American Exceptionalism

I participated in my local Socrates Cafe meeting down here in Delray Beach, FL.  (These sessions are now conducted on Zoom.)  Today's topic was "American Exceptionalism: Are We Indeed Exceptional?"  And, oh yes, comments were to be kept non-political.  It was something no participant attempted to adhere to.  With a subject like this,  the only way to keep it from slipping into politics would be to keep the subject strictly on a historical footing.  No one made such an effort.

What I learned saddened me.  The group avoided using Trump's name, but almost everyone who spoke viewed the "current administration" with disdain.  There were no Trump voters here.  But, if you're in the game, you try to play it as best you can.  Here is what I mean:

Slavery was mentioned:

I pointed out that yes indeed America had slavery.  About the same as Caribbean nations, which were mostly European colonies and that far greater numbers of slaves were sent to Brazil.  I was not intending to dismiss the horror of slavery.  But I pointed out that quite a few Americans died to end the practice.  The Jim Crow that followed was also a horror.  But men like John Lewis and white religious leaders worked together to fight for equal rights and brought an end to America's legalized discrimination against Blacks.  The fight today has been 98% won.

However, there are parts of the slavery story that are rarely taught; namely, how it was black tribes in Africa that fought neighboring tribes to take them as prisoners and then sell them as prisoners to the slave ships waiting on Africa's western coast.  Also, rarely mentioned is that slavery continues to this day in Africa.

America was mentioned as a colonizer:

This was an argument easily refuted.  America kicked the Spanish out of the Philippines and gave the people the freedom to fashion their own country.  We did the same for Puerto Rico.  It was the Puerto Ricans who rejected the idea of forming their own country.  They also rejected the idea of becoming another American state.  Their preference was to become a commonwealth with ties to America.  They can change their status anytime they wish.

Vietnam:

No one mentioned Vietnam, although this would have been the easiest sore spot to poke at had the  Socrates group chosen to do so.  Here was a country that we had wanted to deny freedom of choice.  It was a French colony that had decided to throw the French out.  The French then turned to the Americans to achieve that which they could not achieve themselves.  Regrettably, we had a president with a weak spot for the French.  (And it wasn't Eisenhower.) Interestingly, despite our losing struggle with the Vienamese, this communist nation has now established excellent relations with America.


Antifa:

This is another dreadful situation that received no attention from the Socrates Cafe crowd.  With Antifa we have a group that wants to change the structure of American cities according Antifa's own social design.  Americans seem oblivious to their actions.  The arrogance of this group to want to change things through their thuggishness instead of using the time tested method of our democracy; namely, elections seems to bother few of our fellow citizens.  They seem not to realize that there is no short cut to creating a better society.  It surprises me that more Americans aren't outraged that these thugs are allowed to break store front windows, burn buildings and physically assault police officers.  When an Antifa thug is arrested, he is promptly released by district attorneys who seems oblivious to the harm being done to their communities.


Black Lives Matter  (BLM)

This group arose with a slogan coined by Rev. Al Sharpton at the time of the Ferguson riots.  It didn't matter that the cop who shot Michael Brown had little choice.   Its all on the record.  a. Mr. Brown first struck the officer as the officer was seated in the police car.  b.  Mr. Brown had reached into the car's open window to get at the officer's weapon (he failed).  c.  When the officer got out of his car and told Mr. Brown to halt, Mr. Brown, a hulking young man well over six feet, with the physique of a linebacker, turned, lowered his head and charged at the officer.  That's when the officer fired and shot him dead.  The posture of Mr. Brown, as he charged the officer, was confirmed by the autopsy.

This incident launched the vandalism and the looting and mayhem that destroyed Ferguson.  Those most harmed financially were the Black members of this Black community.

Today, the BLM movement has aligned itself with members of Antifa.  I might add that BLM has morphed into a strongly anti-Semitic group.

Immigration

The Socrates Cafe crowd mentioned, on more than one occasion, that Trump has tried to close the doors to immigrants.   They bemoaned that he seems to have abandoned the words found at the base of our Statue of Liberty that read in part, "give me your tired, your poor, . . ."

They seem to have been unaware that these poor and tired masses arriving third class had to pass through Ellis Island.  If an immigrant were found to have an illness, he or she was promptly sent back to wherever he or she had come from.  Today, they get medical attention.   And, that's all to the good. But, it's not reasonable to provide medical care to whoever is able to reach our borders.

Also, not all immigrants are the same.   I believe we are lucky to have people from the Caribbean and Latin America.  These immigrants like earlier immigrants want to be productive  They understand the value of living under American law and within an American culture.  The same can not be said of all people seeking entry to America.

Consider Europe, which has been overwhelmed with immigrants from the middle east.  These immigrants, mostly Muslims, want to share in the good things Europe has to offer.  However, they want to bring their Islamic culture with them; namely,  Sharia Law.  It's proven to be a horrible experience for the Europeans.  With these immigrants comes anti-Semitism.  Jews in German, France England, Belgium and other European countries are beginning to leave in large numbers to make a new life in Israel.  No, not all immigrants are the same.

Russia and China

In my opinion, Russia can be dealt with.  But China is a monster.  I need only mention Tibet, the Uighers, Taiwan, India and the broken promise to the citizens of Hong Kong.   The nonsense of turning rocks barely visible above the waters of the China Seas and calling them Chinese islands and building airfields on them is illegal in terms of maritime law.

No, we Americans have little for which to apologize.

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