US Right to Lecture the World

The idea of American Exceptionalism has been in existence since the ancient times. The notion argues that the United States has all the right to bring civilization, liberty and democracy to other nations in the world. This is due to the special position that the nation holds based on its democratic ideals and liberty that makes it a free nation. This notion is derived from ancient political institutions of the United States which began with declaration of independence, a revolution and even acquisition of a constitution in 1787 among other institutions during this time (Howard para 3-4). These political factor and the nation’s endowments with wealth and other resources are seen as some of the factors that make US become a model that is to be emulated by other nations of the world. Some individuals have argued that the uniqueness the US exhibits is as a result of intellectual and religious heritage that are deep rooted in a stable political situation. Buy

The uniqueness that US exhibit therefore is not born out of one aspect alone. This is because it has been born from important aspects of culture, political, and economic uniqueness that have given the country a higher qualitative difference from the rest of the world. The country’s domination with individuals who are moralists has made it possible to come up with institutions that focus on virtue development (Bacevich 98). This has made the nation to eliminate institutions that are evil and end practices that do not uphold acceptable morals. For instance, the United States is one nation that has been able to deal with the destructive vice called corruption. This is through their limitation of the power to the state unlike in other nations where most power is dominated by their governments.

The United States has shown Exceptionalism in dealing with various issues thus making it get a high hand in lecturing the rest of the world. This has been indicated by various events that have occurred in the United States in the recent past. For instance, the Iraq war which occurred between 2003 and 2011 was one of the instances that indicated the uniqueness of America (Young 10). The way America handled the war thus stabilizing the nation made it acquire the right to establish freedom and democracy in other nations of the world especially those that are not well developed.

The United States has also been implemental in empowering its citizens thus making them adopt a strong belief in their individual abilities. This has made the nation to produce individuals who are able to use their initiative and efforts in the generation of knowledge and wealth. The nation provides opportunity for all kinds of talents making the nation become a land of opportunities. Provision of opportunities to citizens of this nation has made it possible for most individuals including those who were not natives of the land to escape from their situations of oppression that are brought by class and family backgrounds (Ferrie 200). The empowerment of social mobility has seen individuals rising beyond their family social and economic class. In America today, anyone who utilizes these opportunities through hard work and determination is able to even rise to high political status regardless of his or her background. This is unlike most nations of the west where family status and one’s riches serve as means for an individual to acquire a place in the politics of the nation.

The recent elections where Americans gave their votes to Barrack Obama illustrated that the citizens of this nation have matured politically since there are able to make political decisions without being influenced by social differences like race or social class of their leaders. This election also showed a high level of exercise of democracy in this nation (Noonan para 4-6). America served as a role model to nations that have continued to divide their populations along racial lines that it is the high time they considered a review of their ideals.

The United States continues to be an economic giant through its ability to tap all its resources. Though some people have argued that in the recent past America is losing its dominant position in the economic competitiveness to nations like Japan, US still measures high in terms of superior uniqueness since even in times of political and economic crises it is able to shake them off and emerge as the world leader (Lipset 170). This is because United States’ uniqueness is not based on one aspect alone but it spreads along a wide range of ideals. America has for a long time assumed the position of the world leader. This is in various significant areas like politics, economic maturity, technological developments and its adherence to the issue of human rights among many other areas. On the other hand, there are some actions that United States has undertaken leaving behind accusations of hypocrisy (Schuck and Wilson 54). This is particularly in the areas of environmental conservation and its fight against terrorism among others.

The recent decision by the US government to construct a new oil pipeline originating from the tar sands in Alberta which is in Canada and through the Gulf of Mexico to get to refineries in Texas in one of the actions that US has overlooked the important aspect of environmental preservation, a factor which it fights for from the forefront (Bellamente para 3). This is because this project will lead to devastating effects on the fight against increase of carbon emissions. The project will mostly affect India where the country may suffer from various effects. For instance, the country’s population is likely to be affected by change in the weather since this is estimated to increase the bad weather events on a population that is high and increasing. In addition, the project may cause reduction in the levels of agricultural productivity. The attempts by President Obama to improve relations with India and declaring US support for India to be a permanent member in the UN Security Council is seen as a way of removing any objections by the Indian government against the destructive project. Implementation of this project will reveal the hypocrisy of this nation since the US has always been on the forefront in the addressing issues that contribute to climate change. This project goes against this dream since exploitation of tar sands will contribute highly to the already bad situation of global climatic change (Maddow 2). The exploitation of tar sands produces more damage than usual oil pumping. This is because separation of the oil from the tar sands may emit the amount of carbon as much as four times the oil pumping. If the US is to lecture the rest of the world on issues relating to moral behavior, the issue of environmental conservation cannot be ignored. Another moral issue that has revealed the hypocrisy of the United States is its treatment of individuals accused of crime. America has been known as a nation that upholds the rights of all individuals (Kiyul para 7). This policy has been so much emphasized such that even the rights of animals are considered significant. For instance, the US government has been known to imprison individuals who torture their animals, like it did to Michael Vick who earned himself a one and half years jail term after he held dog fights.

However, some actions that the members of the government have done on individuals have left a big question whether the nation really follows its rule of law and whether the US government values the animals than the human beings. This was illustrated by the government’s torture of a Canadian child soldier named Omar Khadr who was captured in Afghanistan in 2002. The American government accused the boy who was then fifteen years old of throwing a hand grenade while on the Taliban position in an encounter that killed one US soldier. Since there lacked anyone to support the accusation, the boy was tortured to submission through beatings, sleep deprivation and dog threatening among other inhumane methods. Upon his coerced confession, he was accused of “murder in violation of laws of war.” This is only one the many cases that the American military has been accused of torturing victims of war especially in Afghanistan. These actions are viewed as hypocrisy on the part of the US government since the same government that claims to uphold the rights of its citizens is the same one that tortures them without clear evidence about their crimes. The country’s judiciary ignores both the US and the international law that restricts the torture of human beings.

In conclusion, America has some attributes that gives it the power to lecture the world on some moral issues. This is through its well established political and social maturity. However, some actions by some of the country’s leaders have put this status in a state of jeopardy where the rest of the world has seen the country’s actions as acts of hypocrisy.

Works Cited

Bacevich, J. Andrew. The limits of power: the end of American Exceptionalism. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, 2008. Print.

Bellamente, Mike. The other news corporation scandal: Climate hypocrisy. 2011. Web. 27th Nov. 2011. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-bellamente/news-corporation climate hypocrisy_b_1100375.html

Ferrie, Joseph P. The end of American Exceptionalism: Mobility in the US since 1850. Journal of Economic Perspectives 19.3 (2005): 199-215.

Howard, Zinn. The power and the glory, myths of American Exceptionalism. 2005. Web. 26th Nov 2011 http://bostonreview.net/BR30.3/zinn.php

Kiyul, Chung. US Human Rights report: extreme form of hypocrisy and self righteousness [The 4th Media]. 2011. Web. 26th Nov. 2011 http://sweetandsoursocialism.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/us-human-rights-report extreme-form-of-hypocrisy-and-self-righteousness-the-4th-media/

Lipset, Seymour Martin. American Exceptionalism: A double-edged sword. (2005): 165-174, Web. 26th Nov. 2011 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpsrv/style/longterm/books/chap1/americanexceptional ism.htm

Maddow, Rachel. Hypocrisy alert: 128 House Republicans take credit for the economic bills they opposed. 2009. Web. 26th Nov. 2011. http://www.dccc.org/page/content/hhof/

Schuck, Peter H. and Wilson James Q., Eds. Understanding America: The anatomy of an exceptional nation. New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2008.Print.

Noonan, Peggy. “Americans vote for maturity.” The Wall Street Journal, November 5, 2010.