By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Many people in the world did not quite understand what American Exceptionalism means. Now, it has become clear to many of them. American Exceptionalism is just another name for American double standards. The entire Russian athletic team and many Russian athletes were prevented from taking part in the Rio Olympics and the Para-Olympics because of the charges that they have used drugs. Now, we have found out that many American athletes were having almost free access to those drugs. We are told that these were prescribed by the athletes’ physicians, however, the fact remains that these drugs do have the potential to improve their performance. Therefore, technically the drugs are performance-enhancing agents.
Moreover, the information that they were taking these drugs under their doctor’s supervision was only released after their medical records were hacked. Whatever justifications the American authorities may give, yet to an average person, it looks like a case of double standards. It also gives the impression that for the American athletes, rules can be bent and the truth can be stretched a little. American exceptionalism also means that Americans can live in glass houses and still throw stones at others. American Exceptionalism also means that the wisdom and experience of others does not apply to Americans because they are exceptional people. God created the others, and then it wanted to create a special category of people: the Americans.
The 19th century Europeans will have a very difficult time understanding the present meaning of American Excpetionalism. They had it completely wrong. They thought that many of those whom they sent to America, were not the brightest and the best. On the contrary, they felt that many of the people they sent to Europe were the ones who could either not make it in Europe or were undesirable, or were criminal elements. They will agree that America is an exception because all these people made it in America when they had no chance in Europe. However, they will have a great difficulty in comprehending that these people were special or exceptional. America’s Exceptionalism is agreeable; but Americans’ Exceptionalism is hard to swallow.
Maybe, we did not get it right, the Americans are also exceptional. They can yell at and snub other athletes and force tears to come out of their eyes even on the victory stands and while receiving medals. Yes, they are different. Who else can falsely blame the host country of robbing them? Yes, they are exceptional because they are free from politeness, humility, etiquette, and above all, the laws of other countries. It could be their impression that they are exceptional because these criteria only apply to other people, and do not apply to them because they are Americans.
The bitter truth is that the Olympics and all of the other international sports organizations have been thoroughly influenced by American arrogance. In the final analysis, American Exceptionalsm is a code word for American arrogance. The conventional Eastern wisdom always associated humility with knowledge, and arrogance with ignorance. American Exceptionalism is trying to reverse this age-old wisdom. Just like the other institutions, such as the U.N., the World Bank and the IMF, the world sports institutions and organizations have been very adversely affected by American excpetionalism. All of these institutions are based upon the principle of inequality, or at least, on the notion that some, like the Americans, are more equal than others. The Rio Olympics and the issue of drugs and athletes are manifestations of this problem.
American excpetionalism has also reversed other human values which were more compatible with nature. For example, nature has given us two ears and one mouth. Therefore, the natural ratio should be that we listen two times the amount we speak. However, the natural order has been reversed, and in this phenomenon, America is leading the world. The Americans do not agree that an austere, moderate and restrained man is ideal. They like exactly the opposite: expressive, assertive and aggressive. Similarly, the traditional wisdom was that desires are the cause of suffering. However, American Excpetionalism believes that a man should be hungry for power and achievement. They call it “drive.” Others like stability, but American excpetionalism promotes wanderlust, which it calls adventure.
As the American grip on the world is loosening, many countries have started questioning American excpetionalism. Russia and China are leading the forces which are challenging American hegemony. The Russian media has started what looks like a counter-punch to American Excpetionalism, particularly after the Russian athletes were banned from the Rio Olympics and were also mistreated there. Will it make a dent on American Exceptionalism? During my long stay in America I met very good and enlightened Americans who were opposed to American Exceptionalism (Arrogance). However, these people were generally the enlightened people or some had leftist leanings. The common man was very much influenced by the notion that America is the greatest, love it or leave it and my country right or wrong philosophy. However, a very significant change has taken place. Donald Trump seems to be speaking for the common man. His call to make America great again implies that a common man no longer believes that America is the greatest now. I feel that this is a very welcome change that America is moving away from arrogance and embracing humility. Instead of the common man the pseudo leftist liberals seem to have become advocates of American Exceptionalism. At one time the common man considered the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. Now, the common man wants to get along with Russia. Trump wants good relations with Russia. I feel that if Trump were the President, Russian athletes would not have been banned from the Olympics and the medical records of the American athletes would not have been hacked.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
