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We have a whole generation of people right now who grew up in an environment where the USA was number one in everything, and could push around any other country

We have a whole generation of people right now who grew up in an environment where the USA was number one in everything, and could push around any other country, had the best technology and the biggest economy and all the smartest people, and that’s an assumption so deeply embedded in the national consciousness that’s it’s impossible to jettison. That’s why we’re facing such a tidal wave of stupid right now. That historical period is over now, but to acknowledge that is so unthinkable that people will seek an answer that makes it still true. Hence you get wacky conspiracy theories and disastrous military adventurism.

mbrodersen 5y ago
Which universe did you live in? In the universe I lived in the US was scared of being nuked by Russia or China (Google “Cold War”) and got its ass kicked in Vietnam and Korea, while getting its industry ass kicked by Japan, Germany and China, and destroying its middle class. Believing what you seem to believe is actually a perfect example of what the author is talking about: a mental model that is not matching reality and therefore makes you say things and take actions that are s*.