America's Fading Exceptionalism

Our 21st century does not seem to be on course to be described as the "American century," the title indubitably merited for the 20th century. For most of the last 100 years, America was fairly characterized by the Economist as "the lord of all it surveyed . . . convinced of its supreme benevolence, and the engine of a productivity miracle that left Europeans in awe." Of all the great nations that have left their mark on modern civilization, none has matched the United States in both economic and cultural sway over life on the planet.

The rise of America was meteoric. Early in the 19th century, it produced less than 2 percent of global output. Britain's Queen Victoria reigned over a fifth of the Earth's surface and Britain dominated world trade; one third of all seagoing ships were British; of 1,000 tons of cargo passing through the Suez Canal, 700 tons were British, 95 were German, and only 2 were American. Not much more than 50 years later, the United States produced 36 percent of global economic output. Mark Twain captured the mood of this ascendant America: It enjoyed "the serene confidence which a Christian feels in four aces."

Today the aces represent a core competency in creating a populist and upwardly mobile society: We remain first in total R&D expenditures, the first in university rankings and in Nobel prizes, the first on all indices of entrepreneurship.

America is indebted to the philosophers of the Enlightenment and to English law, but American exceptionalism is founded on a freer, more individualistic, more democratic, more open, and more dynamic society than any other. We learned from the past and then we forgot it, as we sought to forge an even better future.

The legal basis is a written Constitution that means what it says. It has prevailed longer than any on Earth and has provided us with the solid rule of law for a republic that evolved into a model of ordered liberty and self-government, with respect for property rights, enshrining equality before the law, and freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and religion. The result is a free market and a clear sense not just of what the government should do, but what the government should not do. We have no five- or 10-year plans formulated by a central power. We are not subservient to some outdated theory or ideology. As Alexis de Tocqueville wrote, America—after independence—has been able to enjoy the fruits of revolution without really having one.

[See editorial cartoons about the economy.]

Culturally, the phenomenon that Henry Luce noted in 1941 became even truer in the 21st century: that the only things every community from Hamburg to Zanzibar recognizes are American music, Hollywood movies and TV shows, electronic games, Google, and consumer brands, which is why U.S. multinationals from McDonald's to Apple book large portions of their revenues overseas.

Our common conviction that America was different—an exception to the rise and fall of nations—was rudely interrupted in 1957 when Sputnik's beeps from 560 miles above the Earth told the world that the Soviets had beaten America into space. President Kennedy famously committed to top that by putting a man on the moon. And we did.

In those days, three quarters of the American public told pollsters they trusted our government to do the right thing most of the time. That confidence inspired generation after generation to make the difficult decisions and, yes, the occasional sacrifices required by their times. Now the confidence has collapsed. Only 19 percent of us are basically content with our government.

There is apprehension that something elemental is changing and eroding the notion of exceptionalism, even perhaps in the national character. The fiscal danger we have imposed upon ourselves is but one symptom of the profligacy of our society reflected in an incompetent and dysfunctional government, no matter which party is in power. [Check out political cartoons about the budget and deficit.]

Americans worry more than ever that their children will not enjoy the opportunities long taken for granted. The declining American leadership role in the world over the last couple of decades may have been obscured by the collapse of the Soviet Union and an early American lead in information technology, but those days are past. Countries that once looked to the United States for guidance on major international issues are now ignoring Washington's counsel and deriding its leadership.