The US bloviates incessantly about its exceptional status.
The US is exceptional:
In its claims to democracy, while it conducts a farcical Punch-and-Judy show every four years, in which the people, whose views are never taken into account and whose needs are never met, get to vote for Tweedledum or Tweedledee, both chosen by the multibillionaires of the bloated corporations of the military/industrial complex.
The US is exceptional:
as the most violent country in world history. The number of wars that the US has instigated, or involved itself in, far exceeds those of any other country.
The US is exceptional:
in having killed more people in its many wars, than any other country in the history of the world.
The US is exceptional:
in the number of deaths by gunfire amongst its own domestic population – 25 times more likely than in any other developed country.
the US is exceptional:
in having a greater proportion of its own population in prison than any other developed country in the world – 21% of world prisoners but only 4.4% of world population
The US is exceptional:
in having the widest disparity between rich and poor of any country, where 1% of the population owns about 90% of the wealth
The US is exceptional:
Being the only advanced industrial nation where the life expectancy is falling – from 79yrs in 2019 to 76yrs in 2021, due to the exceptionally high levels of substance abuse (including alcohol) across the entire population
The US is exceptional:
in its capacity for self-delusion, self-aggrandisement, arrogance and hubris.
The US is exceptional:
in its delusion that it is the strongest economy in the world, despite that fact that its rate of growth is about half that of China and that its national debt far exceeds capacity to repay.
The US is exceptional:
in the number of international laws that it insists apply to all other countries, except itself.
The US is exceptional:
in contending that the Genocide Convention applies to all other countries, except itself (and its allies)
The US is exceptional:
in its belief that the jurisdiction of the International Courts should apply to all other countries, except itself.
The US is exceptional:
in believing that it alone has the right to invade the International Courts, if it does not agree with their judgements
The US is exceptional:
in its insistence that no country should interfere in the internal political processes of another, except itself, which interferes in most countries around the world.
The US is exceptional:
in insisting that a larger country should not be allowed to invade a smaller country, except the US which invades whatever smaller country displeases it.
Unfortunately, in almost all of these metrics, Australia is emulating its mentor, especially in the entrenchment of a political duopoly, which serves the interests of ‘big business’ and pays little heed to the views or the wants of the people. Fortunately it has some way to go before matching the US level. Australia follows in America’s footsteps internationally, asserting the law of the jungle, where ‘might is right’, rather than adhering to international law.
Will Australia be exceptional, in rejecting America’s hubris and reverting to a law-abiding country with a moral compass guiding its approach to the rest of the world?
John Lander worked in the China section of the Department of Foreign Affairs in the lead-up to the recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1972 and several other occasions in the 1970s and 1980s. He was deputy ambassador in Beijing 1974-76 (including a couple of stints as Chargé d’Affaires). He was heavily involved in negotiation of many aspects in the early development of Australia-China relations, especially student/teacher exchange, air traffic agreement and consular relations. He has made numerous visits to China in the years 2000-2019.
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