No country can claim that it is exceptional, as the self-fulfilling prophecy never materializes. American exceptionalism isn’t different at all. This article aims at the evolutionary roots behind the pillars the U.S. builds its reputation on.
It also examines the historic desire to immigrate to the US. There may be, of course, rational reasons, why to emigrate, however, it shouldn’t be done because of fake American exceptionalism.
Brief history
Americans did not always think they were exceptional. The idea grew slowly. It started with the Puritans, who believed they were founding a “city upon a hill,” a moral example for the world. Then came the American Revolution, which gave Americans a story of liberty, democracy, and resistance to tyranny. Over time, they began to see their system as unique—not just different, but better.
During the 19th century, this belief grew stronger. The U.S. expanded westward, claiming it had a divine mission. This was called Manifest Destiny. It mixed religion, nationalism, and power. As the country grew richer and stronger, people started thinking its success came from moral virtue, not geography or resources. That turned pride into ideology. Presidents began using the term “American exceptionalism” to frame foreign policy and justify wars.
In the 20th century, global events cemented the belief. The U.S. helped win two world wars and stood against communism in the Cold War. Its culture spread worldwide. For many Americans, this confirmed the myth. But it was a myth. Other countries also valued freedom or democracy. America was not always more moral or wise. Yet the belief survived. It made people blind to failures at home—poverty, racism, violence—while insisting they were leading the world.
The biggest and most successful tribe, yet the flawed logic
Humans evolved in small tribes where survival depended on strength, alliances, and protection. Individuals who joined or stayed loyal to the strongest tribe had better chances to survive, reproduce, and pass on their genes. Over time, this created a deep psychological bias: people feel safer, prouder, and more valuable when they are part of a powerful group.
This instinct still operates today. Modern states replaced tribes, but the logic remains. The United States, with its military, wealth, culture, and global influence, functions like a dominant tribe. Many people admire or align with it not because of values or truth, but because it looks strong. They want to be on the winning side. It feels like status. It feels like safety.
That is why people copy American accents, wear American brands, and repeat American views. They are not just being cultural consumers. They are signaling loyalty to the tribe they think will protect or elevate them. Even critics of the U.S. often speak its language—literally and ideologically—because being seen as part of the strong tribe opens more doors than standing alone.
What lies behind it? Nas mnogo
The USA has unbelievably 350 million people. And people who made fun (and it isn’t actually funny) of Russians who claimed (at least in WW2) “nas mnogo” (there is plenty of us) don’t know Americans are very close to this stance.
Estimates on the number of Americans dying annually due to lack of health insurance vary. A 2009 study by Harvard Medical School found that approximately 45,000 Americans die each year because they lack health insurance coverage. Another analysis suggests that, after adjusting for high-burden diseases, the annual deaths associated with health insurance issues and impaired access to care could be as high as 200,000. These figures highlight the critical impact of healthcare accessibility on mortality rates in the U.S.
Total disrespect for human life: Opioid crisis
The opioid epidemic has led to a substantial number of overdose deaths. Since 1999, over 800,000 people in the U.S. have died from opioid overdoses. In 2022, there were approximately 81,806 opioid overdose deaths, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl involved in about 90% of these cases. However, recent data indicates a decline in overdose deaths, with fatalities dropping to less than 81,000 over the past year—a 26% reduction from previous years. Despite this decrease, opioids remain a leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 44.
No exceptionalism, only huge country with good culture
If Americans didn’t have English culture (or something derived from it), their impact would be far smaller.
But their political culture is Anglo-saxon (if we exclude Trump and otherwise declining culture). But definitely is not the best, and even if it would, it means nothing.
As of 2025, approximately 390 million people worldwide speak English as their first language, making it the third most spoken native language globally, following Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.
So singing songs in American English attracts even people from outside of the USA. It same goes for movies, documentaries, celebrities and so on.
Economy
I wrote this to explain how the West still controls the Global South—not through armies, but through money. The tools are complex: banks, debts, interest rates, and international institutions. But the outcome is simple. Rich countries stay rich. Poor ones stay stuck. I see it clearly in how global finance works. Interconnected Western banks, especially those linked to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, dominate the world’s money flows. When they shift interest rates or restrict credit, entire countries suffer. It is not just economics. It is power.
What shocks me most is how deliberate it feels. The U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency. That gives America a hidden lever over every country that borrows in dollars—which is nearly all of them. When the Fed raises rates, poorer nations must pay more to service their debts. That means less for schools, hospitals, or infrastructure. And when they cannot pay, they go begging to the IMF or World Bank—Western-controlled bodies that offer help, but with strings attached: austerity, privatization, deregulation. It is sold as reform. I see it as control.
These systems are not broken. They are designed this way. Banks profit from lending to struggling nations, then again from advising on how to repay. Governments act like they want to help, but they maintain this cycle. Interconnected Western banks are at the center of it, moving money across borders, charging fees, and calling the shots. What looks like global finance is actually a kind of modern colonialism—clean, legal, and devastating. I wrote this to name it. To warn others. And to call for a new system.
“American exceptionalism” strongly thanks to explotation
This system benefits the U.S. economy in many ways, most of them invisible to ordinary Americans. By keeping the dollar as the global reserve currency, the U.S. can borrow money cheaply, print dollars without inflation hitting as hard, and attract capital from all over the world. Countries in the Global South need dollars to repay debts, trade, and stabilize their currencies. So they buy U.S. treasury bonds, strengthening the dollar and financing America’s own debt. That allows the U.S. to run huge deficits without facing the same consequences poorer countries would.
American banks profit too. They issue loans to foreign governments and corporations, then charge interest, fees, and penalties. When the debt goes bad, U.S. institutions are often paid first. And when countries are forced to privatize their public services or industries under IMF pressure, American investors are often the ones buying the assets. This is how public wealth in the Global South ends up feeding private profit in the North. Even U.S. consulting firms, lawyers, and economists earn money managing the chaos these policies cause.
And there is a political gain. Keeping the Global South economically unstable gives the U.S. more influence. Countries dependent on U.S.-led institutions are easier to pressure diplomatically. They align with U.S. foreign policy, vote with the West in international bodies, and hesitate to build independent alliances. In short, the system does not just boost the U.S. economy. It reinforces American power. It turns debt into leverage. And it locks the world into a hierarchy where the U.S. always comes out on top.
The US wants to make sure no countries are on the same scientific level
Since the US universities are the best, it is not only because they are so good. But it is because US does everything other countries’ universities are bad.
How come? Banks are the major shadow force in majority of countries, so their political power exerts to the point that they make other schools bad.
Of course, secret sevices also play a role.
No American exceptionalism, but if so many people do something, it makes an impact
One single language, strong army, strong economy, large market that services for countries not so populous couldn’t afford it (for example, liberal comedy shows).
Americans claim supremacy, but their power stems from immoral stance – not helping developing countries, if of course they (the third world countries) really wanted human rights to be upheld.
The market is so huge, closed, so nothing can compare with its cultural, economic and military impact.
Moral superiority
Why the US still can make the world more democratic, moral superiority is gone. Human experiments, torture, slavery, criminal-minded War on Drugs which is detrimental to users and extremely beneficial to the Big Banks laundering plenty of unbelieveable amount of money.
And then wars where brutal, but somehow functional countries were destroyed. All of the wars have some economic motive.
The U.S.-led War on Terror, initiated in response to the 9/11 attacks, has had profound and far-reaching consequences, particularly in the Middle East. Since 2001, U.S. military operations in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, and Pakistan have contributed to the deaths of an estimated 4.5 million people, either directly or indirectly.
These conflicts have also led to the displacement of millions, creating humanitarian crises that continue to this day. The Los Angeles Times noted that “U.S. military forces have been at war for all eight years of Obama’s tenure, the first two-term president with that distinction.” The ongoing violence and instability in these regions have raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the War on Terror and whether it has achieved its intended goals. The human cost of these wars, in terms of lives lost and communities destroyed, remains a significant and tragic legacy of U.S. foreign policy.
American exceptionalism as a God-chosen country
Not only they are best at everything (I have explained the dubious way they did it), but their country is chosen by God.
We are all lucky there is no personal or impersonal God because we would all end up in hell. (Are we all going to hell? Who is going to hell? Heaven and hell overlap; Heaven and hell as a binary construct; Heaven as impossible? 250 Arguments for Atheism, Jan Bryxí 2025).
Conclusion: American exceptionalism
There is no such thing as American exceptionalism. There is only a powerful country with massive population, a globally spoken language, and a system that protects its dominance—often at the expense of others. The myth of being chosen, morally superior, or uniquely virtuous is just that: a myth. People are drawn to the U.S. not because it is better, but because it is bigger, louder, richer, and more dominant. Evolution made us loyal to the strongest tribe. Today, that tribe happens to be the United States.
But strength does not mean justice. Global admiration of America comes not from its ethics, but from its reach. Its banks trap nations in debt, its military destabilizes entire regions. Its culture spreads through screens and songs, not through values. Even its universities lead because others are kept behind. All of this creates influence. It does not create greatness.
In the end, calling the U.S. exceptional hides more than it reveals. It hides addiction deaths, healthcare failures, wars, and manipulation of weaker economies. The world does not need exceptionalism. It needs fairness. And America, if it truly wants to lead, must stop pretending it was chosen by God—and start acting like it understands humans are equal, everywhere.
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