American Exceptionalism holds that the USA is fundamentally different from other countries. I grew up believing that the US was superior to the rest of the world, that we were "Number 1." We were constantly reminded that we lived in "The Greatest Country in the World."
I continue to believe that the US is exceptional, not because it is superior, but because it has become significantly worse than many countries around the globe. Exceptions abound:
The only wealthy country without a system of universal health insurance coverage. Existing health insurance plans verge on robbery.
A Department of Health and Human Services doing its level best to revive diseases previous generations had virtually eliminated and to bring us more epidemics and pandemics.
A Department of Defense (War?) that thinks indiscriminate killing of civilians around the world is "legal" and OK.
A minimum wage far below the level of a "living wage." A long history of union busting and bashing.
A railway system far inferior to that of every other developed country. Poor public transit in much of the country.
A deteriorating public education system.
Friendly to pedophiles and other sexual predators.
Number 1 in billionaires.
Number 1 in medical bankruptcies.
Number 1 in Covid deaths.
The US is currently in the grip of Christian-capitalist fascism. Its evolution into this obscene system did not begin with Trump. It is the result of decades of anti-democratic developments that eroded constitutional and legal protections of political and human rights.
Trump is a product, a symptom, of this evolution. He did not create it. It will not go away when he does without radical reform of the political system.
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