Last week, President Barack Obama gave a press conference and also a televised speech to the nation on the Syrian crisis in which he explained why he thought the United States of America is exceptional. Obama said, “we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional…I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we can’t solve these problems alone.” Last Wednesday, Russia's President Vladimir Putin penned an Op-Ed piece on The New York Times' website, which was highly critical of the U.S. foreign policy and it questioned Obama's claim of American "exceptionalism." Ironically, what is exceptional about all this is that a prominent American newspaper afforded Putin a platform for criticizing America, reflecting the cornerstone of our democratic principles – the freedom of press. In Russia, the critics of Putin either end up in jail on trumped-up charges or they mysteriously disappear or are found dead.
The article by Putin rankled many government officials. Speaker of the House, John Boehner, said that he felt "insulted." The Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Robert Menendez, said that he felt like vomiting. Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, called Putin a "dictator" and a "thug." The remark by Putin that particularly incensed many in the U.S. was: "It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation……we are all different, but when we ask for the Lord's blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal." It's interesting to note that those words came from the same man who recently approved an anti-gay law in Russia. While it's true that people are created equal, their capacity for greatness is determined by the environment in which they live. In Russia, the people lack basic human rights, there is no free press, the judiciary is a manipulative tool of the government, and government officials are corrupted to the hilt (Putin is rumored to have stashed away billions of dollars in secret bank accounts in western countries, even while he claims to be a "humble public servant" earning a meager $187,000 a year as President of Russia).
Below is a list of facts that do support Obama’s statement on why he thought America is exceptional:
- In the U.S., the basic human rights, including the right to pursue happiness, is ingrained in the constitution. In authoritative countries, such as Russia, the rights are preserved for the top elite in the government. The people in countries that are governed coercively can never achieve their full potential. The U.S. democratic institutions derive power from the consent of the people. Our core belief is best exemplified by President Ronald Reagan, who once said, "freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few – it's the universal right of all God's children."
- The U.S. leadership was indispensable in fighting World Wars I and II. Americans sacrificed their lives in helping others to stand up against tyrants such as Adolph Hitler and against nationalist Serbians who engaged in ethnic cleansing by killing innocent Muslim minorities. On the other hand, Russia stood by tyrants in Serbia, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere.
- The U.S. is the strongest country in the world not because it has homogeneous population but because of its diversity that makes the whole stronger than the piece parts. Today, minorities such as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders account for about 36% of the total population.
- Americans are the most hardworking people among the industrialized nations. The 40-hour week, adopted after the Great Depression, has stuck through decades. This is over 15% more than the average weekly hours for European countries. It is estimated that an average German worker puts in 394 hours less than an American worker per year.
- The U.S. is the greatest economic and military power in the world. The U.S. economy produces almost one-fourth of the world's wealth.
- The U.S. has produced 270 Nobel Laureates, which is the highest in the world (comparing with only 14 for Russia).
- In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged NASA to land a man on the moon before the end of decade (i.e., 1970). On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon and uttered the words, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." America is indeed a can-do country.
- NASA's breathtaking Voyager program, the longest continuously operating spacecraft in deep space that began in 1977 to explore the outer planets in our solar system, is one of the most significant technological achievements in the annals of the history of science. Recently, Voyager 1 entered the interstellar space after streaking through space for 35 years.
- The half of the world's 100 most reputable universities are located in the U.S. The U.S. universities are most favored by the foreign students for their higher studies. The U.S. scientists and engineers account for more than half of all patents issued in the last five years.
- The Internet, one of the world's greatest inventions ever, was first conceived in the labs of MIT in Boston, Massachusetts during the early 1960's.
- American social media technologies such as Facebook and Twitter helped spark the Arab Spring that brought democracy in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt – the countries that were previously ruled by brutal dictators for decades.
- The U.S., as the largest contributor, pays almost 22% of the total budget of the United Nations Organization, even though Americans account for only about 4% of the total world population.
- The U.S. is the most generous country in the world, with an annual foreign aid budget of over $56 billion. We are almost always the biggest donor in case of natural disasters or humanitarian catastrophe created by conflicts around the world.
- Silicon Valley and other parts of the U.S. are full of immigrants who produced breathtaking technologies that continually change the ways we live and work, and these immigrants enriched themselves beyond their wildest dreams. A good example of such an immigrant is Google's co-founder and billionaire, Sergey Brin, who was born in Russia. His family emigrated to the U.S. in 1979 to escape Jewish persecution in their home country.
- American athletes ranked number one in terms of the total medal count at the last Summer Olympics held in London in 2012 (104 medals) and at the last Winter Olympics held in Vancouver, Canada in 2010 (37 medals).
- Hollywood movies, that personify Americanism, are loved by the people around the world. The movies produced by any other country don't even come close in terms of popularity enjoyed by the Hollywood movies. The annual Oscar award show is viewed by more than one billion people in over 200 countries.
- The U.S. brands rank among the most popular in the world. Names such as Apple, McDonald's, KFC, Coca-Cola, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Disney, Starbucks, FedEx, Avon, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Wal-Mart, Amazon, eBay, Gillette, Kraft, Kellogg's, Colgate, Nike, Pepsi, Visa, Boeing, Caterpillar, Yahoo, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and many more are everywhere around the globe. These American brands demonstrate the ingenuity of American entrepreneurship.
