Exceptionalism

I'm worried that the rise of the internet and reality television are mainstreaming personal exceptionalism. Everybody can find a platform from which they can profess their greatness or their all-knowingness. Take a look at DailyKos if you don't believe me. On another scale, go to one of those sites like Friendster, MySpace, or OkCupid. You'll notice that every single person on there is so unique, so spectacular. When I went to my sister-in-law's graduation, the people wouldn't shut up about how great their school is or how great their class is. This wasn't the standard "we're so great" that graduation is all about. This was "we're so great and we're so much better than everybody else. we're also quite unique. if only everyone could be as good and interesting as us.' But the thing is, the people that I know who went to that school for all of their high school experience are maladapted and immature. These aren't people who understand how to function with other people. These are people who can't handle any sort of authority nor deal with any sort of constructive criticism. In short, I don't see what's so great about them. This phenomenon is everywhere. It seems to be replacing our longstanding American exceptionalism. Now, we're great in spite of our country whereas we used to be great in large part because of our country. It freaks me out. Everybody who is reading this, I am sure that you are great. Another thing, alll girls in their late teens and early twenties dress exactly the same. What is that?