Ideological Prozac, American Style (Will Pitt)

[phantom power]

Interesting idea, a nationwide addiction to American exceptionalism.

Americans, by and large, have a fundamental need to feel like they are part of something great, above the fray and beyond the rest of the world. They are fed American exceptionalism with mother's milk, and will fight like rabid wolverines to avoid being forced to believe otherwise. Anyone mystified by the public support Bush has enjoyed until very recently, despite the endless litany of disasters that have befallen us, can look to this bone-deep need as the main reason for that support. It isn't just about 9/11. Americans need to feel good about America in the same way fish need water. Americans need to believe, and will thrash around like boated marlin if that belief is undercut. That belief serves as a kind of ideological Prozac, shoving bad thoughts to the background.

Iraq. Afghanistan. The continued freedom enjoyed by Osama bin Laden. Katrina. Abu Ghraib. Frist and insider stock trading. DeLay and a handful of indictments. Rove and Libby staring down the barrel of more indictments. Bush's approval ratings are plummeting, and the entire country is beginning to wilt under the depressing reality that we are, in fact, getting screwed with our pants on. Any conceits of moral authority being put forth by the White House and the Republican Party have been washed away in a flood of graft, death, lies and corruption.

Our supply of Prozac is running short. The belief in American excellence so desperately necessary to the mental balance of the populace is being eroded by the hour, and there will be hell to pay because of it.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101105Q.shtml

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. I admit it.

I need it. The belief in American excellence is the air I breathe. Without it, I am not part of something special, unique...excellent.

And that is why torture hurts, preemptive war hurts, my countrymen dying of heat and thirst hurts, Halliburton making 3000 % interest because of war hurts, elections I can't trust hurts.... it all hurts so much because we are no longer excellent. I don't know if we ever can be again. How can we fall so far in such a short period of time?

[tonkatoy57]

2. Interesting reply...

I'll admit, I don't need it or want it.

I've never understood the need to feel that America is exceptional, plus there is just too much evidence to support the thesis that we aren't exceptional. A quick glance at a lot of different indicators says we aren't the most "free" people in the world, our living standard is not the highest in the world, our infant mortality rate approaches that of some developing countries, our political system systematically excludes most of the citizenry, our educational system disenfranchises too many, and as far as science and technology goes we don't have the overwhelming edge we used to have.

Rather than believe in exceptionalism I think it's time we began to come to terms with our national decline and see if we can't do something about that.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

3. I think it is so deeply engrained in

my personality, after being raised in the 50's when the country was enthralled by its success in WWII, that I cannot possibly remove it from myself.

So my emotion is one of profound disappointment, shame, sorrow...that we are NOT exceptional. Or at least the bloom is very much off the American rose.

[tonkatoy57]

4. Excellence Vs. Exceptionalism

I'd very much like to believe in American excellence. That seems to me to be an admirable goal. It's the exceptionalism that grates on me and seems to be rooted in an almost willful disregard of facts.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. The exceptionalism didn't grate on me

because of the experimental nature of the entire country. (along with Canada and Australia and New Zealand) That being a true melting pot of many cultures and faiths and ethnicities that became stronger for the melting.

I want that to be true. I'm partial to mutt dogs, too. A little inter breeding does us all good!

[WilliamPitt]

5. An interesting aspect to this

I left out of the essay.

Given the malaise we are entering into, one that is sure to endure, a successful '08 candidate may well be one who pulls the trick Reagan did: make Americans feel good about being American again. Restore the pride.

[phantom power]

6. If that happens, I hope it happens in a more "reality based" way.

Reagan achieved his turn-around by force of denial. And the return of cheap oil didn't hurt either. I think expensive oil is pretty much here to stay.

[applegrove]

8. I look forward to reading it.

[callady]

9. Never Understood

the notion of Americanism. A boy/girl born on red dirt in the Midwest is no more/less exceptional than a boy/girl born in the sands of the Middle East.

The myth of America dies hard.

[Demeter]

10. It's Not The Individual, It's the Culture That Is Exceptional

At times, the US culture has been the shining star of the world, emulated, envied, and embraced.

Under Bush, we are the pariahs of the world. It was true under Reagan and Poppy, too. They came to Reagan's fancy dinners, and sneered. They ignored Poppy. They arm themselves against Dubya.

When our culture returns to that enviable state of opportunity, justice and rational application of the accumulated knowledge of humankind, we shall see many more individuals reach their potentials that others will want to reach, too.

[callady]

11. Do We Really Need

To think in terms of nations? I just never got this. Seems too likely to lead to hyper-patriotism. Not much into that.

As I traveled the world I saw amazing works in the most ordinary of places, an alleyway in Prague etc, e.g. as I have traveled in the US-virtually everyewhere on the Blue Highways- I see homogeneity in the architecture and urban design as well as ideological. This is not simply a republican phenomenon. I think there is a certain character trait of american arrogance that is certainly noted by other folks in other parts of the world. Sorry for the generalizations.

The land and rivers is what speaks to me in America.

Horatio Alger myth of America dies hard.

Book: “Lies my Teacher Told Me” by James Loewen
Reviewer: Christopher Harrington (1/11/03)

Loewen’s book is an in-depth analysis of American History Textbooks. With a focus on twelve commonly used books as a basis for teaching High School Social Studies, the author raises numerous questions and complaints about the presentation, fact validity, and selective format these popular texts choose to employ. Furthermore, Loewen explores what the impact of using such books have on the psyche and education of the American students.


The back of book contains the bold claim that this book reveals the “(s)tartling Truths about the Myths and Misinformation of American History”. Loewen’s claim is that patriotism, nationalism, and action rationalization fills our textbooks, where inquiry, discussion, accountability and thought-provoking analysis should reside. These textbooks are more concerned with painting national heroes than portraying real people, with their faults. The American government, especially in war, is portrayed as always being just and right.


James Loewen is a sociology professor at University of Vermont who has spent a considerable portion of his time analyzing and reviewing American History textbooks. His criticism is not only limited to the items that the authors choose to include (along with their often simplistic representations of history) but also the subjects which are ignored. Loewen contends that History is vitally important to the education and upbringing of all people. However, the goal of an American History book should not to be to create “better citizens”, but to create citizens who are better informed. However, out of the twelve textbooks reviewed, he could not recommend a single one of them.

<snip>

As we move through the history of the early American nation, it’s quite evident that the relationship between the Native Americans and American settlers is primary. There is cognitive dissonance evident in settler’s writing. Originally, the “Indians” were ‘novel, intelligent, and well-organized’. However, once the settlers are engaged in war with them, these societies become ‘hostile, savage, stupid, primitive’. There is an excellent map in the book that shows European settlements and locations of Native American tribes. It’s very evident that the indigenous people served as “buffer zones” between the warring European powers.

http://www27.brinkster.com/mookieghana/docs/lies.html


How about reverence for the natural endowments?

[teryang]

12. The arbitrary nature of ideology makes predictable...

...catastrophic failures.