"exceptionalism"

To: letters@guardian.co.uk

Sir,
Josh Lacey writes of "American exceptionalists" "who believe
that the U.S. is above all rules and beyond all laws", and Steven Poole states that "Washington does not insist on the rule of law even on its home soil ; the current administration is quite explicit in its view that the law cannot bind the president's actions " (both, Review Saturday 11. 03. 06, page 9).

I would just point out that we belong to a species which as a whole regards itself as exceptional, all others being subordinate, and that each one of us tends to individual exceptionalism, either excusing or accusing own deeds quite differently from others'.

Surely we have here the familiar human curse of hubris - the same that makes us insist on our exceptional free-will, even though science and reason suggest every single item in the cosmos, however intricate, is subject to the infinite logic of the whole, and so "automatic".

In my view, when we accept this probability, losing our self-regard in the wonder of the whole , we shall discover universal forgiveness and compassion, leading to species-wide healing, and re-union with the rest of nature.....may be exactly what is needed at the present time.