According to an op ed written by Vladamir Putin, no one is exceptional, especially not Americans. He writes,
My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. (Putin, 2013)
While I think that humility is an important trait for both individual's and countries to possess, there is also room for personal and national pride. I think America has plenty to be proud of, and that we are exceptional as a country and a society in a lot of ways. Not in every way, certainly, but America has done a lot of incredible things that I would consider to be exceptional.
What do you think? Is it dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional?
(Read the whole op ed here- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/o...caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?ref=opinion)
My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. (Putin, 2013)
While I think that humility is an important trait for both individual's and countries to possess, there is also room for personal and national pride. I think America has plenty to be proud of, and that we are exceptional as a country and a society in a lot of ways. Not in every way, certainly, but America has done a lot of incredible things that I would consider to be exceptional.
What do you think? Is it dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional?
(Read the whole op ed here- http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/o...caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?ref=opinion)