One of the worse things to happen to America in our recent history is the dumbing down of language. Last week the President seemed to imply that an example of American Exceptionalism is our willingness to bomb other countries. Like many Americans - after 6 years of Obama - the words rang hollow. He has gone out of his way to lower American leadership in the world. To make us just one of many countries. It was clear that a speech writer combed the "Tea Party" talking points, and cut and pasted the words into his mouth. He clearly was not comfortable with them coming forth from his lips. Added to this the Editorial of Putin. Carefully crafted to put Obama into his place. And to scold us for thinking we are Exceptional. (apparently based on something written by an American PR firm) Neither Obama, nor Putin have any idea what or why America is Exceptional. Because neither understands the word nor its context. We say American Exceptionalism; not American Superiority; Not American Specialness. Because exceptional does not strictly imply superiority or specialness. What is DOES imply is something out of the norm; something unique. Exceptionalism is our heritage. It harkens back to our American roots, long before we were the last superpower, it goes back to before the Great War. Long before we had a dominate economy. It is the foundation of American culture. Exceptionalism is based upon Individual Liberty. On being free to explore life to the fullest; of being free to pursue self development. To recognize our own god given talents and have a culture that allows those talents to develop to the point beyond where others have gone before. Our Exceptionalism IS our Freedom. Not our military might, not our economic power, not our public policy. Our freedom. What makes us Exceptional is that America is the best example of what can happen when Individual Liberty is the hallmark of culture. Nowhere else in the world is the Heritage of Freedom as unfettered by the past as in America. This is what makes us exceptional. Putin has an excuse to not understand the word exceptional. Obama does not. Do not mistake Democracy – the Vote – for Freedom. They are not the same thing. To often in democracies, no matter who you choose they elected are just interested in taking a portion of the pooled resources for themselves. More interested in the trappings of power than being good stewards. Democracy just means you have the opportunity to choose who is going to fleece you. And when the fleecing gets to be too much you can send that person home and try another. Exceptionalism does not come without responsibility. For Liberty to flourish, government needs to be kept small. Government should stick to its core responsibilities centered around being good managers of the public purse. The responsibility of Exceptionalism is for individuals to recognize that the strength of their communities is based on neighbors helping neighbors. For the needy to be helped by local dollars – but more importantly – by local faces. We have generations of Public Policy makers that have been taught that the world is unfair due to resource distribution. I say the world is unfair due to Man not caring for his fellow Man. For not taking the time to make personal connections. Meanness, or Kindness; both are free. They cost nothing. We see the spirit of Exceptionalism coming back in the form of Urban Farming. Local people, seeing a need. Learning to farm the vacant land in the City. And then making the produce available – at affordable prices to local people. So individuals, are taking the initiative to first, make a living doing something worthwhile and also address the “food deserts” of the city. Which over time can possibly impact the chronic health of the urban population. In addition, back when we knew our neighbors, life was safer. We relied on each other to look out for each other. We weren’t afraid to stand up and call the police when we saw the drug deal going down, when we saw the young people jump out a window with at TV, or to just go and knock on the neighbors door when we saw their child bust up a neighbors mailbox. Somehow, over the years, we have given up our “organic” security of our local neighborhood, for the blanket of insecurity of the Government. And we are all worse of for it. But all is not lost. We CAN turn the tide. We can reverse the decline of our Exceptionalism. Because despite the animosity of our current federal government to our fundamental freedoms, our spirit has not been broken. We saw this in the hundreds of thousands of bikers that rode to DC on 9-11-13. Despite NOT having a permit to assemble on the Mall. They came. The American Biker. A unique example of American Exceptionalism. Bikers are individuals. Free spirits. Not beholden to anybody. And yet have a special commaderie. They do not think of themselves as special, nor superior. They do value –above all else – their freedom.
Posted on: Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:46:20 +0000
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