THE AMERICAN RECORD

NORMAN BORLAUG, a descendent of Norwegian immigrants, grew up in the early part of the twentieth century on an Iowa farm, where a boy couldn’t help but learn a thing or two about how corn and wheat grow. He attended a one-room school, worked his way through college during the Great Depression, and then earned a doctorate in plant pathology.

During World War II, when massive destruction raised fears of widespread hunger, he plunged into the work of helping impoverished countries grow more food. He headed to Mexico to join a program funded by the Rockefeller Foundation to help farmers produce more crops.

His initial efforts didn’t turn out very well. Borlaug taught the farmers to feed their wheat crops extra nitrogen to increase yields, but the stalks grew so tall and heavy that they collapsed. He tackled the problem by developing shorter, stouter plants that could support abundant wheat grains. For years he battled the tropical sun, floods, disease, and drought as he showed farmers the best way to plant, fertilize, and irrigate.

By the 1960s, when experts were warning that global famine was just a few years away, Mexican farmers were producing enough grain to feed their own people and even export a surplus. It was the beginning of an agricultural revolution that swept much of the world. Pleas for help arrived from other poor countries with starving populations. Dr. Borlaug and his colleagues traveled throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America to spread their techniques and breed new plants. Grain production soared.

Before he died in 2009, Norman Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and scores of other tributes. By some estimates, his work helped save the lives of one billion people around the world.[13]

His is an extraordinary story, a very American story, because America is the place where, more than any other country, extraordinary efforts are launched and ideas born. In many ways the United States has been, and continues to be, one of the most amazing countries in history.

What’s so great about the American record?

If you listen to the cynics and critics, there isn’t much to admire about America. Some history books and professors give the impression that this country is fundamentally flawed and unfair and that Americans have much to apologize for: stealing land from Native Americans, fouling the environment, enslaving Africans, withholding rights from women, exploiting laborers, discriminating against people of color, and waging imperialist wars against the third world.

Even Norman Borlaug was denounced by left-wing environmentalists who said his techniques used too many chemicals and caused small farmers in Africa and other parts of the world to be replaced by large-scale, corporate operations. Borlaug responded that if his critics “lived just one month amid the misery of the developing world, as I have for 50 years, they’d be crying out for tractors and fertilizer and irrigation canals and be outraged that fashionable elitists in wealthy nations were trying to deny them these things.”[14]

If you take a step back and look at the broad picture, you see just how remarkable the American record is. For example:

None of this means that Americans are better than everyone else, or that the United States is always right, or that the country is without faults. Of course it has many faults; its history includes wrongs such as slavery, segregation, and the denial of women’s rights. All human institutions are imperfect. Yet over the years Americans have shown themselves to be pretty good at taking a hard look at the nation’s wrongs and trying to make them right.

The late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan put it this way: “Am I embarrassed to speak for a less-than-perfect democracy? Not one bit. Find me a better one. Do I suppose there are societies that are free of sin? No, I don’t. Do I think ours is on balance incomparably the most hopeful set of human relations the world has? Yes, I do. Have we done obscene things? Yes, we have. How did our people learn about them? They learned about them on television and in the newspapers.”[18]

A country, like a person, should be judged by the totality of its acts. In any honest assessment, America’s total record stands tall—tall enough to be called great.

What does “American exceptionalism” mean?

American exceptionalism is the idea that the United States has a character and set of ideals that sets it apart from other countries. Those ideals have led it to play a unique role in history, as evidenced by the record outlined above.

The idea of American exceptionalism has been around since European immigrants began coming to these shores. “We must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill,” Puritan leader John Winthrop wrote. “The eyes of all people are upon us.”[19]

He was right. For most of this country’s history, the world has watched to see how America has struggled to live up to its promise. Sometimes we’ve fallen short, even tragically short, but often we’ve attained heights long thought unreachable.

What makes this country truly exceptional are the promises and principles of America—the old truths written into the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Freedom of thought and speech. Equality before the law. The right to worship God as we please. The dignity of each individual. The freedom to pursue dreams and the opportunity to live to our fullest potential.

Such ideals, perhaps more than anything else, make us who we are. They’re the glue that holds the United States together. They’re what we stand for.

Many people around the world look to the United States as the standard-bearer of those ideals, especially freedom. Perhaps in the end what makes America exceptional is that often we do finally live up to our ideals. America is that special place where people’s dreams about it do indeed come true.

No, not everyone likes America. There will always be detractors and enemies. But for millions overseas, Americans are “the watchmen on the walls of world freedom.”[20] Americans are at their best when they stand up for the founding principles and fight for them, when necessary.

Some liberals believe that American exceptionalism is a dangerous myth, the invention of an arrogant country that wants to throw its weight around. Our military is too heavy handed, our carbon footprint too large, our policies too pushy, they say. The world would be better off and like us a lot better if we’d stop acting like we’re so exceptional.

Conservatives believe that the answer to those kinds of criticisms is the American record itself. All in all, despite its blemishes, it’s an extraordinary record. The world is a better place because of it.

Is patriotism an outdated notion?

There are always people who view patriotism as something slightly embarrassing and unsophisticated, an awkward sentiment out of step with modern times. They think of it as a “down-market commodity,” a cheap and easy thing. Such people get nervous that waving the American flag will make people want to start a war or step on other countries. They prefer to think of themselves as citizens of a global community.

These “sophisticated” people are confusing patriotism (love of country) with jingoism (excessive devotion to country, often marked by aggression toward other nations). Love of country is a good thing.

Patriotism doesn’t mean obnoxious boasting, but it does involve taking pride in our country’s achievements, sticking up for its principles, supporting its efforts, and cheering it on at times. It means offering respect to our nation and to its institutions.

True patriotism is informed patriotism. When you really love something, you recognize its strengths and faults. Patriots are what James Madison called “loving critics” who examine their country’s actions closely, raise concerns when necessary, and try to make their nation as good as it can possibly be.

Conservatives aren’t shy about critiquing their country, but they’re also not shy about celebrating American ideals and all the good this country has done. They certainly aren’t the only people to take pride in the United States. But one mark of conservatism is to be unembarrassed to say that this is a great and good nation.

Why is it important to say that?

First, because it is the truth, and the truth is always worth saying. If we forget the truth about this country’s greatness, we stop being a great people. We weaken the American spirit.

Second, recognizing America’s greatness helps make us grateful. No other country has ever offered so much opportunity to learn, to grow, to make a living, to make a mark. We can’t take that for granted. Let us not commit the sin of ingratitude for so many blessings.

Third, recognizing America’s goodness helps us love this country. And loving it makes us want to protect it. Nothing good lasts when people don’t cherish and protect it. If we don’t stand up for America, it will disappear.

One of the best ways to appreciate this country is to learn about its history. Do a little reading about Washington’s crossing the Delaware, the building of the transcontinental railroad, the march on Selma, or the landing on the moon. Visit places like Kitty Hawk, the Alamo, or Pikes Peak. The more you know American history, the more you come to realize that it is one of the greatest stories of all time. And you come to see why Abraham Lincoln called the United States the “last best hope of earth.”[21]