Throughout my youth, young people here in the United States were taught that the United States was exceptional in many respects. We heard this message over and over, reinforced on a daily basis, to the point that it was hard to question how it could be otherwise. We heard people chanting "USA!, USA!" and often even "USA Number One!" We heard it described as God's country. Every president ended speeches with May God bless the United States." President Reagan continually mentioned that this was the "greatest country in the world" and served as the "shining city on the hill," the unquestioned leading example for the entire rest of the world to follow. He also stated, with seemingly easy confidence, that the country's best days were still ahead of it.
Surely, I was not the only student who had a teacher who held those beliefs. My eighth grade history teacher professed his love of country, and insisted that we should view things like he did. He stated outright once that the United States were the "good guys...with the white hats." He gestured towards an imaginary cowboy hat atop his head as he said this. There was one time when President Reagan was going to Moscow, and this teacher expressed fear to us that Reagan could be headed into a trap, that the "Evil Empire" Soviets might be up to something no good, reinforcing the idea that it was a dangerous world out there, and that we Americans were exclusively a force for good in that world. It was an extension of the civilizing mission, on many levels. In fact, this same teacher once expressed his belief that, indeed, the white race and black race should be separate, and should not mix. There was one student who challenged him on this idea, and I am sorry to say that it was not me. At the time, I was much too shy to think about doing something like that.
When you looked at this through the eyes of a young mind, and when you saw that indeed, the United States was the preeminent power of the world, then it also seemed to make sense. This nation was the leading power in the world, and still by far. No one enjoyed a higher standard of living, and this was the country that had the most powerful economy and military in the world. It was the most powerful national in terms of political influence, as well. It was even the cultural leader, as the entire world consumed American products, listened to American music, and watched American movies and television shows. Hell, I remember being thrilled as a consumer in France for several years to find some of the same American toys, even though they were a couple of years behind, in terms of the toy line. This thrilled me, because it allowed me to get some specific toys that I might not otherwise have gotten as a kid.
So, the reminders were everywhere of this seemingly privileged, exceptional status. In case you forgot, American flags and other outward signs of patriotism - some might suggest nationalism - could be seen everywhere. That made it difficult not to see it, and reinforced within the minds of many Americans, including many of my generation, that this country indeed stood alone in the world on so many levels.
We also learned, albeit regretfully, that there had once been an enormous tragedy, and that this tragedy had more or less ended the de facto "golden era" of this country, when it's power and influence were, amazingly, even greater than it seemed to be in the eighties. Such an event seemed earth shattering, by the way that people described it. It was strangely morbidly fascinating, and I could not help but wonder what it would have been like to live through such an incredible news story. In fact, though, there have been two others since then, and each has shaped this country dramatically. And not in a flattering manner, for that matter.
I have mentioned before how it feels to me, as an observer, that the three major news stories that were truly huge and had a profound impact on the United States, and which were felt around the world, have each had the effect of knocking the United States down a peg or two, or perhaps more, in the way that people viewed the nation.
The first of these major events was the Kennedy assassination in November of 1963. The country had been enjoying what many consider it’s golden age up to that point, and so the assassination of the sitting president not only came as a shock, but kind of also showed that these kinds of things could happen here, too, and not just in some poor backwaters or small dictatorships. Many people saw it as the end to a certain kind of American innocence, and the conspiracy theories that swirled around this event, as well as around the official Warren Report that seemed to leave almost more questions than answers, made the American public more skeptical towards government. This I mention, because it comes into play in both of the next two huge stories, but particularly the most recent one.
However, the next enormous news event that completely changed history, and had an obviously enormous impact on the United States, would be the September 11th attacks. The United States had enjoyed a decade by that point as still the world’s only superpower. But these attacks showed that the United States was perhaps more vulnerable than it had been before to such an attack. Also, it showed that presidents might not necessarily pay too close attention to reports of such an attack impending. Finally, when the Bush administration pursued the Iraq war less than two years later, it did so against the wishes of the world, and many began to view the United States as a sinister power, and an out of control nation. Yet, the nation remained largely respected in the world, and it was still the unquestioned leading superpower of the world, although the European Union seemed more unified than ever before, and China was growing as a superpower status in it’s own right.
Now, we have the coronavirus pandemic. This was a global pandemic, to be sure, and did not strictly happen with American borders, or impact Americans directly, and the world only more at a distance, like the other two events did.
Yet, the United States became not only seen as the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis, but the response, both from high-ranking government officials as well as the divided response among the American people themselves, have betrayed a very strange and alarming division that was now impossible for the rest of the world to ignore, or fail to take note of. Frankly, to be blunt, the response in the United States has served as an example to the world of what not to do.
Why?
There are Americans who express sheer outrage at the prospect of having to wear the mask, despite the scientific evidence that it works to contain a pandemic, if everyone complies. Obviously, not everyone did. In fact, many Americans - far too many to simply wave off as some tiny and insignificant lunatic fringe - have turned it into a political symbol. Many almost seem to liken it as the 21st century American equivalent to the Star of David that Jews in Nazi Germany were forced to wear.
We Americans have elected into our highest office a man despised around the world, and rightly regarded as the almost literal face and voice of the "Ugly American." Very quickly into his presidency, he disbanded the White House Pandemic team. Then, when the coronavirus seemed to spread and threatened to become a global pandemic, he assured us that it would not hit American shows. When it did, he assured us that the numbers would be low, and would quickly go down to zero. He never outright suggested that it was a hoax, but he suggested that the opposition Democratic Party's response to it, using it against him, was a hoax. At every turn, he seemed to undermine the significance of the pandemic. He and his administration looked ill-equipped to handle it. On top of it, his supporters, who have tragically come to be a powerful political force and voice in the country, seem to believe that it is indeed a hoax.
Now, we have over five million confirmed cases of coronavirus, and there are estimates that, in fact, that number is likely much higher than the official count. The entire world sees this ridiculous response, with mixed messages from the government, and from the people themselves. They have seen that the end result, to no one's real surprise, is that the numbers of infected have absolutely just soared out of control. And we Americans now serve as the clear example of what to bend over backwards to avoid these days, and not just with the coronavirus pandemic. After all, this year, we have seen the economy tank, and tens of millions of Americans have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Over five million of them have lost their health insurance, to boot. Plus, we have police brutality cases being filmed and seemingly targeting black men, often to the point where this abuse becomes fatal. And they have seen the protests, and many riots as well, that have come in the aftermath of all of this. They see racism alive and well here, in ways that Americans had largely managed to hide from public view, until the political rise of Trump brought out the worst in many people. Tens of millions of Americans. Again, far too many to dismiss as some tiny lunatic fringe group.
Yet again, though, for many decades, Americans have been taught to believe that their country is an exception to the evils that persist, and often seem to dominate, in other countries of the world. It is clear that many of them will have a very difficult time unlearning that, and acknowledging what it is more important than ever for them to understand: that this country has some serious, even glaringly obvious, problems. It is not empty rhetoric about the country's greatness or unique stance, or it's perceived exceptionalism, that is going to get them out of this, either. In fact, personally, I think that this perception of exceptionalism, of seeing ourselves - as my history teacher once described - as the good guys with the white hats is a part of the problem, and not a small one.
It also seems to me that Americans have been grabbing at these perceptions of themselves, and of their country, as truly great and exceptional as many of these same things were slipping out of their grasp. I cannot say how patriotic or flag-waving Americans were back in the so-called "golden era" of the 50's and early 60's, but it seems that more and more Americans came to embrace their role as the "shining city on the hill" after a decline in that power, as other economic powers (most notably Japan at the time) came to rival America's own power, and after the Vietnam War had showcased not America's strength, but it's weaknesses. After September 11th, Americans grew more nationalistic and flag-waving still, and snubbed their noses at the world when we made the mistake - moral and political mistake - of invading Iraq for unjust causes, and with greatly inflated threats to "justify" to themselves the pressing need for immediate military intervention.
Now, though, things are different. If Americans could still believe in the just causes of the Iraq invasion - even if their rationale seemed to defy logic - they now have come to embrace a very ugly version of their role in the world. It would be virtually impossible for people in this country, even the most staunch Trump supporters, to have failed to see just how unbelievably unpopular this man is around the entire world. He is viewed as a joke, and was laughed at in front of the United Nations by world leaders assembled there. There are balloons of him portrayed as a spoiled, crying baby flying over London whenever he comes to town. Other countries in Europe, like Spain and Germany, have similar public displays and likenesses of him that are even less flattering. He is unpopular the world over, and often viewed as a joke. And so has the American response to the Covid-19 crisis, which again, serves as an example for the world on what not to do.
It seems to mark an end to a unique chapter in American history, when perhaps indeed, we could believe that we were exceptional, one some level or another. But if that were true - and it is not as true, and certainly not as innocent as many Americans would love to pretend to believe - then it is not closer to the truth that our example, if you will, is a bad one. One that the rest of the world would indeed do well to avoid. The one example of a foreign leader who followed Trump's example in his approach to Covid-19 that I can think of is Bolsonaro in Brazil, and look how horribly wrong that situation went there. They quickly rose to number two in the world in terms of both confirmed cases and death, right behind the United States.
Frankly, it is time for us Americans to get over ourselves and our conceit, and learn that the rest of the world indeed has things that they can teach us, if we get over ourselves first. Unfortunately, it is not at all guaranteed that we Americans can do it. We are known the world over as a loud nation, and in recent decades, have never really shown the modesty, let alone the ability of self-reflection, to show anything collectively exceptional, with the possible example of showing the unique ability to consistently show the world the worst side of ourselves.
The Unraveling of America by Wade Davis, August 6, 2020:
Anthropologist Wade Davis on how COVID-19 signals the end of the American era
We are witnessing the fall of a great power Crispin HullCrispin Hull, July 11 2020:
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6827090/we-are-witnessing-the-fall-of-a-great-power/?fbclid=IwAR2ixVpJ5QTekvCbqZNJDMGY71jofOPRm-kuEOhwUuWvHz69vTeWq_CVnGc
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6827090/we-are-witnessing-the-fall-of-a-great-power/?fbclid=IwAR2ixVpJ5QTekvCbqZNJDMGY71jofOPRm-kuEOhwUuWvHz69vTeWq_CVnGc
Gov. Cuomo: Trump's coronavirus response 'worst government blunder in modern history' by Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 5, 2020:
Fox News Host ‘Shocked’ To Learn Children Catch COVID-19 AUGUST 10, 2020 BY MICHAEL STONE:
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