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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUndercutting the "american exceptionalism" narrative
is this 4 part interview with Peter Kuznick, co-writer of "The untold history of the United States".
It was very enlightening to me - and also humbling to hear Kuznick use the behaviour of colonizer Belgium in the Congo for comparison. Below is just one of many nuggets that surprised me, about the war in the Philippines.
"God has. . . . made us the master organizers of the world to establish system where chaos reigns. He has given us the spirit of progress to overwhelm the forces of reaction throughout the earth.
This is the divine mission of America, and it holds for us all the profit, all the glory, all the happiness possible to man. We are trustees of the world's progress, guardians of its righteous peace."
But, you know, to understand that, the Beveridge quote that you started off with, he goes on to say, God "has marked the American people as His chosen nation to finally lead in the regeneration of the world. This is the divine mission of America, and it holds for us all the profit, all the glory, all the happiness possible to man. We are trustees of the world's progress, guardians of its righteous peace."
I mean, so, it's this vision, again, suffusing this Christian vision--we're doing--we're God's nation, the chosen people, going out to civilize the rest of the planet of all these heathen, and especially in the Philippines. But Beveridge was important, because he was the only senator to actually visit the Philippines, and everybody was waiting for his benediction or criticism. And he comes back and he gives this glorious support for what America was doing there.
It was barbaric. If you look at the island of Samar, the order was to turn it into "a howling wilderness," to kill every male over the age of ten. And we did that. It was a slaughter. But it was also a racist slaughter. Some of the soldiers wrote back letters saying it was so much more fun to kill these little niggers here in the Philippines. There was a big southern element involved in this, a lot of discrimination, a lot of racism.
gopiscrap
(23,765 posts)I came to this nation knowing it wasn't perfect.
BelgianMadCow
(5,379 posts)I would guess. I can understand people want to move to 'imperfect nations'. Has your opinion shifted over the course of years, and in what way?
For me, I visited the US in the eighties, and thought it was THE most wonderful place. But I also thought there was a large discrepancy between Palo Alto, where I stayed, and some of the surrounding neighbourhoods. And then I went to Tiujana and was a little shocked.
Now, the dad that took all his children there, one by one at the age of 10, because of work, doesn't want to visit anymore, because of the harassment when traveling. But when I point out some of the recent serious problems, like spying and droning, he says "but they're going after the bad guys for us". So exceptionalism at work, in my view.