Neil Bush, brother of former President George W. Bush, wrote an opinion column for USA Today titled “America, we are the most exceptional.” In the column, Bush voiced his frustration toward the recent statement of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” Putin said.
Bush said he disagrees with Putin and believes Americans can refer to themselves as exceptional, but in his column, he failed to understand what exceptional means.
In Bush’s response to Putin’s statement he demonstrates the United States’ generosity and selflessness, but doesn’t seem to grasp the meaning of exceptional.
Bush did an incredible job providing examples of our generosity toward other countries, which he believes is caused by our freedom.
He disagreed with Putin directly.
“It is emphatically not dangerous when freedom-and peace-loving people think of themselves as exceptional,” Putin said.
And after reading the bulk of his column, I would agree with Bush if his title said, “America, we are the most generous,” but he seems to think generosity means exceptional.
Merriam Webster defines exceptional as, not usual or not typical. So in context, Bush’s use is grammatically correct because we are not typical, but I doubt Bush had this meaning in mind.
Throughout the article, Bush pushes for a more superior feel than an exceptional one and in his last sentence states, “That’s what makes us the kindest, the gentlest and – yes – the most exceptional nation on this earth.”
If I were to pick the most exceptional nation on Earth, I might choose Laos or maybe Antarctica, because they seem to be the most atypical to me, but it all depends what is classified as typical.
This is where I have a problem with Bush’s argument. We have to stop comparing other countries actions, cultures and lifestyles to our own.
When you compare other cultures to your own, people have a tendency to see in black and white. Either the foreign culture is better than ours or worse than ours.
To truly evaluate another culture without a standard to compare it to takes practice, but it allows you to gain incredible perspective. But the bulk of Bush’s mistake was when he inflated the American ego.
Fueling the fire only contributes to the American stereotype of selfishness and arrogance.
Feel free to write an article describing our generosity, but leave the superlatives out. Who decided we are the best?
LeBron James repeatedly called press conferences to talk about his greatness, but instead he consistently acknowledges his flaws.
Usain Bolt is viewed as one of the most arrogant athletes of our time, and we are viewed as the most arrogant nation. Being arrogant in sports might give teams the competitive edge, but it often leads to teams not respecting their opponents and losing.
The U.S. is full of arrogance, and it’s disrespectful toward other cultures, and it also fails to acknowledge their importance. I am thankful to be a part of the U.S., but we are not the only nation, and we are not the best.
Bush demonstrated our generosity well, but politicians like him create a lack of respect toward other cultures, which in today’s world is a shame.
Never before has the world been so small and interconnected, so, don’t let our arrogance get in the way of learning about the great nations of this planet.
