DH wrote:
There's a way in which in embodies a perverse pride in being the citizen of The Absolute Worst Place on Earth. It's American exceptionalism with a negative sign.
DR wrote:
I think the cultural and political provincialism of the US Empire tends to generate a strange kind of solipsism, which either condemns America as the sum of all fears, or celebrates it as the acme of all hopes. But the Enemy is not a country or an imperial elite, but a mode of production. JG writes:
Wow, this is a complicated issue. But on the whole, I could not agree with the two of you more. One aspect of American exceptionalism is inward-looking ignorance. There is indeed a certain type of inward-looking ignorant US leftist who not only regards the imperialist US as the all-time epitome of evil (as opposed to merely the reigning global hegemon, now in decline), but also imagines the US as all-powerful, the puppet-master of the world. This too is a symptom of national narcissism.
My favorite example of this is how many not-so-well-traveled US leftists moan and groan about how grotesquely "materialistic" the US is, as if this is a peculiarly US affliction. It is so far from being true it is laughable! Yes, on a per capita basis US energy and materials consumption is ridiculously unsustainable, but that has more to do with the geographical and historical conditions under which consumer capitalism developed in the US rather than some specifically "materialistic" fetish in the US. Now as for exceptionally "bad taste" in the US, that's a different matter... although the reality TV-drenched planet is doing its best to catch up :)
Of course, none of this is to say that the dominant worldview within the US does not remain the awful, blinkered "US as special, unrivaled good guys" cant that we are all too familiar with. And none of this is to say that US leftists do not have a special obligation first and foremost to work for the dismantling of US imperialism, or the defeat of class rule here at home. Rather, this conversation is about INTELLECTUAL honesty...
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