Curing Exceptionalism: What's wrong with how we think about the United States? What can we do about it?. This item is unavailable.Curing Exceptionalism: What's wrong with how we think about the United States? What can we do about it?

U.S. exceptionalism, the idea that the United States of America is superior to other nations, is no more fact-based and no less harmful than racism, sexism, and other forms of bigotry.

The purpose of this book is to persuade you of that statement.

This book examines how the United States actually compares with other countries, how people think about the comparison, what damage that thinking does, and what changes we might want to consider making.

“I hope Curing Exceptionalism will be part of coursework in classrooms throughout the U.S.” —Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.

“A must-read for every U.S. citizen.” —Robert Fantina, author of Desertion and the American Soldier 1776-2006.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 6
I. How the United States Compares with Other Countries 8
II. Exceptionalist Thinking 62
III. The Damage Exceptionalism Does 122
IV. Curing This Disease 164
Acknowledgements 190
About the Author 191
End Notes 192

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is the director of World Beyond War, a global nonviolent movement to end war and establish a just and sustainable peace. He is campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. David's books include War Is A Lie (a catalog of the types of falsehoods told about wars), War Is Never Just (a refutation of just war theory), and When the World Outlawed War (an account of the 1920s peace movement), as well as (co-author) A Global Security System: An Alternative to War (a vision of a world of nonviolent institutions). David blogs at DavidSwanson.org and WarIsACrime. org. He hosts a weekly radio show called Talk Nation Radio. He speaks frequently on the topic of war and peace, and engages in all kinds of nonviolent activism. David holds a Master's degree in philosophy from UVA and has long lived and worked in Charlottesville, Virginia.