America is different from and better than the rest of the world. But, during this semiquincentenial, do people really understand why? Your humble author has opined quite often on the question and it can be a difficult one to ponder properly, especially if one has hitherto just taken it for granted.
The question to you, dear reader, is what makes America different from the rest of the world—different and better than even the rest of Western Civilizationܻ—that makes it a superlative amongst superlatives?
I do not mean, of course, to give credence to slogans or trite phrases. I refer not even of our achievements, but what substantive elements of our society and culture that contribute to not only those achievements but to America more broadly? It isn’t just that it is ours and that being ours makes is subjectively special, but what makes America objectively special. Nor is it about some magical combination of blood and soil, nor even per se, things common elsewhere such as Christianity or other broader conventions from the social sprachbund that is Western Civilization—for clearly America is greater than Europe and even the broader Anglosphere.
In this extra-Patriotic season between Flag Day and Independence Day, in what ought to be an extra-Patriotic year celebrating America’s 250th birthday, let us all contemplate, beyond mere superficiality and familiarity, what substantiality makes American Exceptionalism so exceptionally marvelous.
