American Exceptionalism

Though we have heard it often enough, the term itself does not lend easily to definition.  Speakers from different eras have co-opted the term for their own agenda and purposes.  Commencing from a more localized comparison between the US and other Western civilizations in Europe, it has morphed loosely to encompass the entire world.

But historically, one is hard-pressed to find any credible basis to affirm the modern connotation of the term.  In at least one instance it is shown to be unrelated to what is claimed.  Some credit the old historian Alexis de Tocqueville for its initial reference.  Then Stalin supposedly coined the term.  In current context, US presidents like Kennedy and Reagan made use of such term.  Reagan even went further, citing the country as a “shining city on a hill”.

Whatever it definitively connotes in the current milieu, it still loosely means that Americans possess unique defining qualities that distinguish them from the rest of the world, making them in a manner of speaking, tower above the rest.  I suppose then it includes any and all qualities that make them stand out and become the envy of the rest.  Like as the sole world super power?  The biggest and richest economy?  The strongest and mightiest military?  The destination most of the immigrants of the world desire to move or relocate to?  Etc.

Anyway, every time I hear mention of this unique quality as a defining eminence in American society, it has always been as an outsider in awe and wonder looking in.  Because every time I heard it expounded, it had always come out of the confident mouths of well-spoken and highly-placed individuals in American society, whether in government and media.

So two things have always come into my mind.  How exactly is this exceptionalism manifested in everyday life?   And who are these people who exhibit such manifest destiny?   Many images race around in the mind.  Countenances of renowned scientists discovering new stuff, or pioneering ways of doing things.  Of superior world-class athletes in different fields of sports.  Of well-spoken politicians who can hold in mesmerizing awe the rapt attention of many.  Of many more exceptional individuals and ways in whatever fields of activity and endeavor  we may find in the rest of the world.

But what about lowly immigrants desiring to partake of the American dream?  Can they be part of the exceptionalism that is talked about.  Is it opened only to the upper echelons?  In the puny universes of the new immigrant minorities are there still definitive signs of glimmer and glint to suggest exceptionalism in what they are doing?

We sure wanted to find out for ourselves. This deep longing had formed as part of the lifeblood of my desire and the rest of my family to migrate to the US in the 80’s. And that we did.  And forty years later?

I and the wife are back in the old homeland, taking up where we left off and picking up our lives in the self-same way.  But all our kids and their families are still in the US.

The question we ask ourselves at times relates to the families left behind.  Are my kids and their families not only living the American dream, but more significantly are they practicing and partaking of the vaunted exceptionalism of the place?

I have no ready answer, except to trace what we had done and from there to search for if any, any snippet of wisdom that could reveal the answer for us.

First it starts with me.  For a quarter of century, I continued my role in the new environment as breadwinner of the family, but this time ably aided by the wife, who also had to work.   Quite exceptional I’d say, for both parents working while raising 4 under-age kids in a new and strange place and cobbled by very limited resources.  But that we had to endure for years on end almost singlehandedly, making sure all the kids got their basic education and fit enough to support themselves to a certain extent.  Which they all superbly cooperated with.

Like diligent worker bees, both I and the wife dug our laden heels and pressed our noses to the grind, making sure not to miss any day of work, and even signing up for extra work when the opportunities popped up. And surprise of surprises, our respective employers found all these exceptional!  Saying so not only in words, but also in the form of generous financial rewards.  Expressed, for example, this way.  I got extra vacation time for not missing any day of work, and for signing up for extra shifts. Such vacation time was commutative, that is, one could convert the hours to cash payments.

Many of our peers also found it exceptional that we were able to provide for our own housing within a few years of work, and relieved ourselves early from the burdens of being renters.  And what’s more, even provided additional housing so the kids could go to better schools.

And after years of hard work, in positions considered bread-and-butter though better than entry-level ones, we were able to provide ample retirement funds to survive in our remaining years.   In this day and age that would be considered quite exceptional even in the good ole’ US of A.

Inculcated with these same cherished values we had brought from the old homeland, it seemed no big surprise that our kids would also exhibit them in the self-same manner and at times even more intensely.  And these they did, and even at times in more stressful and hazardous situations, because of the nature of their employment.  Their longevity and progress in their endeavors could be rated as clear enough testimonies to some form of exceptionalism. And this had been exhibited by a segment of society that in practice needed more showing and proving its worth and value than the rest or majority of the native community.

So signs of American exceptionalism?  Sort of?  Because our natural affection as parents would incline us so, we reply in the affirmative.



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True, that American exceptionalism could be equal opportunity but what is showing us in this present crisis is how vulnerable the country is with regard to the financial health of its citizenry.

This pandemic with the concomitant effect of drastic and unwelcomed business stoppages has shown how ill-prepared a good chunk of the citizenry had always been.  Many of those out of work could not survive the loss of payroll even for just a short time.  Typical families are missing the necessary financial back-up like savings or other forms of liquid assets to tide them over, without immediate government assistance.

This lack being attributable to the lifestyle attitude inculcated and developed through the years by monetary policies initiated by banks and government, and compliantly welcomed by the citizenry.  The borrow and spend attitude, rather than the save before you spend mantra so startlingly shown by a previous generation. And which past generation was responsible for the remarkable progress of the country.  The instant gratification paradigm has been developed to the detriment of the country.  Rather than actually being prosperous, it was sold to many that it would be sufficient to feel prosperous when one is able for example, to acquire assets on credit with very little or no personal estate offered in exchange.  So we had houses being owned missing any considerable DP or other attendant costs of acquisition.  But left the owners drowning in debt from it and other accoutrements of prosperous living like vehicle and credit card debt. Remember this ended in the housing bust and the sub-prime mess some years back.

All this has shown us that the exceptionalism shown by many new immigrants in hard work and thriftiness could help steer the country back to its roots of real prosperity and wealth.

Once upon a time … as a student

 

 

Reeling from a devastating loss in our much ballyhooed debut in student politics, it was indeed a very welcomed development to be selected as one of two representatives from Xavier University to a weekend seminar in fabled Tagaytay.  A grand event financed and sponsored by the dollar-rich US Embassy.  And in hindsight, one could consider that inauspicious event as consequential and providential in some respects. The year was 1965.

 Though not showing much strain and sorrow, we unexpectedly had just been handed a tragic blow, when our entire election slate from President to PRO came in a poor third in our very first, and luckily only, outing in campus politics.  And worse, we had such great prospects and expectations of winning.  But it was not to be.

 A quick airplane trip out of the scene of the carnage was an apt remedy prescription, except that the other party with me came in the person of the winner in our star-crossed contest, Max Paderanga.  But I soon shunted that thought aside, buoyed by cheery expectations of the event.  The Embassy had invited us for a weekend seminar with some specific agenda, about 50 student leaders from all over the country.  They came from prestigious schools all over the country, but we Ateneans were particularly anointed because of the greater number of participants in our ranks, coming from Ateneos from different parts of the country. 

 We were billeted in small groups at different nice hotels and lodging places in cool and foggy Tagaytay.  But the mass gatherings and functions were held in one particular venue, inside an imposing monastery and convent for nuns, the main building perched high on rolling topography within very expansive grounds.  And it had the commanding view of the famed volcano inside a lake.  The nuns not only provided the elaborate venue, but also catered to our gastronomic needs with very impressive menu, many items unfamiliar to provincial palates like ours.

 To summarize it was a coming together of a lot of important persons with their different roles.  Top and foremost was US Ambassador Edward Mattos who spoke in general about his country’s devotion and promise of assistance to the local student population with regard to its critical role in governance. And he also regaled us with his piano playing, completing a picture of a consummate diplomat representing a powerful nation.  The Philippines then had close ties with the US AID as integral partners in the myriad of development projects planned for the region.

 He also gathered with him some very notable Filipino student leaders like Raul Roco from Naga, who later on become senator, and a Jose Conrado “Jolly” Benitez, who also was appointed a favored cabinet member during the infamous Marcos administration.  The affair was also graced with the presence of an appealing lady student leader named Sonia Malazarte, who had earlier won the title as student of the year, coming from a Manila all-girls school. Roco and Malazarte eventually got married but this was supposedly their first encounter.

 We had the fortune also of having several representatives from the Israeli Embassy gracing the affair, and which country’s noteworthy doings were a major topic in the seminar, starting from the consul to a couple of attaches.  And rounding off the roster of participants, we had about 50 vocal student leaders, many bursting full with outsized egos.  Though in fairness, there were also many who sat at the opposite end, very quiet and introverted.

 It was I believe the first time that student leaders from all over the country were purposely gathered together to discuss topics then relevant to their times and circumstances.  And I have no recollections as to whether succeeding or similar gatherings were held during that time.

When all was said and done, many of us came away from it with some notable memories.

Personally, I was amazed to learn that one of the nuns who by happenstance read the student roster recognized a name and had asked for me to see her.  She was a daughter of the late Chief Justice Mariano H. de Joya, who once had been assigned in CDO as provincial judge. He and his family were close to my father’s family.  And may even had shared the house of my grandparents for some time.  Thus, when my father spent time in Manila for his schooling, he also spent some time with the de Joya family, having been very close to one of the brothers of the nun, and I recall at a later time that his name was Boring.  It was a very blissful meeting and I had promised to relay this incident to my father who was in CDO.

 At the end of the seminar, we were each advised to write our impressions about the seminar, but more importantly, to write about the political conditions in the home country as seen by the younger generation.  Though I was not inclined to dismiss the parting instruction, writing about the subject just did not appeal to my interests then.  But I did submit an entry.

Months later, I received from the Embassy a copy of a bound pamphlet with collated selected entries from different participants.  And was glad Xavier U did not disappoint because one of the selected entries was that of Max Paderanga, and I still recall he wrote about the “dog-eat-dog” climate developing in Philippine society.  A curt analysis of a nascent country in the mid-60’s trying to develop its sea legs.  Was Max prophetic with his observation?

 Another memorable event that transpired within that seminar and has stayed on in memory, was the segment about Israel and what it had done then.  The consul spoke seriously and determinedly about their kibbutz system and its initial successes.  He gave out books and pamphlets, which I still have in my possession to this day.  Talk about a determined country, though small and surrounded by eternal foes. And notice how it considers itself as part of Asia.