The U.S. is not a special snowflake
An interesting article today in Gawker: We Just Lost Afghanistan Because We’re Not Earth’s Special Snowflake.
I know a lot of Americans really believe this. They really like to believe that America is special. But it isn’t, and this belief is why the U.S. keeps getting in trouble.
And it plays well with the electorate. Politicians win elections by declaring America’s exceptionality loudly and frequently.
However, hubris is inevitably followed by nemesis.
Disclaimer: I like America and Americans. It’s just that too many Americans believe in American exceptionalism. To those of us in other nations like myself it’s a bit frightening. Plus we really hate to see our American friends trying way too hard to prove they are special. It makes us sad when America gets itself into so much trouble because of its pride.