General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: American Brit moved back to London. "Trump is a logical result of your culture." [View all]The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)And yet we (by "we" I mean the population and culture in general) have been conditioned to believe that this is the best, greatest, freest, etc., country on earth and that the people in all those other countries are benighted and their cultures and governments are primitive and oppressive. I guess it's like being a fish; you don't really notice the water you're swimming in.
I grew up in the '50s and '60s, when WWII was a recent memory for most adults. In school we learned that the United States single-handedly saved the world from the Nazis and that now we were the sole bulwark against the Red Menace. We also learned about how the intrepid white settlers conquered the savage Indians in order to build a great, rich nation. We learned a little about slavery and the Civil War, too; but we were told only that Lincoln freed the slaves so everything was OK now.
So we, as a people (at least of my generation), were constantly patting ourselves on the back, raving about how great we were, and brainwashing school children to that effect. It wasn't until the Vietnam war went totally south, along with the truths revealed by the civil rights movement, that some of us started questioning our national awesomeness. Even so, the underlying culture of fanatical individualism and festering racism still persists - and now, with Trump giving it his imprimatur as president, it's worse than ever.
I really don't know what to do any more.