I'm not quite sure how an offhand remark upthread about one of the quirks of US culture has culminated in a post explaining that Western Europeans are "faux eli

I'm not quite sure how an offhand remark upthread about one of the quirks of US culture has culminated in a post explaining that Western Europeans are "faux elitist snobbish... hasbeens fading in consequence" that are just "too arrogant about their position in the world", but it's not the German or French participants in this thread bragging about [ludicrous exaggerations of] their power. I mean, this particular tangent supports the notion that delusions of grandeur might be an issue for some, but not in the way you think... If, as you suggest, countries need to live in fear of conquest not to resent Americans[1], I'm not sure that's evidence that it's other countries whose citizens are most likely to be exhibiting attitude problems. [1] I'm not actually convinced this is the case, much like I'm entirely unconvinced that my country is "de facto ruled by the US", or that negative stereotypes about US culture and politics emanate from our desire to recapture our Empire (the people that obsess about that history tend to like the US and our political relations with it more. They're also a lot more obsessed with imperial grandeur than your average German!)