Catholic Social Science Review

Our Holy Father Pope Francis has encouraged the entire world to care for the earth by protecting its beauty and gifts. Laudato Si was written in 2015, and we are perhaps even more challenged five years later with global environmental problems mostly because the solutions have gotten harder. China refuses to import foreign recyclables, and many developed nations do not have anywhere else to turn. So, what is the obligation of the individual to solve the global problems of pollution, waste, and degraded climate? Is the effort just as virtuous as the result?

This Comment concerns itself with the concept of “American Exceptionalism.” More specifically, following Stephen M. Krason, this Comment lays out the different variations of American Exceptionalism (religious, secular, utopian, and realistic) and provides a preliminary critique of these options from the perspective of the Natural Law and Catholic social science. It also addresses its outright rejection by such modern worldviews as Marxism and radical feminism. This Comment also includes a brief discussion of the long range viability of the American Experiment and the prospects of American civilization developing and sustaining a realistic version of American Exceptionalism. This Comment is intended as an initial foray into the topic, hopefully leading eventually, I hope, to a fuller and more adequate treatment.