As we enter what would have been Dad's 98th year, and I continue to write about our lives together, I wonder about the concept of American Exceptionalism. This term is “bantered about” by all of those with an ‘R’ or ‘D’ behind their name, especially in election years.
In this age of exceptional greed, is it still possible to have an exceptional culture? What does that really mean or look like?
First, we must define the term. Wikipedia notes the following:
“American exceptionalism is the theory that the United States is qualitatively different from other nations.[2] In this view, U.S. exceptionalism stems from its emergence from the American Revolution, thereby becoming what political scientist Seymour Martin Lipset called "the first new nation"[3] and developing a uniquely American ideology, "Americanism", based on liberty, egalitarianism, individualism, republicanism, democracy and laissez-faire. This ideology itself is often referred to as "American exceptionalism."[4]”
“Although the term does not necessarily imply superiority, many neoconservative and other American conservative writers have promoted its use in that sense.[4][5] To them, the U.S. is like the biblical "City upon a Hill"—a phrase evoked by British colonists to North America as early as 1630—and exempt from historical forces that have affected other countries.[6]”
I believe most in America today would, if not explicitly, then implicitly use the “neoconservative” approach of superiority of the American culture and race. However, to Dad’s generation it meant something far different. While they may have expressed it in “neoconservative” terms, that is not what it meant to them.
In my book entitled, The Orphan Boy, A Love Affair with Mining, I note the following about a man who demonstrated true American Exceptionalism:
“One September afternoon I sat on the dump of a small mine in Colorado with a unique man, my dad, Herbert T. Young. Even at 12,000 feet, the sun was bright and warm, and the sky was so very blue. Below, the aspen leaves were just starting to turn gold, and there was a hint of fall in the air.
We had talked on the way up the rocky, steep road about the mines and the history of the area, as we often did. I never got tired of the many stories Dad told about his experiences and information he gathered in researching the mining district.
Arriving at the Orphan Boy mine, we sat down and had a cup of coffee from Dad’s ever present thermos. Even though I had previously heard many of his stories about this mine that started his love affair with mining, they seemed much more real as I sat with him in that remote and peaceful basin.
My eyes were drawn to the rugged splendor of the high peaks; Brittle Silver Mountain, Grizzly Peak, Revenue Mountain... Along the horizon were Gray’s and Torrey’s, two of Colorado’s fourteeners. The air was so clean I felt like I could almost reach out and touch the peaks across the Warden Gulch basin. Morgan Peak, behind me, and Santa Fe Peak to the south looked so close it seemed like I could hike to them in just a few minutes.
Everywhere I looked were evidences of the mining and prospecting that went on in a different time. I noticed the reddish brown and yellow gossans that streaked the mountain slopes in several places. All the while, this remote valley was very quiet, almost as if our thoughts themselves interrupted the solitude. This scene stirred something in my soul that words cannot begin to explain.
I thought of Dad and the many experiences he related to me. I noticed he was also scanning the mountains, deep in thought. He turned and smiled at me, with his brown eyes shining. I knew we were thinking, feeling and experiencing the same closeness to God in that moment.”
The feeling of kinship I experienced while sitting on that mine dump were similar to the feelings I had during the times Dad and I worked underground together. Working underground brings a special sense of closeness where everyone looks after one another. Even with 30 years difference in our ages, we were kindred souls.
A good example honoring others as you would yourself is as follows. This is a passage in my upcoming book, Light at the End of the Tunnel, about my Dad and our relationship:
“When mining at the Orphan Boy Mine, a story told in my book entitled Orphan Boy, A Love Affair with Mining, Dad offered his partners a ‘buy-sell’ agreement. He fully intended to buy them out and continue mining the Orphan Boy Mine.
Had Dad not offered his partners a ‘buy-sell’ agreement, not realizing they had the funds to buy him out, which he honored and was subsequently was bought out, things might have been different. This [Defense Minerals Exploration Administration (DMEA)] grant would have given the money to do the exploration at the Orphan Boy which Dad planned and always wanted to do and probably would have found the mineral that Dad always thought was there.”
Unknown to Dad, during the summer of 1952, his elderly partner, Fred Brooks, stated to the DMEA office staff that because the DMEA grant had been approved, his nephew had bought out Mr. Young’s interest and was attempting to buy out Mr. Schoonover (the third partner in the Orphan Boy Mine).
This grant was awarded before Dad was aware of it, and it was these funds that was used to pay back Mr. Brook’s nephew. Dad could have fought the buy-sell agreement, which could have been financially beneficial. This would have been the “neocon” approach. But Dad had given his word and made an agreement (which he signed), which he honored regardless of cost to him.
There are many other instances of this sacrificial type behavior throughout Dad’s life. He truly believed in “doing unto others as you would like them to do to you.” He loved people and it showed. He got a lot of joy in helping others and gave much of himself. He got a lot out of life and friendships.
I worked with Dad during the summers and after college graduation until his death and had the fortune to experience firsthand why his generation was named the “greatest generation.” He was typical of the World War II generation whose lives were interrupted by that war. When they came back home, they changed both America and the world in a special way.
Two other people in my life show this quality of “American Exceptionalism,” my son, William and my daughter Laura. They both are very talented, but deeper than that, they have the same gentile, quiet spirit that my Dad had. They both care about others and give much, but they get much from life as well.
As I note in Light at the End of the Tunnel:
“Years later, eating lunch as I sit on the dump [of the Orphan Boy mine] with my son, William, and my daughter, Laura, the memory that comes back most often is a sunny afternoon with Dad. I think of Dad and the many experiences he related to me. As I watch and listen to my children, I see in them the same fascination with life my Dad had. They look from one high peak to another with shining eyes and a sense of wonder that I saw so many years before in my Dad. These are gifts passed from one generation to another.”
I have met some of that generation (the 30 something’s) through William and Laura. I like what I see. They seem to be very practical and much more like the generation of their grandparents than my generation is.
My generation, from whom the current crop of “leaders,” corporate and political, come from, in general, doesn’t reflect the exceptionalism they are so fond of talking about. Our society is clearly a reflection of their views and qualities. In my opinion, very few show the same measure of exceptionalism of their parents.
It is for this reason I am writing about Dad, and our relationship. I want to touch the lives of others through writing which is why I attempt to “promote awareness through the written word.” It is also why I wrote my EPub, “The Art of Writing an EBook, How to Enrich Yourself and Others”.
All people have stories to tell. You have no idea the number of people who tell me that writing is “too hard” or “I don’t know where to start.” My EPub entitled “The Art of Writing an EBook, How to Enrich Yourself and Others,” can help with the “I don’t know where to start” challenge. I encourage you, my reader, to take a look at this EPub. If you have any desire to put your story into print, it is a resource which will help with many common writing challenges.
I had a mentor, best friend and Dad who demonstrated true “American Exceptionalism.” I see the same qualities in those of the generation of my children.
So, it seems that American Exceptionalism is alive and well in today’s world. It is not what those with an ‘R’ or ‘D’ behind their name term it or understand it to be. It is especially not what the “neocons,” corporate leaders or mainstream media (MSM) tell you it is. It is also not just an “American” trait, but is universal among people who truly love and value others as themselves.
American Exceptionalism is the quality of self-sacrifice and love of the other person that was demonstrated so well by my Dad’s generation and that is budding in the generation of their grandchildren. It is both a reflection of the past and a reality in today’s younger generation.
Sincerely,
H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
Research, freelance writing & self-publishing services
Facebook: HCourtYoung
Phone: 303-726-8320
Email: tmcco@msn.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hcourtyoung
As a tribute to my Dad’s 98th year, I am offering a promotional discount of about 17% off on the EPub version of my book The Orphan Boy, A Love Affair with Mining. Visit Amazon.com by clicking of the link and check for this discount.
