I am a proud American and proud to be a Vietnam vet but this crap about American exceptionalism is just that. The US has been the no different than many nations on the planet our form of government worked because we worked together for a common outcome that is not any longer true. We have also done a great deal of harm getting what we want. The history of the 20th century in American is one of War. We turned out backs to the world after 1918 which brought on WWII from then on it has been one conflict after another 1950âs Korea, Vietnam in the 60-70. Grenada in the 80âs and Lebanon, finally the first gulf war ended the century. If one ties in what we did to support corporations during our history and put down labor it is not a great picture. We are a good people but the truth is we have not always been a good country.
Krieger is just earning his skull and lightening bolts pinsâŚ
He has many valid points. But the whole American Exceptionalism thing and him being embraced by the republican party concerns me. Republicans embracing AE is like Turkey denying they killed more than a million Armenians.
Yes yes the Indians( only a liberal would say native American) were treated like family. We were kind enough to give them blankets and all those wonderful treaties that they could use to start fires with.Let us not forget the jobs programs and housing we gave those so called slaves. I prefer to call them beneficiaries of American Exceptionalism. Yep so much work that some got in a full 100 hours a week.You donât see opportunity like that anymore.Free food and housing and not so much as a thank youâŚThis sounds ridiculous but the school board member leading this fight in Jefferson County Colorado complained that the new curriculum doesnât point out that we âvoluntarilyâ freed the slaves and werenât properly praised for our "exceptionalism"in doing so.This woman needs to go retake 3rd gradeâŚand probably 4th âŚand definitely 2ndâŚof course if she has her way her kids will be just as ignorant
One ray of hope: if Heartland is getting involved in this nonsense it may be because they realize they canât win on climate, which was their original cash cow. Only, if they can loot this issue they may come back with a vengeance re climate, which could prove tragic for the world.
One must give props to Sinclair Lewis for that quote.
You canât get blood out of a turnip.
Sure, teach it all, but the chauvinistic concept of American Exceptionalism is a completely fabricated idea made up of fairy dust, unicorn sweat, guilty feelings, and wishful thinking. Let that one go to the ash heap of history. Itâs not useful or provable.
So the retired AP History teacher from North Carolina wants a âbalancedâ discussion of slavery and the Japanese-American concentration camps? Whatâs astonishing is that this fraud was qualified to teach history in the public schools.
The kids in Colorado see right through this fraud.
The kids are going to be all right.
A true descendant of Joseph Goebbels. Teach that Americans (who are nothing more than European immigrants and Asian immigrants and African immigrants â voluntary or not â who have bred with each other) are âexceptionalâ. Exceptionally what? Arrogant? We, England, France, Germany and many other places have made the Greek invention, democracy, sort-of work (at least when no oneâs on strike in Congress). We have see-sawed between popular government and government de-facto by the rich. So have others. We have expanded across a wide area inhabited by (after our introduction of smallpox and influenza) relatively few Native Americans that we choose to ignore, though they are the only people who in terms of the last few millennia are truly American. They are exceptional in terms of who lives here. Anyway, so also did the Russians expand over a wide area, and so also did the Mandarin Chinese.
Whatâs so exceptional about us? We, just like many others, struggle to make good under the circumstances we encounter. We, just like many others, established a new civilization that proved somewhat contagious (consider Rome and Greece and Arabia, England, France, and Germany).
American exceptionalism is sort of the thus far mild American version of Nazi ideology. One People! One Country! One leading class!
Although not of his poltical leanings, I agree with his position and proposition.
The history ciriculum throug the entir scholl chain has been dumbed down and compressed so that it is almost a bad comic book. The notion of critical thinking is good but should be based on a good factual foundation, not a vision of history talking about the warts. This country was and is exceptional: founded by exceptional people, an exceptional form of government, and a sense of common weal not found elsewhere.
Lots of people think it is more important to teach people how to think and learn than to simply have them know a bunch of facts. We teach people the scientific method, how to program a computer, how to analyze literature, how to write, how to prove geometry theorems. Why is history different? If we called it âarchaeologyâ I doubt you would deny the need to act like a detective rather than a stenographer. The idea that the things just happened and you can tell me just what that was is total nonsense.
Ask yourself why we need to know what happened in the past. If you can do so without using the word âwhyâ then good luck to you. If you can imagine answering any question that starts with âwhyâ without using critical thinking skills then you are in even bigger trouble.
âThey did not actually change so much as one word,â
This is EXACTLY how you deal with these kooks.
Not. ONE. Inch.
Well, I think we can swell with pride knowing George Washington invented the wheel, right?
âThe conservative movement has honed inâŚâ
âHomedâ in, Caitlin; homed in.
You forgot NASCAR.
Exactly! I think his favorite founding father is Benjamin Franklin, because for this guy, its all about the benjamins.
This guy really just works for the billionaires. Heâs for hire.
History is (not) written by the whiners.
AMEriCA EXcePTIONalISm IS a Core VAlue THAT shouldNâT be diSMISSED. libTARDS trY to MAKe GOOD stuff SEEM bad. FOr ExaMPle
JIM CrOW laWs were A GOod THING. THEy fOSTered SYNerGIEs aMONG the blaCK peopLE.
The ScoPEs MOnkeY trIAL wAs A gooD thING. It PUT to REst THE FacT thaT evOLutION HAs NO baSIS in faCT aND THAt MEn DIDnât GRow FROM MOnkey.
SlaVERy was GOOD. FULL eMPLOYment For BLAck PEople ANd theY were HAPPY beCAUse THEy a SINg and DAnce IN the MOvies. WOuld YOU sing and DANCE if YOU werenât HAPPY???
HIStorY is StatIC and SHould NEver CHanGE BeCAUse IT aLREadY happENEd!!1!!!1!one!!11!1!1