> why are Americans so paranoid about falling under a authoritarian regime? Ah, the age-old question. It's one of the most prominent differences, if not the mo

> why are Americans so paranoid about falling under a authoritarian regime? Ah, the age-old question. It's one of the most prominent differences, if not the most, between mentalities on the opposing sides of the Atlantic. The answer that I've come up with - having touched on this topic in my political science studies and as an American - is that not only was the US founded on the notion of breaking away from an authoritarian regime, but personal autonomy, freedom, and rights are very strongly valued and this narrative gets drilled into us from a young age. We're taught in elementary school (up unto 5th form) about the glory of the American Revolution and how our Founders, praise be unto them, birthed our nation with the Declaration of Independence and crafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights, laying out an infallible system of government with intrinsically limited powers. /s In middle school (6th to 8th form, give or take), this view is more or less reinforced; in high school (9th to 12th form) this is pretty much never revisited, since you move on to learning about world or European history. Maybe you'll take a class on government and do a slightly more in-depth survey of the structure of US political institutions, but it's superficial at best. And in university? Well, there's no obligation to take a history class. That's for people who care about history, and jeez, who cares about history?