I want to comment a (relatively) short video by Kite and Key Media on American excpetionalism to your attention. A snippet from the transcript:
There’s more than a little truth to the idea that America is different than the rest of the world.
In a lot of ways that should make us proud…
…and a few that probably shouldn’t.
They highlight a lot of the ways in which we are quite different from other OECD countries. But not all of the things that make us different. Let me mention just two.
Most of the other OECD countries are fundamentally ethnic states. We are much, much more diverse in practically every way than they are and have been for the last 200 years. Keep that in mind when people tell you how wonderful Denmark or Japan or France are (the French don’t think that France is that wonderful, by the way).
Another way in which we are different and this is based on my personal experience living and working other countries is that in every country in my experience people think that any social good worthy of the name should be administered and funded by the government. Americans tend not to think that although that has been shifting lately.
At any rate check out the video. You may find it interesting.
One more thing. We do build less road, receive less healthcare, and get less education per dollar spent than any other OECD country. I attribute that to one of the the things called out in the video, our very high level of individualism. The converse of that individualism is a very low level of social cohesion. The implication of that is that our government can do exactly the same things that, say, France does and not get the same results from them that France does.
Now, I’m not sure if the comment I just left on the “Connecting the Dots” post should have been posted here.