American Exceptionalism [uh-mer-i-kuhn-ik-sep-shuhn-uhl-iz-uhm]
noun
1. The proposition that the United States and it's citizens has the unique role amongst countries to spread it's own brand of democracy and freedom. It it not necessarily a notion that American culture is inherently superior or quantitatively better, but instead that it is "qualitatively different". While American superiority or righteousness amongst its peoples can be traced back as early as the Puritan and non-Puritan settlers established the concept of the "City Upon a Hill", the "uniquely" American ideology didn't come to the forefront until the revolution. The American branding of the ideals of liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism and laissez-faire have been at the core of this "exceptionality" ever since. Critics use the term in derision to refer to an American sense of superiority and others still use the term with some hint of the "City Upon a Hill" reverence in modern politics.
EX. It's difficult to escape American Exceptionalism-- national pride is instilled through the cultural zeitgeist through public holidays, monuments, history books, television, films, etc, as part of a conscious effort and sub-conscious effort to instill patriotism. This, in itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. While I personally don't see the difference between national pride and team pride (the idea that one's sport team is somehow inherently different than their rivals), although I do appreciate there is much more cultural difference between nations, because, much like your sport teams and other ideologies, an individual's support is usually based on geography. If you live in Baltimore, you're probably a Ravens fan. If you live in New York, New York USA, you're probably an America fan. And yet, despite how I try to holster the patriotism instilled into me by my upbringing, I must admit that a part of me still thinks America is the best (but not say that most of the competition is worth beating, necessarily).
The ideals of American liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, populism, and even a laissez-faire treatment of social and economic issues point toward a progressive society, in which, we would all be proud to be citizens. And yet, the problem is that the many people who do not feel so proud of our country have good reason to feel that way; many in this country, throughout history, who consider themselves to be "patriots" and, the more popular term as of late, "real Americans" have their own set of American ideals that conflict with "American Exceptionalism". Social and economic conservatives, traditionalists, who instead support and have supported the ideals of slavery and inequality, conformity, classism (where the elite rich enslave the poor), manifest destiny, and strict social adherence to an imagined idealic social standard created to justify witchhunts. Under the guise of "protecting the American way of life", a plethora of crimes against humanity have been committed in our history. These ideas can be traced back to the earliest American settlers and still resonate today in the shadow of the American stars and stripes.
Colombia, the Flying City in Bioshock: Infinite is a microcosm of these contradictory ideas coming to a head. Unlike Rapture, Colombia isn't a dystopic museum of oddities sinking beneath the waves, but a living, breathing "utopia" that is on the brink of self-immolation. Colombia fits an old saying, not only in metaphor but also literally, "United we stand, divided we
fall."
