One good indication of our exceptionalism is the vast number of people willing to break our laws to get in here. And as far as I know, there has been no other nation to have so many want to come here as evidenced by the mass migration from 1850 to 1930. What other nation is so generous with it's charity? In fact, one of the best things another nation can do for itself is to declare war against us, lose, and wait for the financial windfall. Is this to say we havent made mistakes, of course not, but to weigh the pros and cons and not come up with a significant, and yes exceptional, positive balance is to go into the endeavor with blinders.