The world has been both blessed and plagued by nationalism for the better part of 300 years. This modern manifestation of collective ethos is not merely political or cultural in nature. It transcends these ideas, instead standing as an emblematic border of shared sentiments. The swelling of pride and patriotic feeling is felt all around the world, and the United States does not stand as an exception. Ever since America established itself as a world power in the mid-20th century, it has struggled to maintain our sense of greatness without stepping again into the dangerous void of manifest destiny.
The country now stands on a precipice, looking back at the path it has taken and carefully avoiding the view of the rocky trail in front of it. As we stand here, we cling to one surviving sentiment: the idea that Americans hold a special quality that makes this country what it is. In more blunt terms, this is American exceptionalism. Republicans and Democrats, businessmen and farmers, students and retirees; almost everyone holds expectations for this nation. It is the view that America has been great and, if it isn’t now, will be great again. Despite our less-than-perfect track record in everything from economics to foreign policy, it is an often-repeated outlook. I see this time and again in politics, from the newly revealed moon colonization plan by presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, to the “shining city on a hill” politics from the Reagan administration.
This sort of patriotic jargon only increases when there’s a nomination or an election on the line. With the presidential election just around the corner, we are seeing it pouring out of the mouths of GOP candidates during debates and likewise from President Barack Obama in his most recent State of the Union last week. Obama ended this speech by comparing America to the U.S. Navy SEAL Team that took out Osama bin Laden last year. While it may not be a perfect metaphor, it nevertheless seems to be a fair ideological exercise to compare our view of what America ought to be with the teamwork of SEAL Team 6. According to Obama (or, more accurately, according to Obama’s speech writers), our nation is great because “we built it together,” we “worked as a team,” and because we “get each other’s backs.” But here’s where we need a reality check. If we were to really take a hard look in the mirror, what we would see is our commander in chief comparing the convoluted and cheap politics of modern-day America with the well-greased mechanics of one of the military’s most elite tactical teams. With this view, the comparison becomes almost laughable.
A poll conducted by Time Magazine just a few months ago indicated that more than 70 percent of Americans believed that our position in the world has been on the decline in the past few years and more than 80 percent believed that we are not headed in the right direction. This majority of our population knows that despite what political figureheads may say, the state of our union is dire. With our economy in disarray, our diplomacy in shambles, our domestic policies in confusion and our social programs in great need of reformation, it is hard to envisage ourselves as a shining city on a hill.
I am not yet resigned to the conclusion that America does not have the capacity to be great. Instead, I am convinced that we need to be honest with ourselves in order to make the necessary changes. Nearly a century ago, G.K. Chesterton asked whether someone could hate the world enough to change it, and yet love it enough to think it worth changing.
I believe the answer to that question, in terms of the United States, must be a resounding yes. We must carefully monitor our pessimism to instill a sense of urgency, yet embrace our optimism to open and widen the many avenues for improvement. We, as Americans, must hate the state of our union enough to make the effort to change it, and yet love America enough to know that it is worth the effort. That would make American truly exceptional.
