I’d like to talk about American “exceptionalism”. To me that has meant that we do things a little smarter than other countries, and I was proud of it. But lately, I have been reconsidering. The January 6 insurrection was unbelievable. A bunch of thugs nearly capturing our Capitol while being encouraged by a former president! The International Institute for Democracy in Stockholm now lists us as a “backsliding democracy”. They were apparently watching. So not much exceptionalism there.
More currently we have Covid. With millions infected, hundreds of thousands dying, and with health care workers in crisis mode, we have over 60 million residents refusing to get the vaccine that would help stop the mutations and keep us safe. Well, compared to many other countries where they are taking the preventative steps, maybe that does qualify as exceptional. But not in the way I used to see it. Where are we headed?
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John Evert
Oro Valley
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
