The death knell for myth of American exceptionalism

With Donald Trump in the White House, America is in free fall. But the myth of its deeper democracy, freer press, immunity from oligarchic control has been thoroughly exposed

- Barkha Duttl

Have you lost count of the number of times your jaw has dropped in the last few days thanks to Donald Trump? I know I have. It doesn't matter if you are a fan or a critic of the US president. For a moment, let's set aside the oft-discussed crisis of liberal politics globally or why right-wing populism has risen on the back of tone-deaf elitism.

What is evident from Trump's last few weeks in office is this: The myth of American exceptionalism is done and dusted.

The Encyclopedia Britannica defines American exceptionalism as the "idea that the US is a unique and even morally superior country for historical, ideological or religious reasons". We have seen this manifestation of supercilious superiority in everything, from ill-thought-through military interventions, regime-change plots, and even ponderous op-eds. The worn-out trope of a "values-based order" was cited non-stop during the Russia-Ukraine war, to poke at India's cautious navigation. Right up until the unimaginable happened! The Americans voted with Russia, and India abstained at a United Nations vote.

Trump's upending of policy, both foreign and domestic, is, by turns, wildly entertaining and often unstable and dangerous.

But there is a conclusive busting of the myth that American values, American democracy, American media, or American oligarchy are somehow institutionally freer, healthier, or deeper than other parts of the world.