ABSTRACT
Most Americans operate with the assumption that the United States is a land of great uniqueness, a place where just about anyone can make his or her mark and secure a rewarding sense of contentment as a result. For Americans with this perspective, only hard work and dedication separate those who will succeed from those who will not succeed, due in no small part to the endless opportunities aorded in this special nation. As historian Daniel Boorstin wrote shortly aer World War II when the United States emerged as the world’s most powerful nation, “No nation has been readier to identify its values with the peculiar conditions of its landscape: we believe in American equality, American liberty, American democracy, or, in sum, the American way of life.”1 And so it is-America, the great exception, where the level playing eld allows everyone to excel. e idea of the American way is enshrined everywhere-in the school lessons we learn, the economic ladders we aspire to climb, and the ags we proudly place outside our homes each holiday, reminding us of the special place we call the United States.
