Exceptionalism

"You shouldn't have come here. This is a civil war. This is our war, not yours."
--Atto (Black Hawk Down)

Exceptionalism is the condition of being different or unique. Because variation is axiomatic of nature, all things, living or not, are exceptional in some way, lest one thing would not be distinguishable from another.

As founded, the United States was exceptional from other countries in a number of ways. It actively pursued a government that would enable equal treatment under the law. In other countries, political and legal systems favored people of particular wealth levels, geographies, or blood lines.

The United States also openly welcomed immigrants and permitted them to become citizens. In other countries, outsiders might be permitted to visit or even take up residence but they were broadly denied citizenship.

Finally, the United States was founded on the self-evident truth that individual rights were endowed by our Creator or by our humanity. Other countries operated under the assumption that rights were conferred by rulers.

These features made the United States quite exceptional in the descriptive sense.

In the context of world affairs, exceptionalism takes on a more normative sense. Exceptionalism is the theory or belief that a particular country, region, or political system is so good that it should be actively spread to others around the world.

Those who pursue normative exceptionalism become missionaries or evangelists or sorts seeking to spread the good word as they perceive it to others.

There is nothing inherently wrong with spreading the word as long as the exchange of ideas is voluntary. If, however, an entity seeks to spread its values to others via force, then exceptionalism is just another word for conquest.

To the extent that the American brand of normative exceptionalism requires force to enact, then it contradicts the very characteristics that describe what made America exceptional in the first place.