Durng the 19th century a school of thought called American Exceptionalism emerged. With roots in Puritanism, the original concept was that God had chosen this land to have a unique place among the nations of the world; over time other foundations for this notion of emerged, based on our geography and abundance of natural resources, and ultimately on our political system, based as it is on representative democracy and "self-evident truths."
The past decade this idea of American Exceptionalism has grown, gaining credence among many who have advocated a new form of Manfiest Destiny, combining all the above foundations with American economic and military might. As a result our nation has acted imperialistically and then been surprised when people are mad at us.
There are two kinds of travelers on the road: tourists and companions. Tourists grab the low-hanging fruit; they simply want to see the natives do their cute dances in their quaint costumes, sample a little bit of homogenized local fare, grab a few trinkets, and then head home. Tourists really don't want to see the indigenous peoples. These are the kinds of folks who advocate American Exceptionalism.
Companions on the other hand climb high into the tree to spend time with the locals, ask questions, and venture far beyond the tourist meccas. Companions want to see and experience life from a new perspective, to understand the people with whm they travel and thereby understand the world in a new way. I would say these folks advocate American Acceptionalism.
I love what President Obama said: "I believe in American Exceptionalsim, just like the British believe in British Exceptionalism and the French believe in French Exceptionalism."
The truly Exceptional are the ones who are Acceptional.
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