Americans like to think of themselves as being different from other people. Professors have a term for it. They call it "American exceptionalism." It's not a new phenomenon. It was Governor John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who wrote in 1630, "For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us."
This national trait also expresses itself on the state and local level. In New York City, it's an article of faith. Rare is the New York politician who is able to say the name of the town without immediately adding, "the greatest city on earth." I have traveled a bit, and I have not yet been to another place where they claim world civic supremacy quite so easily.
But I suffer from American exceptionalism myself. When I hear my fellow citizens moaning helplessly about recession, global warming or some other unsolvable problem, my first reaction is "Hey, we're Americans. We'll figure it out."
For whatever reason, goofy optimism flows through American veins, whether your family has been here for ten generations or your parents arrived a few years ago. It is that belief in being able to figure it out that brought the little rural city of Bristol, Virginia through our awards process all the way to the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2009. It was on display at our summit this month, when I interviewed the Mayor in front of the audience. He announced that Bristol had an exciting new technology he wanted to show us right there and then. Up jumped the IT manager for Bristol Virginia Utilities, and he and the Mayor proceeded to demonstrate two red cans connected by string. We all loved it. We also got the point: All that little Bristol may have, compared to much bigger cities, is cans and string. But they can still figure it out.
But there are bad things about thinking you're different. You tend to believe that the experiences of others don't hold any lessons for you. I'm concerned right now that the US Federal Communications Commission may be making that mistake. On March 27, the acting Chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, released a report on broadband strategy for rural America. A copy is available from www.fcc.gov. Now, I applaud the fact that the US is moving at last to create a broadband policy, and salute the Acting Chairman's efforts. The report makes preliminary recommendations including enhancing coordination among agencies, reviewing existing Federal programs to identify barriers to deployment; coordinating broadband program terminology. (Excuse me while I gently doze off.) But in all the bureaucrat-speak, there's one thing missing so far: taking a look at other countries - the ones that have had national broadband policies in place for years - and learning what they have done right and done wrong.
The US is playing catch-up when it comes to broadband, make no mistake about it. But that provides a hidden advantage. It gives America a chance to learn from the experiences of others and then leapfrog them. That's how so many developing nations have accelerated their economies in recent decades, by picking up technology and public policies painstakingly invented somewhere else and adapting them for use at home. I can only hope that, as broadband policy continues to develop, the FCC follows their example - instead of going on doing things the good old American way.
This national trait also expresses itself on the state and local level. In New York City, it's an article of faith. Rare is the New York politician who is able to say the name of the town without immediately adding, "the greatest city on earth." I have traveled a bit, and I have not yet been to another place where they claim world civic supremacy quite so easily.
But I suffer from American exceptionalism myself. When I hear my fellow citizens moaning helplessly about recession, global warming or some other unsolvable problem, my first reaction is "Hey, we're Americans. We'll figure it out."
For whatever reason, goofy optimism flows through American veins, whether your family has been here for ten generations or your parents arrived a few years ago. It is that belief in being able to figure it out that brought the little rural city of Bristol, Virginia through our awards process all the way to the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2009. It was on display at our summit this month, when I interviewed the Mayor in front of the audience. He announced that Bristol had an exciting new technology he wanted to show us right there and then. Up jumped the IT manager for Bristol Virginia Utilities, and he and the Mayor proceeded to demonstrate two red cans connected by string. We all loved it. We also got the point: All that little Bristol may have, compared to much bigger cities, is cans and string. But they can still figure it out. But there are bad things about thinking you're different. You tend to believe that the experiences of others don't hold any lessons for you. I'm concerned right now that the US Federal Communications Commission may be making that mistake. On March 27, the acting Chairman of the FCC, Michael Copps, released a report on broadband strategy for rural America. A copy is available from www.fcc.gov. Now, I applaud the fact that the US is moving at last to create a broadband policy, and salute the Acting Chairman's efforts. The report makes preliminary recommendations including enhancing coordination among agencies, reviewing existing Federal programs to identify barriers to deployment; coordinating broadband program terminology. (Excuse me while I gently doze off.) But in all the bureaucrat-speak, there's one thing missing so far: taking a look at other countries - the ones that have had national broadband policies in place for years - and learning what they have done right and done wrong.
The US is playing catch-up when it comes to broadband, make no mistake about it. But that provides a hidden advantage. It gives America a chance to learn from the experiences of others and then leapfrog them. That's how so many developing nations have accelerated their economies in recent decades, by picking up technology and public policies painstakingly invented somewhere else and adapting them for use at home. I can only hope that, as broadband policy continues to develop, the FCC follows their example - instead of going on doing things the good old American way.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Leave a comment