American Exceptionalism is Dead.
F*ck it and good riddance. Now let’s build anew.
Hi Umair, as a liberal-leaning American realist, I agree America is in deep trouble. (Everyone VOTE!)
Even so, I remain optimistic. If we can make it through to 2021 with our fingerhold on the remnants of Democracy, we can rebuild. More than that, redefine.
These crises have exposed how vulnerable and fragile we truly are. Our democracy, our health, our republic. The premise of American exceptionalism has been all but wiped away. Its deep rooted hubris permeated our national discourse for the last century, for liberals and conservatives alike. This year has shaken our fundamental belief that America is inherently superior and, without debate, the greatest country on Earth.
And to that I say, f*ck it and good riddance.
Of the empires you referenced, each had their own beliefs in their own exceptionalism. I find it no coincidence that these beliefs persisted through their downfalls.
So as not to follow their footsteps, we are at a critical juncture in our history. This is a crisis of dystopian proportions, but it is also an opportunity to revisit and root out some of our deepest held beliefs that never actually served us.
W̵e̵ ̵a̵r̵e̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵ ̵G̵r̵e̵a̵t̵e̵s̵t̵ ̵C̵o̵u̵n̵t̵r̵y̵ ̵o̵n̵ ̵E̵a̵r̵t̵h̵ ̵b̵y̵ ̵r̵i̵g̵h̵t̵.̵
What we are facing now is a weaponization of Exceptionalism. In the same way Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan took their own forms of radical nationalism and leveraged them to wreak havoc across the world, America now too faces the same debilitating disease of the heart and mind.
But all is not lost.
If we can hold on to our humanity and tear down the old edifices of self-entitlement, we stand a chance.
The Black Lives Matter movement is a sign that this is possible. Even without functioning government, we took collective action. It gives me hope.
As the Tao Te Ching states:
living plants are supple and yielding
dead branches are dry and brittleso the hard and unyielding belong to death
and the soft and pliant belong to lifean inflexible army does not triumph
an unbending tree breaks in the wind
Self-perceived strength leads to hubris and blind spots. In the case of America today, these blind spots have been brutally exposed.
We may be in deep trouble, but we can also clear the deck and hopefully see things with more humility going into 2021.
A.H. Chu is a technologist, entrepreneur and author. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Columbia Business School and has been featured on MSNBC. Quality Works is a collection of works that explore philosophy, business, education and society at large.
