mutantsushi said:
Speaking as one myself, (US)Americans are just blatantly ignorant about anything political, internationally or otherwise. |
Oh believe me I know ha. The amount of bs that many of my fellow Americans believe (much of which is mainstream media fed propaganda), or how little they know about what's going on outside their bubble just blows my mind sometimes - and I'll be the first to admit, this is coming from someone who is not particularly too knowledgeable about many aspects of politics myself, particularly international. But as someone who got a degree in history, it's also quite concerning how little we Americans know about our own history, and especially that of other countries.
We're just too coddled over here, lost in our gadgets and such, that there's really little need to pay attention to much. A lot of us are just too spoiled, and those that AREN'T well off often seem to miss the point as to why they aren't, instead resorting to scapegoating, most of which completely misses the mark.. I think the Ron Paul, and to an certain extent the Bernie phenomena were the closest we got to understanding more of the real/big picture, though these phases were unfortunately short lived and we've sort of regressed back into childish yelling and demonizing eachother and this primitive tribalism of identity politics. You're either a Hillary supporter who thinks Facism is making a comeback along with some unproven conspiracy by those big bad Russians, and that evil white men are inherently privileged and are depriving poor minorities of wealth and opportunities somehow, OR you're a Trumper who believes there's a socialist/communist uprising or globalist takeover coming that threatens to dismantle our glorious country and that them damn immigrants and foreigners are takin' er jobs! The sensible middle (along with Libertarian leaning folks which I consider myself) are increasingly being drowned out.
I'm noticing a very concerning sort of anti-intellectual streak on the rise here, where we're increasingly rejecting critical thinking and individualism, instead taking everything at face value and pigeonholing everything into "this group" vs "that group." And this applies to many circles within the left AND the right, so I'm not singling out one side over the other here, though the left certainly seems to be the most prominent in being guilty of this here as of late..
Hmm, that went on a tangent somewhat that veered from the subject of your response more than I intended, but had to vent I guess haha..
"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden
