and countries) don’t have their fair share of problems, but to point out that in certain areas, the rest of world especially in Europe and Asia have moved on past American supremacy in all things that would be considered good city living — housing, education, infrastructure, safety, & vibrancy.
It’s no wonder then that in most surveys of the most livable cities in the world, any U.S. city is lucky to crack the top 10.
Is American Exceptionalism a double-edged sword?
America is both very prosperous and very unequal in its income & wealth distribution. It creates the most innovative and creative companies and dominates stock market valuation over the rest of the world. Its per capita income as a measure of average income is very high.
But it leaves most of its people behind fighting for a pay-to-pay living, with uncertain health care outcomes, disparate educational opportunities, & unable to create a path for future financial security. For the U.S., the Gini coefficient, which measure this disparity, is higher than for most advanced countries (Gini Coefficient is between 0 and 1, with 0 suggesting perfect equality and 1 suggesting perfect inequality).
Extreme individualism and unbridled freedom have their downside.
Where America trips up is in its uncompromising stance on both extreme individualism and extreme freedoms even when the collective betterment of the majority dictates that some moderation might be beneficial in both. This is where collectivist societies come out better on average.
Further, deep individualism also fosters deep idealism and tribalism. It’s never “us” as a country it’s always “us vs. them”.
The Achilles heel of American Political Discourse — The “Slippery Slope” & The “Moral Equivalency” fallacy & “Eroding Trust in Institutions” will be the undoing of American Exceptionalism
Are all slopes really “slippery”?
Numerous examples abound where the slippery slope argument shuts down any effort at building a consensus, meeting in the middle, and making progress towards national progress — be it gun legislation, sensible & prudent abortion laws, immigration, or any number of other public discourses.
Both parties (and to be clear the most vocal and extreme wings of both parties) dig in their heels, refuse to yield an inch for fear of giving up a yard. This “slippery slope” argument is a big red herring that is ruining America’s chances to meet the needs and wishes of the middle-majority.
A case in point — the recent ousting of the Republican speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy by the radical right for having the audacity to avert a government shutdown.
- How dare he side with the Democrats? That’s a slippery slope. What will he do next? God forbid he tries to get a consensus to move on impactful legislation.
- Extreme ideology, siloed thinking, and an absolute disregard for any sense of compromise is sure to put an end to American Exceptionalism if it festers for too long.
Do two-wrongs on either side of the ledger always cancel out?
The moral equivalency argument is another red herring that totally derails American political discourse.
- The extreme right and extreme left hold a lot of sway and operate like there are no “universal truths” and create all kinds of “moral equivalency” fallacies.
- All will be lost if we cannot agree on some basic “universal truths” and if we cannot agree that there are fine gradations in degrees of wrong, mistakes, or improprieties in this world.
- The political motto — The worst of “my kind” is better than the best of “their kind” especially if my litmus test issue is at stake, is indeed highly disruptive to national progress.
Trust in Intuitions is at dangerously low levels
The hallmark of an advanced & developed country is the strength of its institutions and the rule of law. America has lost the moral high ground in its preaching the benefits to the rest of the world, with the cracks appearing in our own country.
- What has happened in the last decade or so to make the extreme & growing fringes of both parties’ fester hostilities towards Institutions?
- Trust in intuitions and trust in the rule of law is at an abyss.
- Conspiracy theories abound further eroding the trust and rule of law for the political class.
- What served us so well for over two centuries is now suddenly an “egregiously unfair” partisan issue.
Conclusion
We can all be proud of our nation’s awesome entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, world class companies, and stock market valuation and huge premium for our brands over the rest of the world.
But one must ask the question — why this has not necessarily translated into what the U.N. measures as the “Human Development Index”? The tech & financial savvy, entrepreneurial, innovative class has ruled the roost. This is a rather small percent of the population. The vast majority are left behind.
· Life expectancy has shockingly decreased in recent times.
· The disparity in income and wealth sometimes parallels that of developing countries.
· Educational opportunities & healthcare outcomes are unevenly distributed.
· Infrastructure is decaying — in some cases the infrastructure that led the world in the 1960’s and 1970’s is still around.
· Political will is at its lowest and political dysfunction and grid lock at its highest.
If a course correction does not happen soon, we will be a country of the chosen class in gated community powerful enough to be self-managed with their own gated institutions and power base while the rest of the country trends towards third-world status.
