“I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” That was what Barack Obama said when asked by a journalist whether he believes in American exceptionalism – that is, whether America is unique and therefore the best country in the world.
As we approach Thanksgiving, expressions of American exceptionalism are becoming more conspicuous. Across the country, families will gather to celebrate this most American of holidays. Nominally, they are giving thanks to God for the safe passage of the pilgrims in 1607, but nowadays the holiday is more about celebrating the beauty of living in the best country in the world.
America is definitely sui generis – no other country comes close to rivaling the United States in global influence. Since World War II, America has been at the forefront of the creation and propagation of the liberal world order. This has led to wealth creation both at home and abroad, most notably in Asia, where a number of nations, including Japan, Singapore and South Korea, have benefited vastly.
America is also the land of opportunity for immigrants – each year, nearly one million immigrants become naturalized U.S. citizens. These immigrants include some of America’s most famous businessmen, including the founders of Hotmail and YouTube and the CEO of Citigroup. However, there a number of fields where America is way behind.
First of all, income inequality in this country is spiraling out of control. Of the 34 member states to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, America ranks 31st in income equality. Its Gini coefficient of 0.38 is on par with Russia’s.
Even more worrying is the fact that over the long term, income inequality has been getting steadily worse. In the past quarter century, income inequality has been increasing at a rate of nearly 0.5 percent per year. Much of this can be chalked up to taxation policy that grants significant concessions to elites without redistributing wealth to the underprivileged.
The health care system in America is also woefully inefficient. The level of spending on health care per capita in America is almost twice the OECD average. Much of this comes down to the fact that America’s public health care system is mismanaged, to say the least. While Obamacare may go some way to remedying that, it is far too early to tell whether this will result in a significant improvement in the standard of care.
On a related note, life expectancy in the U.S. also lags behind the OECD average, this time by nearly two years. Again, the trend is even more troublesome: From 1983 to 2008, the world average improvement in life expectancy was six years. Countries like South Korea, reaping the benefits of economic liberalization, improved by as much as 12 years. America, meanwhile, improved by just 3.3 years in the same period.
Gender inequality is also another issue that has reared its head in America. The UN’s Gender Inequality Index ranks America 47th in the world, below Malaysia and China. As of October this year, women earned 20 percent less than men. Nowhere is this disparity more apparent than at the very highest echelons of industry, where just 14 percent of Fortune 500 executives are women.
Most worrying of all is the level of education in America. Despite impressive high school graduation rates, America’s public education system once again pales in comparison to those of its OECD peers. The most recent OECD report, compiled in 2010, ranks American students 14th of 34 in reading skills, 17th in science and a well below-average 25th in math. The signs for America’s future, based on this evidence, are bleak.
Then again, people have been predicting America’s decline for decades, and somehow America manages to maintain its role as the world’s undisputed superpower. To quote Cullen Murphy in his book “Are We Rome?,” “The basic social dynamism of the country will continue to wash us forward in the messy, roiling way it always has.”
This does not excuse the fact that America, despite all its greatness, has a lot to improve on. I have no doubt that America has the ability to do it. Time and again, declinists ranging from Paul Krugman to Fareed Zakaria have presaged the fall of America, or in Zakaria’s case, the rise of the rest.
First, it was the Soviet Union. Then, when their political system proved untenable, it became Japan. After Japan’s lost decade of the ’90s, it is now China that presents the biggest threat to America’s position atop the world. But somehow, America has persevered. I have no doubt, faced with the myriad challenges that are now assailing it, that America will prevail once more. And for that, Americans have something to be thankful for.
Shawn Rajanayagam ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in political science and American studies.
