Realism, Exceptionalism, Americanism, Egoism, & the Like

   "'Isms', in my opinion, are not good. A person should not believe in an 'ism', he should believe in himself."

-Ferris Bueller in  (Ferris Bueller's Day Off)

     If my four years of debate taught me anything, it's that when a word ends in "ism", it's automatically important. I spent my entire high school career analyzing the life out of these controversial little words and have come to the conclusion that they are all fancy ways of saying basically the same thing. Another thing I have realized, is that most of these "isms" are nothing but little branches off of a bigger "ism". For instance,our topic this week is "Realism". However, under that umbrella word, we find smaller members of the Realism family. These include theories like American Exceptionalism and a similar Ethical Egoism. In order to apply Realism to our individual lives, we must first look at the way our own country utilizes it. And, in our case, this is through means of American Exceptionalism.

     American Exceptionalism was a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831. It has historically been referred to as the perception that the United States differs qualitatively from other developed nations because of its unique origins, national credo, historical evolution, and distinctive political and religious institutions. It specifically states that because the United States holds this unique place in the world, it is essentially the hope for humanity. It has been a debate among the United States' directories of foreign policy for decades about whether or not foreign policy should be guided with this ideology that the United States is in many ways superior to other states. The debate continues because it is hard to determine whether or not American hegemony even exists anymore. However, regardless of either side of the debate, one fact remains. American Exceptionalism is a theory that has close relations to Realism. We see many attributes in common because when the United States acts from a basis of American Exceptionalism, it tends to disregard the identity of other states. Thisperfectly describes Realism, which is a theory with a dominant way of thinking. This theory prioritizes national interest and security over ideology, moral concerns, or social reconstructions. However, we have one major problem with American Exceptionalism. As we follow the theory in action, we see that we run into a certain wall by the name of Anti-Americanism. 
     
     Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located on the island of Okinawa, Japan. This island has served as a U.S. military base since it was first occupied in 1945. The presence of U.S. military in Okinawa has caused numerous problems for the indigenous Japanese population. Some of these problems include noise and air pollution from flight training, public endangerment, and most recently, crimes. Public concern with crime related to U.S. military presence in 

Okinawa rose in 1995 when three American militants raped a 12-year-old Okinawan girl. Situations like this went on for years. Because of this, 90,000 Japanese citizens rallied together to protest the continued presence of the U.S. Marine base in Futenma. This group of protesters formed a chain encircling the Marine base as a sign that the United States military was no longer welcome on their soil. This rally was, and still is, one of the largest Anti-American rallies in international history, and is considered to be one of the causes for United States/Japan tension. 

    It is easy to see how our view of American Excpetionalism sometimes brings hatred upon our on nation, even if the cause was intentionally good. As Americans, we do tend to have a bit of a "City on a Hill" mindset when talking about other nations. Nothing is more vexing to foreigners than this belief that the United States is somehow inherently superior to all other states in the world. What we fail to realize is that, although we have American Excptionalism, the meaning that is often misunderstood. Likewise, the theory of American Exceptionalism is just as early accessible to the United States as it is to other nations as well. Who's to say that Chinese Exceptionalism, Iranian Exceptionalism, or even Belizean Exceptionalism do not also exist coherently? I believe, to some extent, all other nations view themselves to have much of higher values and standards than they truly do. Think back to the Okinawa example. We are a nation that boasts equality, freedom, and peace. However, those values were disregarded during the brutal beatings and rapes of innocent Japanese girls. It is easy for every state to somehow justify their actions by tying it to their own unique exceptionalist theories. This is why American Exceptionalism is just another fancy word for Realism. Both of these theories do not take into account the well-being of another nation state. Just as long as the exhibiting nation holds something to gain, anything is justifiable. Not only does this uni-lateral point of view seem preposterous to most of us, it also seems like a nation setting itself up to fail miserably. But, luckily for us, there is yet another approach to Realism.

     Ethical Egoism is the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to do what is in their own self-interest. However, it differs from plain old Realism or American Exceptionalism because,although criticized for being oxymoronic, Ethical Egoism requires a code of morality. In other words, the main reason for a nation acting in their own self-interest is to make themselves stronger and spread their strength among weaker states, or to strengthen the entire World Market as a whole. Because of my love for analogies, it is mandatory to use one here:
Suppose you are a player on a basketball team. Rather than practicing with the team, you decide to do your own drills and conditioning on your own. Because you are able to focus on your own flaws and weaknesses, you are able to address these issues more efficiently. As a result, your team begins to perform 
better and better. 

     Now the question is, was this wrong of you? This is the question that is posed by Ethical Egoism. So to better understand, let's break it down. The pros are that you are able to better contribute to your team's ultimate goal of winning because you, as an individual, have improved. However, your teammates may look at you with judgement and your coach may not be happy with you. You have also missed out on the team-bonding experience that is usually gained through group practice. So, doing a little bit of cost-benefit analysis, we can see that the costs of self-interested practice have far surpassed the benefit. The same is true on a global scale. The United States' self-interest may ultimately succeed at keeping the World Market as 
balanced as possible, but in the end, we are experiencing a rise in Anti-Americanism and even a small sense of isolationism (an "ism" for another day perhaps). 

     It is apparent that Realism encompasses many other theories that, when compared in close proximity, all mean about the same thing. They are each describing theories in which a nation somehow, either sugar-coated with morals or brutally by exceptionalists, puts their self-interest above that other states. Because of the examples I've shown, it is easy to see how, more often than not, this leads to negative side effects. Although it may seem as though the United States inevitably benefits from its Realist mindset, this facade is a mere illusion. Because whether Realism, Exceptionalism, Americanism, or Egoism, "Isms, in my opinion, are just not good."