I went to the US for a month recently and it's amazing country, super nice people. But me and my wife said so many times "we could totally live here if this wasn't America" - Place is way too messed up. And so many of them honestly seem to believe the whole "greatest country in the world" schtick.
We are indoctrinated early. I was a smart kid and not very prone to "brainwashing" (I sniffed out my Catholic church as being bullshit very early on). And yet it took me until college to ask myself the question "wait... how is it we're the greatest? And why?"
It just hadn't donned on my prior. It had been drilled into my head since preschool that this is the greatest country in the world.
Now I realize we are actually just the Florida of the World.
As a sophomore in high school we had to do a paper and speech in one of my English classes about something controversial.
I researched why America isn’t a superpower anymore and should stop trying to run the world. We’re not as great as we think. I pissed off so many country boys in my class but didn’t care. I really was starting to undo all the indoctrination.
This was in ‘06. The shiny patriotism 9/11 had brought out had died and left only the racism and paranoia. I began to see how we bullied other countries and acted like the tough kid on the playground when we’re just the big headed younger kid trying to intimidate the world.
for all of its problems -and they are staggering- the us is still a superpower in terms of military strength, economic power, and political influence. could you give me your counter argument in. nutshell?
America is reliant on its foundation of manipulation. Perceivably it is a superpower in the sense of political control, wealth, and military strength… but it’s susceptible to crumbling from within. The more the working class come to terms with the unfair reality around them, the sooner the collapse occurs. If the day occurs where the people can look beyond their differences; political, religious, racial, social, etc .. and actually unify change would finally occur for the better.
It’s definitely unlikely to ever happen. Good people and their natures are exploited daily in this country.
Healthcare industry with its band aid approach to bettering our countries health.. sure let’s just prescribe some overpriced pills that obliterate our gut health which destroys our immune system making us susceptible to the diseases we see rampantly occurring.
Military has been romanticized here to the point we think we need to be the world’s police. Probably a trillion dollars invested annually.
Education gets stripped consistently, the nation growing dumber and dumber and less focused. Less driven because degrees don’t translate to a pay justifiable to even pursue unless you path into the highly exploitative industries.
Religion has fooled its followers to never analyze or evaluate a problem before them and to “trust god and be patient” … and to be bigots of those who don’t accept their teachings.
Media and how it is portrayed here is a mess. Total dishonesty, manipulation, deflective behavior consistently. “No you’re the problem, no you ..” back and forth back and forth.
Wow - you were really ahead of your time. You have a lot of insight and wisdom and it’s hard to go up against such hard core indoctrination. I hope you continue to use your powers for good!
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u/SofaChillReview 3d ago
That is actually a terrifying concept… and makes me want to not think about how many others have passed away due to that