Why America is Exceptional

In a New York Times op-ed criticizing president Obama's past attempt to gain support for an invasion of Syria, the Russian president Vladimir Putin assailed an idea close to many Americans as part of a larger criticism of American foreign policy, particularly towards intervention in the Middle East. He directly blamed the idea of American exceptionalism as a reason why the United States is so willing to intervene in the affairs of countries who have not threatened it. American exceptionalism as told by Putin is the idea that America is unique among nations for being responsible to spread freedom around the world. Since we are the oldest continuous democratic government in the world, our freedoms are ingrained in our institutions like nowhere else. His use of the phrase came as a shock to most Americans who today hear it from those on the pseudo-nationalist right like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. They too share the definition of American exceptionalism to mean America has, or a at least believes so, a responsibility to spread freedom around the world due to its exceptional history as a democratic nation.

But this is not what American exceptionalism really is, or at least was originally meant. The exact origins of that phrase date to Putin`s country of origin, Russia, and to its most legendary leader in recent centuries, Joseph Stalin. The phrase originates from a 1929 conversation American Communist leader Jay Lovestone had with the General Secretary. In Moscow Lovestone argued that socialism wouldn´t happen in America because the proletariat who would benefit the most from socialism are not interested in revolutionary change. America had a uniquely individualistic culture without the class antagonism of a feudal/monarchical past. Growing imperialist ventures opened up foreign markets to bring more riches to buy off the working class and shift the worst exploitation overseas. Stalin during this conversation demanded Lovestone end this ¨heresy of American exceptionalism¨ and the phrase was born. Stalin used the phrase a a term of derision for the blinding of the proletarians from their true class interests. The phrase stayed within leftist circles and faded away as the American Communist movement lost its thunder after the New Deal erected a great compromise between labor and capital by use of the state and the economy rose to new highs after World War 2. It gained its current connotation after the 1980´s where its meaning was transmuted into a positive affirmation of Americas inherent faith in individualism and the role it had in spreading those values throughout the world. At that time, America´s economy hit the worst recession since the Depression and lost its first war in Vietnam. Confidence in Americas optimistic individualism was challenged further by Socialist insurrections in Nicaragua, Angola, and Afghanistan during the 1970´s.

What makes America exceptional is the fact that no socialist movement has ever been viable on a national scale. The most common definition today of what makes America exceptional fails to explain what continues to make America unique today as democracy has become established in more and more countries since the 19th century, and as formerly monarchical Europe has become far more left-wing than the United States on just about every major issue. Russia itself has a representative government and a similar federal system to the United States. These countries are more left-wing because they have organized and successful socialist movements. one of France´s major parties is the Socialist Party who in 2012 won control of the presidency and the National Assembly. Germany´s Social Democratic Party is one of two major parties, which is actually the first Marxist political party in the entire world. Even Great Britain which is much closer to the United States in its political-economy has the Labour Party as one of its three major parties, a party which describes itself today as Democratic-Socialist. Our neighbor to the south Mexico has the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) which is aligned with the Socialist International and is one of three major parties. Americans scoff at Socialism by associating it with poor despotic countries like the Cuba or North Korea and claim Marx was dead wrong when he claimed that the wealthy capitalist countries would soon see revolution, but this is myopic since each advanced capitalist economy has developed a welfare state, and most have a socialist movement based historically around labor unions. The lack of successful socialist parties makes Americans think that Socialism can only succeed by violent revolutionary means and makes it even harder for left-wing movements to gain ground.

The failure of socialist organizing explains itself. A movement doesn´t succeed without prior successes. The fact that from the beginning no serious challenge to liberal capitalism has succeeded in open opposition suggests that there is something inherent in American society itself that prohibits that kind of criticism. Socialism is defined in opposition to capitalism and as a larger critique of Classical Liberalism which unlike in Europe forms the basis of Americas values. Left-wing politics developed as an anti-thesis to the class structure and had a decidedly more radical character in Europe. In America there didn´t develop a feudal class system to ingrain a dislike of wealth in itself, and its association with political oppression.

The larger problem that prevents socialists from gaining ground is that our system isn´t friendly to outsider ideologies period. This has its advantages for the even the most dedicated leftist because it means the far-right doesn´t succeed either. They do affect the political system but never from within and are usually co-opted. This sacrifice is what has allowed the United States democracy to last so long. A basic consensus that liberal democracy is the best system of government can over power what problems afflict the application of those principles. In this way by accepting liberalism carte blanche we have been able to approach issues on a pragmatic basis accepting socialist solutions for some and laissez-faire for others. America is exceptional in the modern era because it doesn´t have a strong socialist movement, but it is exceptional against human history because it has a strong devotion to liberal ideals.