'My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.' That's undoubtedly one of JFK's most famous quotes. It's

'My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.' That's undoubtedly one of JFK's most famous quotes. It's interesting to think how much things have changed since then. Imagine if a politician, let alone a democratic one, said that. The response would be... less than positive. So what's changed? One thing that I think is easy to pinpoint is that we've turned sharply against nationalism for various reasons. But then a simple question. If we're to believe that devotion to the American culture and interests is bad, what is supposed to make people in this enormous nation of 325 million care for one another? Right, we can say we -as humans- ought care for one another naturally and unconditionally. And lots of people say they care about e.g. what's happening in places outside of this country (Africa as a typical example). The median energy/income put towards doing anything about those situations, even just among those who claim to care? Absolutely 0. In the heyday of America when there was a much stronger sense of connection between employer, employee, and generally people at large. Rich or poor, urban or rural, politician or voter, liberal or conservative - you were a fellow American. For instance the last time that a basic income in the US was mentioned actually came from a republican - Richard Nixon. That's not to say that I think it is/was a great idea, but rather that this deterioration of concern in society is a very new phenomena. Now we live in a society when a person goes to a congressional ballgame to try to kill as many congressmen as he can - many people were, shall we say, less than upset about his actions. There's certainly a chicken and egg question there, but the tautology needs to said: when people could not care less about one another (if they don't fit into their ingroup), it should come as no surprise when people could not care less about one another (if they don't fit into their ingroup).