For a long, long time “American exceptionalism” has been a jingoistic slogan generally used to tout some way in which the US is touted as better in some way than anywhere else. But “exceptional” doesn’t really mean “better.” It means different.
Adam Bonica did some interesting math to illustrate the current state of American exceptionalism. He compared the math in 31 nations tracked by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The nations are as similar as possible; they are wealthy democratic states. And sure enough, the US is an outlier. An exception. But as I mentioned above, “exceptional” doesn’t imply “better.”
Anyway, Bonica proceeded to project what would be different about the US if it was not an exception. If it was just middle of the pack among wealthy democratic states. Here are a few of the results:
If the US was an average wealthy democracy,
• 51 milli0n more people would vote
• there would be 60 more women serving in Congress
• the rate of women dying during childbirth would go down 76%
• there would be 10,000 fewer infant deaths annually
• school shooting incidents would drop by 99%
• on the average, household income would be $19,000 higher
• 50,000 more workers would be part of unions
• spending on healthcare would drop by $2.1 trillion
• on the average, every single individual would spend $691 less on healthcare
• bankruptcies due to medical expenses would drop by 500,000 per year
I could go on. Or you could read his article yourself; there’s a lot there to think about.
