America’s founding is what sets it apart

Thomas J. Stansfield, Las Vegas

Sunday, June 12, 2011 | 2:04 a.m.

“American Exceptionalism” is one of those phrases that seems to get tossed around a great deal by political pundits. Often they act like everyone knows what they mean by it, but in most cases, their use of it implies it is almost a force of nature, a blessing by God. Others believe it is nothing but propaganda for American nationalism. Both definitions are what I would call Manifest Destiny, not American Exceptionalism.

I was taught that our exceptionalism was in the birth of our nation and the ideas behind it. It was the idea that our government was created by the people, exists by the consent of the people, and is subservient to the people. We hold that the individual is just as important, if not more important, than the state. We do not answer to anyone else, but we do live by our Lord’s leave.

The reason it was seen as exceptional was that all other countries at the time operated in reverse. The people were subservient to the government; they lived and worked by the consent of their superiors.

We were and are exceptional because our nation was created in a unique way at a unique time in history. The Founding Fathers were flush with the writings of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Adam Smith. America became a laboratory for a great experiment. It had nothing to do with conquering the West, defeating the Nazis or Commies, or landing on the moon. Those are just outcomes of history.

American Exceptionalism, as I was taught, is not some way of claiming that we are superior to other countries. It is not that we are exceptionally better than anybody else. But that we are really unique, an exception to the rule. At least, that was the way I was taught.