American exceptionalism and Vlademir Putin by Centinel

Vladimir Putin gave a speech at the U.N. the other day and went on a tirade against "American Exceptionalism". It seems as though he has a problem with that phrase. He stated that no country should think of itself or its people as being exceptional. "It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," Putin continued. "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." He then goes on to central bankers influencing America into expanding into other countries and the American war machine. You would think that someone of his stature would do his research and know what American exceptionalism means. American exceptionalism has nothing to do with Americans thinking they are better than anyone else, nor does it have to do with meddling in other countries affairs. The term has been bastardized by the left, much like trickle down economics has.

Alexis de Tocqueville was the first writer to describe the country as "exceptional" in 1831 and 1840. All this is not new, although its meaning has been changed especially by the America haters. What the term means is that the American founding was brought about by a unique set of circumstances. One of the main problems people have with history is they judge it through today's morals without considering the time that the history occurred. When the Constitution was being debated, the founding fathers had memories fresh in their minds. Memories of life in England where the common man could not own land and where there was no upward mobility in the classes. Where the state had a sponsored religion. Where the government took what they wanted through taxation with no recourse. These and many other things shaped their thinking when forming a new government. Land speculation brought many people from the old world. They were not happy with England and the taxation imposed. They were looking for a better life. Why else would they risk starvation and disease to get here? Things must not have been too great from where they left. All of these conditions formed our country, and it was exceptional. It was a point in time that will never happen again. Look at all the other countries constitutions authored since Americas. Gun rights, personal property rights, free speech are just a few of the things that no other country has been able to grant to its citizens. One right here. Another there. But not all at once. The governments just have not been able to let go of the power. But in America, all these things are written into the constitution, along with the idea of self-governance.

Putin seems to bristle at the idea of American exceptionalism and even blames it for what he perceives as expansionist policies. If he truly understood American Exceptionalism, he would realize that the concept flies in the face of expansionism. American exceptionalism recognises that circumstances formed this country that may never happen again. People ready for self-governance. Wanting not to be ruled by a tyrant on the other side of the ocean. Ready to own property to be called theirs. Because of this, expansionists declaring that we need to spread democracy are wrong in most cases. Not every country is ready for a representative form of government. Think back of the recent failures of this policy. Iraq. Vietnam. Spreading democracy does not always work. In many cases, it interferes with the countries culture.

Of course, the central bankers and warmongers love expansionist policies. Most of the time it lines their pockets. After all, bombs need to be replaced. But Putin lumping American exceptionalism in with central bankers is more than a stretch. Especially when most of the central banking is in Europe. But after all, Putin is expanding Russia and has his agenda. And the Russians seem to have their expansionist policies in play. Maybe he believes in a form of Russian exceptionalism, and he is trying to misdirect us.