Curing Exceptionalism: What's wrong with how we think about the United States? What can we do about it?

by David Swanson

U.S. exceptionalism, the idea that the United States of America is superior to other nations, is no more fact-based and no less harmful than racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry.

The purpose of this book is to persuade you of that statement.

This book examines how the United States actually compares with other countries, how people think about the comparison, what damage that thinking does, and what changes we might want to consider making.

"I hope Curing Exceptionalism will be part of coursework in classrooms throughout the U.S." --Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

"A must-read for every U.S. citizen." --Robert Fantina, author of Desertion and the American Soldier 1776-2006.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 6
I. How the United States Compares with Other Countries 8
II. Exceptionalist Thinking 62
III. The Damage Exceptionalism Does 122
IV. Curing This Disease 164
Acknowledgements 190
About the Author 191
End Notes 192

Genres: Politics

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 26, 2018

About the author

David Swanson is a freelance travel writer and photographer.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in a place with "America: Love it or leave it" stickers on almost every car. At ten years old I was nearly expelled from middle school for daring to suggest that people in other parts of the world might consider their country the greatest on earth, since it was an indisputable fact that every inhabitant of the universe acknowledges the USA is Number One in everything. While living outside the USA, I finally learned first-hand that there is no such thing as a "greatest country on earth". I've been bothered by American exceptionalism most of my life, so this book preaches to the converted, but with numbers attached.

The book argues, with statistics (including many from US government agencies) and logical argument, that the notion of the USA being "the greatest nation on earth" is dangerous nonsense. In every one of its self-proclaimed virtues--freedom, democracy, free press, economic opportunity--the USA rarely even ranks in the top ten nations.

The trouble with his thesis is described by the author himself:

If you give someone their first donut and they declare it the greatest donut in the world, you can probably make them see the weakness of their claim. But if someone who's never lived outside the United States (or its military bases) claims that the United States is the greatest country on earth, good luck trying to change that.

Americans may consider themselves to be progressive or conservative or moderate, unapologetic or critical of its government, but most Americans share this most basic of common beliefs, bordering on religious fundamentalism: that the USA is somehow special (meaning superior) in this world.

Why should it matter? Because American exceptionalism has turned the USA into the world bully state. The USA meddles in every dispute on the planet by sending in troops, missiles, ships, and drones, then almost never leaves. While Americans tear their hair out at the notion that Russia somehow interfered in the 2016 US presidential election by placing inflammatory posts on Facebook, there is only muted criticism when the US government employs bombs, assassinations, and financial blackmail to accomplish "regime change" in the Middle East, Latin America, and elsewhere. While the US government preaches human rights, democracy, and environmental responsibility to every other nation on earth, it declines to join world bodies and international treaties on nearly every such matter, from the League of Nations to the Paris Climate Accord. And so on.

Curiously, the author omits America's newest role of using its banking system as a weapon against the world. While putting laws into effect to end tax evasion and tax havens worldwide, for allegedly admirable reasons, it unashamedly reneges on its own treaty obligations to apply such laws to itself, the end effect being that America is now the biggest haven on earth for ill-gotten money and tax cheats from everywhere on earth, while US citizens living abroad are denied banking and financial services around the world as a result of America's own laws.

This is not an anti-American book. The author lives in the USA and believes in the potential of its political system and way of life. Nor is he pro or anti any party or president. He simply is appalled at the consequences of American superiority complex not only on the rest of the world but on the USA itself. His solution is simple: Americans, like any well-rounded individuals, need a bit of humility. Americans should start seeing themselves as inhabitants of Planet Earth, not of some fanciful land at the center of the universe, and persuade their government to join the world, not be its big bully cop.

I believe all Americans should read this book. I also believe that only a tiny percentage will pay attention to the facts, and the rest will go back to wolfing down their greatest-donut-on-earth.

[Carrie Neal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for my college Ethics class. This was a pretty light and easy read, the book is only 191 pages long if you count the 'About the Author' section. Also the print is so big my Nana could see it from space. Then from page 192 to 255 is all his sightings for information. I think my professor chose this book as a way to wake us up from the illusions of America. To help us see that maybe the 'home of the great' is extremely unethical at times. She wants us to ask questions, to always wonder why?
I wont lie, Swanson's outlook is a little grim. This isn't really the kind of book you will find answers in, basically he pulls the vial off your eyes when it comes to how we were raised to think that America is the best. Then once hes done stomping on all that you thought was true, he offers (in his shortest chapter yet) some ideas on how to change all of this before its "too late" (now he doesn't actually say that but you get that doom and gloom feeling from his writing style).
Swanson also tends to get a lot of his information from himself and Wikipedia, which lead myself and a lot of my class mates to wonder.... "is this guy really telling us the right information?" Which again I guess is my professor's point. Even if your teacher tells you something, always question it, especially in this time of false news stories and internet algorithms that only show you what it thinks you want to hear.
long story short this book wasn't awful, but it also wasn't my favorite. But I think my professor made her point and this is a good book for a college course in Ethics.

ps. He also brags about how the book only took him like a month to write and asks for money to write a longer book. Which i took a star away just for that, it was super tacky and didn't make me believe his points or information anymore.

[Anna Hargrave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Takes good points (the US is not the best in many ways) and trashes it all by promoting Russian disinformation. Not sure if this is deliberate or merely sexism—very disappointing read. 2 stars for bringing up the stats, the rest is trash.

[Vane Lashua · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very objective look at the things we THINK "we" know.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for who want to understand how the USA lives under a shadow of American Exceptionalism. The author explains the harm of this attitude, and gives useful suggestions on how to get over the bias. One of the best books I have read this year!