Abstract
This article argues that a strong sense of exceptionalism that has informed the national character of the United States over the last two centuries has also resulted with some negative, domestic and international, implications. It has diminished the quality of public discourse in America and undermined the US position in the international community. The recent Great Recession, military conflicts the US has been engaged in, a sharp economic and social disparity within the American society lead to questioning the validity of the American Dream. The US revival is possible only through making the American experience ethically and spiritually grounded and meaningful. It is argued that education should play an instrumental role in improving the quality of public discourse, and building civil society.
Highlights
This article argues that a strong sense of exceptionalism that has informed the national character of the United States over the last two centuries has resulted with some negative, domestic and international, implications
More than two decades ago, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and, a few years later, the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, made some Americans believe that those events marked the victory of the United States of America and capitalism over the Soviet Union and the Communist bloc (Fukuyama, 1992)
The following issues will be examined in this article: American exceptionalism; the role of fear and poverty in creating the sense of exclusion, populism, xenophobia, and religious fundamentalism
Summary
This article argues that a strong sense of exceptionalism that has informed the national character of the United States over the last two centuries has resulted with some negative, domestic and international, implications. The opinion that the United States is exceptional stems from the belief that America’s history, values, and political system on which it is founded (liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire) are unique and qualitatively different from other nations.
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