The Enlightenment

Is America exceptional? If so, what makes the United States of America exceptional?

Is it:

• the span and substance of its land ? Yes, but, except to possess it, what did Americans have to do with North America’s geography?
• the brilliance of its banners (ie. the flag)? No, Rome had brilliant banners.
• the audacity of its hope? Hope springs eternal among all the people. But perhaps in America hope has been less deferred—and hearts less sick with hopelessness and hatred—because of the rule of law which the Constitution contains.
• the diversity of its people? Of course, diversity is admirable. But are the differences between diverse peoples reconcilable? The Balkans are populated by diverse peoples—peoples who have often warred against one another over resources, ethnicity, and religions. What has been exceptional about America is not diversity but the unity and peace that has existed between diverse people under the U.S. Constitution—a unity that is now diverging.
• the courage and sacrifice of its soldiers? The courage and sacrifice of soldiers has been celebrated in many societies including ancient Greece and Weimar and Nazi Germany; it is, however, exceptional that the Constitution ensured American soldiers are citizens—and not a separate warrior class.
• the might of its arms? Yes, but it is easy to imagine a Balkanized  America divided and weakened by internecine wars—without the formation of the social contract that is the Constitution.
• the ethos of its administrators (ie. public servants, police officers, fire fighters, and etc.) Perhaps the ethos of its administrators is exceptional--as their ethos has conformed to the Bill of Rights?
• the enterprise of its merchants? Well, weren’t the Carthaginians enterprising? And didn’t the Spanish and Portuguese trade freely? So what set them back; was it war, rapine, succession struggles between kings, and the general absence of security without a rule of law (ie. the Constitution)?
• the innovation of its science? Yes, but science has come in fits and starts; and science has been set back by wars it militarized. For example, mathematics was invented over 3000 years ago; was math a subject, 1500 years later, in dark-age schools? In America, science has had a sustained pursuit—without, as yet, any real regression to repressions and dark ages. Will “science” now repress its American sponsor (ie. the Constitution—that great innovation in intellectual property law so beneficial to science)?
• the enlightenment and diversity of its social institutions? Perhaps, but isn’t all of that enlightenment and diversity just an outgrowth of its liberty and prosperity in a blessed land under a liberal Constitution?

There may be other reasons why America is exceptional.  Virtually all of these reasons derive from its Constitution and God’s blessing. Americans, if you don’t or won’t believe it, you must soon discover how unenlightened you are.