that fact that we are all created equal does not mean that we ARE equal..
otherwise why am i not 6'9??

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Человек, который почувствовал ветер перемен, должен построить не щит от ветра, а ветряную мельницу

you are not!!?? :-O
anyway, American exceptionalism has nothing to do with American people being equal to other nations or not..maybe people need to read Tocqueville to see what he saw in the 5o year old country based on completely new principles whereas the rest of the World was infected with ideas of socialism to improve people's lives, Ameirca пошла другим путем :-) and very successfully so..
Tocqueville tried to understand why America was so different from Europe in the last throes of aristocracy.America, in contrast to the aristocratic ethic, was a society wherehard work and money-making was the dominant ethic, where the common manenjoyed a level of dignity which was unprecedented, where commonersnever deferred to elites, and where what he described as crassindividualism and market capitalism had taken root to an extraordinary degree.

American exceptionalism has nothing to do with American people being equal to other nations or not
Ok, good! So then we have to come up with a definition of exceptionalism -- and if it not the same as entitlement why this particular word was chosen.
Now, you define it as a way of individualism and money-making as a cornerstone to build a country (to oversimplify the picture). How is that exceptional compared to other routs to build a country? Say, Australia (same route), Canada (ok, somewhat different), New Zealand or Singapore???

exceptional - different....
Americans are different in terms of being motivated, having little limits, pursuing American dream..
anyway, you can think about it away you want, but the idea that people are born to be free, have God-given rights, government should be for the people, by the people, etc. are unique for America..

I would only agree with "exceptionalism" in school curriculums is they will say is an equivalent of working your butt off exceptionally hard:-) . Otherwise all it is is pseudo-patriotic propaganda. Almost like "velikij i moguchij". Baloney. Kids should be taught to be proud of their country's history, but right now, please increase our math and science standards - it's a lot more important.

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Happy New Year to all! Virtual hugs!

I also like this observation and comparison to Europeans and explanation of differences..
This rapidly democratizing society, as Tocqueville understood it, had apopulation devoted to "middling" values which wanted to amass, throughhard work, vast fortunes. In Tocqueville's mind, this explained whyAmerica was so different from Europe. In Europe, he claimed, nobodycared about making money. The lower classes had no hope of gaining morethan minimal wealth, while the upper classes found it crass, vulgar,and unbecoming of their sort to care about something as unseemly asmoney; many were virtually guaranteed wealth and took it for granted.At the same time in America workers would see people fashioned inexquisite attire and merely proclaim that through hard work they toowould soon possess the fortune necessary to enjoy such luxuries.

Americans are different in terms of being motivated, having little limits, pursuing American dream..
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Americans or immigrants?

Americans or immigrants? In my view
Americans = immigrants, which ix exactly what makes this country exceptional

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you can't always eat lobster, sometimes you gotta have fish (so says my son)

you really don't see a difference between recent immigrants and americans whose families have lived here for several generations?

I would only agree with "exceptionalism" in school curriculums is they will say is an equivalent of working your butt off exceptionally hard
Hmm... as far as I know, Japanese think that Americans are lazy... :-)