by Henry Piarrot

Created on: October 29, 2008   Last Updated: February 05, 2009

America Really is Exceptional

Before I moved to East Tennessee, many of my European friends in Nashville often told me that American Exceptionalism was little more than an arrogant boast. A young English man once described the US simply as "a teenage child proclaiming to its Old World parents that it knows best. And, we all know that our elders get smarter as we get older." His point was that as America aged, we ourselves would aspire to be more like our socialist parents.

After giving him credit for being clever with his analogy, I felt compelled to point out that, even with our faults, the United States of America has been the greatest and most successful experiment of self-government in the history of the world. It is not an accident that the entire world has advanced more in the past 2 centuries, than in all of the documented millennium before.
What makes America exceptional is simply that, at least so far, we have managed to stand on the bricks of our own making. No pharos, no kings, no czars or sheiks. Only freedom, built upon a simply drafted document that promises us our government will not control our lives, but that we will control our government.
Every four years, we either elect a new, or re-enlist the efforts of a president. At times, we have done this very well, while other times we allowed our emotions to rule the day. When we grow tired of pursuing our own happiness, we sometimes hire someone for this very important job who promises to catch it for us.

When we forget that the right thing to do is rarely the easiest or most popular, those who place their own aspirations above the needs of their country carry the day. When we look to a politician to improve our lives for us, we pay for it with our liberty. When this has happened in the past, we not only found ourselves to still be unhappy, but that we also paid much for it.
Our Constitution has been attacked many times since it was ratified on September 17, 1787. The criticism that it has not always applied to everyone is not the fault of the document, but of those who chose to either misinterpret or disregard its timeless promise that government is not our master.
Freedom to speak, think and act on our own behalf has inspired and allowed the US to demonstrate to an oppressed world that collectively free individuals create far more wealth and lasting prosperity than any government. More often than not, government consumes the fruit of its people, leaving them hungry for what they have actually earned for themselves.

American Exceptionalism is not an idle boast that proclaims to the rest of the world that we are the best people, or that God has somehow chosen us to be right all of the time. It is the result of our determination to insure that our government will never stand in the way of our dreams, how we worship, or even how much we earn.

When I was a boy, my elders held up those who had succeeded as examples to help inspire me to do more to realize my dreams. Today, those same achievers are held in contempt as though they somehow cheated the rest of us to get what they have and government must limit their success. This view is not only wrong, it is dangerous to our future.
On Election Day, please consider voting for people who will inspire you and your children to reach for the stars before electing those better suited for "Dancing With the Stars."

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