American Exceptionalism but...

The neoconservatives have co-opted the term “American Exceptionalism” from the paleoconservatives who had the better claim to the term, and expanded the term to include gross interference in world affairs, but disguised as building “democracy” in the world. And the unique exceptionalism and freedom in America for all people to rise through merit has been increasingly blocked by special interest corporations and race-based lobbies, which include the neoconservatives.

The great innovation of American exceptionalism, different from Europe, allowed the individual to rise by merit rather than by hereditary status, class distinction, or membership in a powerful lobby group, who tend to rig the system against the middle and lower classes. American liberty and freedom through merit originally gave more people a higher standard of prosperity than any other people in human history.

Snobbish intellectuals and liberals have always mocked the commercial habits of America but this system brought more people out of poverty than the wildest dreams of the Marxists who demanded income equality for all. America was founded on real objects, real human nature, real life, not merely on definitions and ideas, not merely abstractions and utopias.

The neoconservatives made the grave error of promoting the abstract idea that American exceptionalism is based on an idea alone, a pledge of alliance of freedom alone, which led to opening the borders of our nation to all immigrants from everywhere. The paleoconservatives knew better that a nation has always been made up of people who speak the same language, have similar manners and customs---without these things an idea alone cannot hold a nation together for long.

The neoconservative notion of citizenship has led to America becoming a diverse nation of people who do not bond well together. It is indeed fortunate that our Founding Fathers gave us a political system with the main power granted to individual states and regions, protected by a light federalism, which allows us to have natural variety and differences, hopefully without civil war....That is American Exceptionalism.