America's Ethical Hegemon

So I'm going to be an overachiever and write my class response super early because I'm off to spring break bright and early tomorrow morning and I don't want to worry about it. The main theme of our talk today was American superiority and exceptionalism and how this plays into our "manifest destiny." As an international development major, this discussion was very relevant to me. I particularly enjoyed where the conversation went at the end of class with our talk of human rights and the American idea of what's right and wrong. The dinner scene from The Undiscovered Country raised an interesting discussion point: are human rights really universal when we considered different cultures or, to take things to a science fiction viewpoint, different species. Are human rights, as the Klingon put it, racist? There is certainly no shortage of examples of the West imposing its ideals on developing countries "for their own good" and in the guise of human rights. I mean, come on, just look at the IMF's Structural Adjustment Programs ("Yeah we'll help you out, if you promise to do this, this, and this").

As Annika put it in class, it doesn't matter if what the U.S. does is right or wrong because by definition, whatever it does is right simply because it is the U.S. that does it. At least that's the sentiment some people have. This goes along with Professor Jackson's statement that the idea of manifest destiny is a framework that can be used in a variety of contexts to justify just about anything. The U.S. takes the idea of exceptionalism one step further by transforming it into a destiny that gives the country the right to take its unique ideals and ethics and push them on the rest of the world.

How would this approach play out if humanity (assuming this united group of humanity is led by the U.S.) came into contact with an alien species? I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't see it ending well. Historically speaking, the U.S. and most of the Western world have never really seen much that is worth learning from other races and peoples. Basically, it's our way or the highway. If we were to take this approach with a new species, things would not go well. Even if the aliens acted subserviently and embraced the American way, over time, tensions would grow and relations would become strained. The imperialist mindset can only hold out for so long before things start to crumble.