Posted on 12/31/2010 10:45:50 AM PST by Sherman Logan
Our greatness is simply a fact.
When the likes of Marco Rubio, the new Republican senator from Florida, say this is the greatest country ever, sophisticated opinion-makers cluck and roll their eyes. What a noxious tea-party nostrum. How chauvinistic. What hubris.
Yet, what other countries deserve this designation? For the sake of convenience, start at 1648, when the Peace of Westphalia ratified the modern system of nation-states. And grade on power, prosperity and goodness.
Is Spain the greatest ever? It had a nice run a couple of hundred years ago based on plundering the New World of its gold and silver. By 1800, it was one of the poorest countries in Europe. Today, it teeters on bankruptcy.
Is France? Its model of centralizing monarchy in the 17th century was extremely influential, and admirable — if you like elaborate court ritual, religious persecution and expansionistic wars. It gave the world the template for modern ideological madness in the French Revolution and for the modern tyrant in Napoleon. After the debacle of World War II, it recovered to a power of middling rank. If there’s no doubting the greatness of the French, their history comes with the implicit admonition: “Do not try this at home.”
Germany? In the 18th and 19th centuries, it was a cultural jewel. And one of the most talented statesmen ever, Bismarck, forged a nation that became an industrial behemoth. It also had an illiberal heart. Germany today is an anchor of democratic Europe, but with a hellish black mark against it that will last for all time.
Russia? By the beginning of the 20th century, a decrepit autocracy sat atop a mass of misery. Then, things went south. The communists murdered and enslaved many millions across seven decades. Russia remains an important, if vastly diminished, power, governed by a prickly, grasping kleptocracy.
Britain? Getting warmer. It invented the rights that are the bedrock of liberal democracy. More than most European powers, it lived by Adam Smith’s formula for prosperity: “peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice.” From a tiny island, it came to govern an enormous extent of the globe in a relatively benign colonialism. It was a bulwark against the dictatorships of the Continent, from Napoleon, to the Kaiser, to Hitler. And it spawned the countries that have made the English-speaking world a synonym for good governance and liberty: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and America.
Which brings us to the U.S. We had the advantage of jumping off from the achievement of the British. We founded our nation upon self-evident truths about the rights of man, even if our conduct hasn’t always matched them. We pushed aside Spain and Mexico in muscling across the continent, but brought order and liberty in our wake. Our treatment of the Indians was appalling, but par for the course in the context of the time. It took centuries of mistreatment of blacks before we finally heeded our own ideals.
The positive side of the ledger, though, is immense: We got constitutional government to work on a scale no one had thought possible; made ourselves a haven of liberty for the world’s peoples; and created a fluid, open society. We amassed unbelievable wealth, and spread it widely. Internationally, we wielded our overwhelming military and industrial power as a benevolent hegemon. We led the coalitions against the ideological empires of the 20th century and protected the global commons. We remain the world’s sole superpower, looked to by most of the world as a leader distinctly better than any of the alternatives.
Our greatness is simply a fact. Only the churlish or malevolent can deny it, or even get irked at its assertion. When a Marco Rubio talks of the greatness of America, it’s not bumptious self-congratulation. Our greatness comes with the responsibility to preserve our traditional dynamism and status as a robust middle-class society. To paraphrase the Benjamin Franklin of lore, we have the greatest country ever — if we can keep it.
By that standard I absolutely agree with Mr. Lowry.
Is America perfect? Of course not, nothing human is or ever will be.
But America has still done more good for more people than any other nation in history, in net effects.
It’s not even open to question. There is no close second.
As soon as it declared the individual sovereign, not the State, and that individuals had inalienable rights, the US became the greatest country. As rights are taken away, it becomes less great, but still towers over any other country.
Those who object to the characterization should be required to state their preference for the title and then defend it against critique.
The current debate is usually about American
“exceptionalism.” Some interpret this to mean “the greatest;” some, the self-appointed one to which international or political rules do not apply; and some the most unique in a positive/enlightened way. I think this writer is using the first definition, which gives the argument for “exceptionalism” a sophomoric tone.
You know it’s funny when American pundits act like we are the only country who thinks it’s great. When I was growing up we’d visit family abroad, and although grade school children can be forgiven for their ignorance... I recall various cousins expressing to me that their country was the biggest in the world. Even as a third grader, the idea never crossed my mind..to brag, particularly if I was wrong. I just remember chuckling and asking if they owned a globe...
You are correct that the terms are often poorly defined.
I hate to be knit-picky, but I don't believe that's what Ben Franklin said....
American liberals expect Egyptians, and Brazilians, and South Africans and even Haitians to be proud of their countries.
Yet somehow when an American is proud of his country it is embarassing and inappropriate. Given the relative contributions of the countries involved, this seems very odd to me.
>There is no close second.<
.
Islam and the UN are fully aware of this fact.
For Islam to conquer the US, it will have conquered the world.
Ever since the creation of the UN, it has looked at America’s supremacy as an abberation although its very survival was dependent on its faithful financial support. Nothing would be more pleasing to the UN than to have America emasculated and become one of the obedient members of a One World Government.
The modern day democrats support both the UN and Islam.
I think the author was referencing Ben’s famous remark about the Constitution giving us a republic, if we can keep it. (But you probably knew that.)
I don’t think paraphrase is the correct term for what Rich tried to do with the remark. A paraphrase is a rephrasing of the thought, this is an extension of it.
Yes, he’s obviously using the first definition, which he backs up with arguments to show that in fact it’s not a sophomoric claim, as most liberals would like to have us believe.
Is America the greatest country ever? Of course! For those who agree, no explanation is necessary. For those who disagree, no explanation is possible.
Declarations. It all depends on your personal situation. Ask the fellow who sleeps under the freeway overpass. Axe me! Oh, never mind.
I’ve known immigrants who get very huffy and offended if anyone suggests that America is the greatest. Yet here they are...they left their home countries to come here!
“Our greatness peaked with The Articles of Confederation.”
I might agree but I’d extend that to the 24 years of Democratic-Republican reign - Jefferson, Madison and Monroe.
And there is so much ambiguity here: cultural greatness, military greatness, civil greatness, moral greatness, technological greatness, territorial greatness - not to mention the ambiguity of nation/state/country as defined terms.
In all these categories, America has a very strong record: America gave the world jazz and cinema, is the only country in history to be the undisputed sole superpower for any period of time, possesses perhaps the closest thing to a perfect Constitution of any government, has historically used its power for building up its allies and not conquering them, has fought an internal war to end a great moral injustice, is the most philanthropic nation on earth, has an unmatched record of scientific and technological innovation, and has one of the largest and definitely the most variegated physical geography of any nation.
I see that same crap (there is no shortage of immigrants - legal or not - in NJ); when you ask them why they’re here they either shut up or have some wierd conspiracy theory that the US ruined their home country’s finances.
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