Redreaming the Dream.

by Eze Eluchie

When Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in an op-ed in the New York Times, wrote that the United States of America and its peoples were not exceptional, he stated an untruth.

The United States of America and its peoples are quite exceptional!

From its origins founded on the desire for freedom and egalitarian precepts  through its formative years when it had to grapple and even war with itself on fundamentals of the equality of its peoples to its role in the two World Wars where its interventions served to preserve the sanctity of our humanity and the various contributions of its brains towards human development in fields of science, arts, sports and whatsoever, the US has, is and will probably continue to be exceptional.

In times of disasters and crisis in other climes, again the US has always proved exceptional in its empathy, contribution of relief materials and personnel where required and funds towards ameliorating the plight of others in territories far removed from theirs.

Itself, founded by immigrants and now comprised of peoples from virtually every ethnicity and nationality across planet earth, the US has at several times opened its doors to the persecuted and those whose home countries were engulfed in crisis: in such relocation's  often times offering start-up opportunities to peoples of diverse nationalities, creeds and color, magnanimous gestures which cost its tax payers dearly, monies that could in other countries have been used for the citizens. A land of opportunities where immigrants can aspire to all but the highest office in the land and in which a man can dream his way to becoming a national icon. 

When other countries choose to use their strength to rule and colonize others by various dubious tactics ranging from ‘divide-and-rule’ to 'assimilation', faced with similar opportunities, the US aided countries they had totally vanquished in times of war to get back on their feet and even become rivals (ask Germans and Japanese folks about this). 

In its exceptional interventions in other countries, did the US have motives that will eventually benefit it and its peoples? Sure, and there definitely is nothing wrong with that. The fact  remains that such deeds served to alleviate human sufferings when no other country bothered to render assistance.

Obviously, the US is no paradise, if it were; it would have been populated by Angels – but no, we have mortals in charge who come with their own nuances and  it has its own problems and vices, amongst which includes its treatment of its African American population and other racial minorities, the refusal of its President and political establishment to hearken to the call for a Marshall Plan for Africa in line with what was extended to Germany/Europe and Japan at the end of World War II (http://ezeluchie.blogspot.com/2013/04/marshall-plan-for-africa.html) and the moral crisis it is facing as a result of over liberalization. Part of its exceptional nature is that these vices are well recognized, openly debated and efforts continually being made to address and tackle them - very much unlike what happens in other climes. Certainly the US is exceptional.

Without doubt, the missteps (yes indeed, the US government has mishandled its reaction to some conflicts in the Middle East) the US has thus far made with regards to the crisis in Syria which prompted Mr. Putin’s misstatements also take bearing from the exceptional nature of the US – to reach out and ensure security in a region where some of the entities seem irrevocably geared towards extreme fanaticism and a perpetual desire to exterminate one of their neighbors, the Jews, a people who are equally entitled to a homeland and a right of existence.

In the absence of a US in the present world order, which country appears close to replicating its role? Britain or France? God forbid! We would all be colonized all over again. China? Russia? The suggested alternatives are nightmarish. Do I wish I could have mentioned an African alternative? Nigeria? South Africa? Certainly! But this is a serious piece, not fiction.

So President Vladimir Putin, truth be told, the United States of America and its peoples are exceptional!

Picture: The United States: