Exceptional America: What Divides Americans from the World and from Each Other

by Mugambi Jouet

Why did Donald Trump follow Barack Obama into the White House? Why is America in an age of polarization? And how does American exceptionalism explain these social changes?
 
In this provocative book, Mugambi Jouet describes why Americans are far more polarized than other Westerners over basic issues, including wealth inequality, health care, climate change, evolution, gender roles, abortion, gay rights, sex, gun control, mass incarceration, the death penalty, torture, human rights, and war. Raised in Paris by a French mother and Kenyan father, Jouet then lived in the Bible Belt, Manhattan, and beyond. Drawing inspiration from Alexis de Tocqueville, he wields his multicultural sensibility to parse how the intense polarization of U.S. conservatives and liberals has become a key dimension of American exceptionalism - an idea widely misunderstood as American superiority. While exceptionalism once was a source of strength, it may now spell decline, as unique features of U.S. history, politics, law, culture, religion, and race relations foster grave conflicts. They also shed light on the intriguing ideological evolution of American conservatism, which long predated Trumpism. Anti-intellectualism, conspiracy-mongering, a visceral suspicion of government, and Christian fundamentalism are far more common in America than the rest of the Western world - Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Exceptional America  dissects the American soul, in all of its peculiar, clashing, and striking manifestations.

Genres: Politics, History, Nonfiction, United States, Economics, Education

376 pages, Hardcover

Published April 3, 2017

Reviews

[lady h · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2011, longtime Republican Mike Lofgren asserted that the modern Republican Party is "becoming less and less like a traditional political party in a representative democracy and becoming more like an apocalyptic cult, or one of the intensely ideological authoritarian parties of 20th century Europe."

In this book, Mugambi Jouet looks at the radicalization of American Conservatism and what it has wrought. In looking at the notion of American exceptionalism, he examines traditional American ideals and tries to get to the core of why Americans are so polarized on nearly every major issue. His thesis boils it down to four major aspects of America, all of which resulted from its peculiar founding: anti-intellectualism, anti-governmentalism, racial resentment, and fervent Christian fundamentalism (a literal belief in the Bible). Jouet asserts that these four Horseman of the Apocalypse (my words, not his) are the cornerstones of modern American conservatism, and they succeed in making America an outlier among its contemporary industrialized Western nations. In a book that is very wide-ranging and broad in scope, Jouet attempts to explain the roots of these four issues.

Jouet makes a convincing case, as he examines various aspects of America's history that contributed to its modern condition. For example, he argues that anti-intellectualism is rooted in disdain for elites that came from colonists' suspicion of the European aristocracy. The development of extreme Christian fundamentalism has to do with America's foundation of religious freedom and the fact that, unlike Europe, America never had a church that was entangled with its political affairs, which meant that religion flourished free from suspicion. This type of fundamentalism has led actual members of Congress, like Senator James Inhofe, to say things ludicrous like "God controls the climate". Jouet also traces various historical events that contributed to America's current status. For example, he reminds us that the South had always been staunchly Democratic - until Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which spurred racial animosity. He ties various aspects of his thesis together and demonstrates how they all work in tandem and contribute to one another.

I really enjoyed Jouet's discussion of American anti-intellectualism, which I don't think receives enough attention. He states, "Millions of citizens are unable or unwilling to accept simple facts. Naked propaganda has been normalized." Indeed. Jouet goes on to explore the varying degrees of cognitive dissonance present among the American public that causes its citizens to staunchly deny bald-faced truths in direct opposition to facts. He ties this to the results of the 2016 election and says: "The emergence of fake news should not eclipse the broader disinformation that started well before the 2016 election and that is partly rooted in America's subculture of anti-intellectualism." In all the furor over Russia's interference, this is an important point that is often forgotten.

Jouet of course also spends some time on Americans' belief in their own exceptionalism, as per the title of the book. It's well known that Americans believe they are the best country in the world, but Jouet stresses that unlike other nations, Americans are more likely to believe that their greatness is preordained and bestowed upon them by God. This fervent belief in God and religious destiny makes it nearly impossible to effect change in America. How can you argue for changing a constitution (the oldest written constitution in the world, by the way) when most of the population believes it was sent by God? Most Americans truly believe that they alone in the entire world are a voice of goodness and freedom, and rampant anti-intellectualism makes them willfully blind to facts that contradict this. Not to mention that "American exceptionalism" as a concept never meant to convey America's unique greatness - only that America is a nation that was founded and operated in a unique manner.

Jouet also makes an excellent point about America's outdated institutions, which greatly influence how the country is run. He argues that things like federalism, Senate filibusters, the separation of powers, and the Electoral College all make it incredibly difficult for America to function by simple majority rule like other Western democracies. But, going back to the point about Christian fundamentalism, it's nearly impossible to convince people to change these institutions when they truly believe they were created by God. It's a vicious cycle, and a depressing one, since it doesn't seem to present any solution to our problems beyond waiting for conservative white folks to die off.

This is the first book I've read about American social history that has been published after the 2016 election. It was interesting to see Jouet make connections between America's roots and Trump's nativist, populist platform. It was also quite depressing to be reminded of all the crap conservatives threw at Obama during his years as President. I'd forgotten all the wild and bizarre theories they'd leveled at him, like that he was the anti-Christ, or a socialist hell-bent on destroying America. Trump has completely overshadowed all of it, but it's sobering to see all of it collected here. It reminds me that Trump is not an outlier, but a natural progression of the Republican Party.

This book was somewhat repetitious, constantly repeating similar ideas, but I suppose that succeeded in hammering in its thesis. Jouet also takes great pains to be as objective as possible, but these efforts to forestall potential critics of his argument means his thesis is not as hard-hitting as it could be. I suppose he's trying to be as palatable as he can, but sometimes I really just want to read a book that is truly blunt in its criticism of America, a nation which is not great and never, ever was (though of course there are admirable aspects to it, just like any other country).

Overall, I'd say this book is an interesting read that succeeds in bringing together and articulating what many people already recognize about America's problematic past (and present). It's a book with a ton of great information for those unfamiliar with these issues. If you, like me, are seasoned readers of American political and social history (and current events), you won't get much new information out of this, but you will get a new way of thinking about that information. It it is very satisfying to see the roots of America's many issues summed up so neatly. This book has definitely succeeded in helping me organize my thoughts on these issues and articulate them concisely.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

That America is not great is a supposition that one makes at some risk to one’s reputation and physical well-being nowadays. It is somehow deemed unpatriotic to say that America is problematic, tortured, flawed, less than perfect. Conservatives especially would have us believe that America is not only great but morally superior to every other country in the world, and to suggest otherwise is not only unpatriotic but tantamount to treasonous.

Well, if that’s the case, then I’m about to commit treason.

America is NOT great. It’s not even good anymore, assuming it ever was. Sure, we’ve had our upsides, but most of those have simply been the result of a majority of the population making an effort to correct something horrible about the country. (See The U.S. Constitution, Abolition of Slavery, The Civil War, Woman’s Suffrage, and Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage)

Most of our history has been pretty awful. (See Native American Genocide, Salem Witch Trials, Slavery, The Civil War, Jim Crow, Lynchings, Japanese Internment Camps, Joseph McCarthy, The Vietnam War, Kent State Massacre, the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay, Predatory Lending, FOX News, Donald Trump, and The Rise of the Alt-Right) Those are just some of the highlights.

Conservatives, especially the ones on the Far Right, love to bandy about the phrase “American Exceptionalism” without really knowing what they are talking about. To them, the phrase is synonymous with “American superiority”. What they mean when they use the phrase “American exceptionalism” is that America is the best nation in the world. It is, according to them, the strongest, most intelligent, and most moral nation ever devised by man. The United States, to conservatives, is still “the shining city on the hill”, to quote Ronald Reagan (who, to be fair, was quoting Jesus).

In truth, “American Exceptionalism” was never intended to provide a qualitative value to the U.S. It’s a neutral phrase simply meant to refer to the fact that the U.S. is a uniquely different country than most countries in the world in many aspects, not all of them positive. In some aspects---universal health care coverage, for example---the U.S. is not only the worst but the ONLY country to not offer its citizens free or inexpensive health care.

Of course, there are several things for which we are truly superior: the largest military budget in the world, the largest mass incarceration of minorities, the largest number of government-sanctioned executions, the only country to imprison people without trial, and one of the largest populations of radical Christian Fundamentalists and anti-science nutjobs in the world. Yay!

An American-born writer couldn’t write “Exceptional America: What Divides Americans From the World and From Each Other”, but someone who was born and raised in another country and adopted the U.S. as their country of habitation could write it. That person is Mugambi Jouet. Raised in Paris, France, Jouet teaches at Stanford Law School. According to his bio, he has traveled the world extensively. Based on his writing, I surmise that Jouet is also an extremely brilliant, well-read intellectual freethinker.

The fascinating thing about Jouet’s book is that, throughout all the harsh criticisms and indictments of American culture, one never gets the sense that Jouet dislikes this country. Certain aspects of it, yes. Some of its checkered and violent history, obviously. Some of the dangerous and unhealthy idiosyncrasies of its people, absolutely. But, as a whole, Jouet respects and admires this country for its uniqueness and its potential for doing significant things in the world.

Jouet’s amazingly well-researched book is extremely objective, or, at the very least, as objective as humanly possible given the time and place that he’s publishing this book. He is not beholden to any political party or specific ideology, although he obviously has an ideological bent toward “sane”, which is more than can be said for most of the politicians in this country.

It is an extremely level-headed and straightforward book, and one with a clear thesis, well-supported arguments, and an extremely cogent conclusion.

Simply because Jouet articulates his thesis plainly in the preface, I’ll simply repeat it here: “[C]onservative America has become an outlier in the Western world because of its growing radicalization over the past three decades. Four peculiar mindsets especially stood out: profound anti-intellectualism, fervent Christian fundamentalism, a visceral suspicion of government, and racial resentment. (p.ix)”

He provides an amazingly detailed examination of how a country that was founded on the incredibly brilliant intellectual collaboration of intelligent, far-thinking secular men could come to a current presidency inhabited by one of the most anti-intellectual, racially-divisive, myopic, coarse human beings ever birthed in this country. He also thoroughly examines how far the party of Lincoln has devolved into a party of obstructionist, laissez-faire far-Right Christian fundamentalist extremists who exist solely for the aggrandizement of the wealthy class.

It is a fascinating, disgusting, disturbing, unbelievable breakdown of American Exceptionalism, which could also be a synonym for “The American Dream”. Sure, the American Dream inspires people, but, as Jouet points out, dreams are not reality. At some point, we all need to wake up.

[Peter Geyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mugambi Jouet is a man of French and Kenyan ancestry making his way in the United States and elsewhere as a lawyer, academic and writer. This book seems to come out of his direct experience as a student and professional in that country, as well as his experiences elsewhere, which makes for an interesting even though sometimes repetitive read. He writes well, incisively and clearly and his use of adjectives and other descriptive or judging words is finely honed; given the broad nature of his excursion into American self-perception and society it might be seen in the nature or a brief or an argument where he has to repeat what is mentioned before.

Jouet's task is to investigate and explain "American Exceptionalism" which seems something timelessly attached to the United States, but he points out that the current definition is only a few years old and can be sheeted home to the right side of the political spectrum, although he correctly points out that American politics doesn't mirror the lefts and rights of other countries. This is one of the meanings of exceptional.

With occasional asides to the discussions with Americans he has encountered since arriving in Houston to commence his tertiary studies, Jouet uses "exceptionalism" as his theme to examine aspects of American culture and politics. His topics include anti-intellectualism; religious fundamentalism; universal health care; inequality; minorities; the legal and penal system; knowledge of other countries; foreign policy; the rise of Trump and the impact of Barack Obama.

The research he presents covers the period from the "Founding Fathers" to the present; part of his aim is to separate myth from fact, for example he describes the religious perspectives of the group of men identified as the founders of the United States, and compares that with the current myth, or perception that it is a Bible-based country reflecting its origins. To be honest, this isn't difficult to enunciate, and what he presents elsewhere is often similarly undisputable, except of course that a large number of the US population wouldn't agree with him.

Jouet seems surprised by the status religion (Christianity) has for people on all sides of the political divide, as well as the inability of those less religiously inclined to discuss issues in this area. Comparisons with other nations are made, where religion and relationship arrangements of state leaders vary strongly from the US. This might seem contradictory regarding the status and rise of the incumbent President, something that takes up a bit of the author's time and for which he provides a plausible explanation.

"Exceptionalism" is in fact related by some to a personal connection between God and the United States, not unlike European colonial powers, mentioned here, although not British-Israel theory and the presumption of some that Jesus of Nazareth visited the British Isles at one point. The Mormon claim of a visit to what is now the US, however, is mentioned.

Jouet finds out that the overall view of American citizens (i.e, both "conservatives" and "liberals") is much harsher than their democratic European equivalents: incarcerations, death penalties, abortions, health care and that these views can be calmly and pleasantly presented by citizens. So the exceptionalism is not the claims about democracy and liberty (currently very dubious claims) but that other nations are more liberal and democratic, a fact (transparent to me) that is apparently not known by US citizens for whom their country is simply "the best"

One of the examples here is US foreign policy, where the author not only gives a potted recent history but also examines recent Presidents and their actions in this area, in a way that is also unfavourable to Barack Obama, but factual nonetheless. Once again easily available material.

Anyway, this is an excellent read, written from the perspective of an outsider living as an insider, who obviously likes the US, but is under no illusionsabout its past, the current state of affairs and what the future might bring.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the past half century, it has become increasingly common for politicians -- and many bloviators in the media -- to refer to the United States as an "exceptional" nation, meaning special, unique, charmed, blessed by God and entrusted with a special mission, and, of course, that we are simply "the best."

All of this at a time when, to those relative few who read and know something about what is happening in other countries, it is clear that the United States is, in fact, falling further behind other nations in a host of categories, including cost, affordability, and access to health care, the quality of our educational system, the widening gap between the richest few and the faltering middle class and those stuck in poverty, the health of our infrastructure, social and economic mobility, ease of and wide participation in voting, and in the ability of our government to accomplish anything (except further cutting taxes for the rich and savaging the safety net of the rest of us).

In this book, law professor Mugambi Jouet shows how, on the contrary, the United State's "exceptional" nature is found in the many striking ways it differs from so much of the rest of the world in holding positions -- and expressing convictions -- that are remarkably different and, in many ways, more primitive.

The US has, for example, "a more capitalistic economy lacking universal health care, more punitive penal system coexisting with lax gun control, and more unilateral foreign policy" than is the case elsewhere, especially in Western Europe. "In no other Western nation," Jouet writes, "are people so divided over fundamental questions about the role of government, access to health care, wealth inequality, financial regulation, climate change, science, sexual propriety, reproductive rights, the literal truth of the Bible, warfare, and human rights. This acute polarization has led to a gridlock with profound consequences for American society and the world."

One of the reasons for this is that throughout our history as a nation we have not only been largely separate from the affairs of our nations but, moreover, have taken pride in that fact. A relatively small number of us, compared to the peoples of northern and western Europe, have traveled to other countries, especially if one excludes our immediate neighbors to the North and South. Very few of us are bilingual, although many are in Europe, and we are -- in all honesty -- rather ignorant of other cultures and traditions.

Furthermore, the US has long had a distinctive and enduring strain of religious fundamentalism which, coupled with the strong emphasis on "my rights" versus "your responsibilities," has caused repeated waves of suspicion -- even intolerance -- towards those considered different.

It is hard to escape the conclusion, as we labor today in the dark shadows cast by Trump and his minions, that Americans in many ways have become even dumber over the past few decades, allowing their ideological convictions-- which flow more from emotion than thought -- to blind them to the way that they and their country are being despoiled by the wealthy elite and their subservient lap-dogs in the Congress and in many state-houses.

This is the kind of book that should be widely read and discussed, although it very likely will not be. Why read anything that might challenge our alternative facts when we know we're right?

[Mexscrabbler · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book by a foreigner who came to live in America and developed a very keen understanding about what makes us an exception (not exceptional!).

A bit dry, reads more like a textbook. However, it is very insightful and identifies most issues that are at the root of what makes us great and keeps us from becoming better.

The book does a very good job dissecting American attitudes toward criminal justice, health care, economics, race, religion, gender, human rights, and many others.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me literally close my eyes, inhale slowly, and breathe out my disgust and disbelief more times than any book I've ever read. It was great. But it gave me nightmares.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter on criminal justice was the strongest. Overall very insightful book.