American exceptionalism ought to be called American narcissism.
This is what's behind the conservatives inability to conceive that we may not have the best health care in the world, their disdain for science, and their individual belief that each one of them knows enough to weigh in on almost any issue.
I believe this relates in part to the Scotch-Irish culture because those American immigrants were not only self-satisfied, during the Great Awakening they came to believe that ministers didn't need any formal education. Perhaps the Encyclopedia Britannics put it,
The Great Awakening stemmed the tide of Enlightenment rationalism among a great many people in the colonies.
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http://www.slate.com/id/2186766/
Cohen believed in American exceptionalism and cannot be trusted to disbelieve in it at any critical juncture in the future.
Ken,
Yes, I don't think much of Cohen but it's nice that some criticism of AE got into print.
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