> Perhaps they are, but we are still routinely told that ours is different - better, special, more principled, fairer, committed to democracy, human rights and

> Perhaps they are, but we are still routinely told that ours is different - better, special, more principled, fairer, committed to democracy, human rights and freedom of expression. Who's we? Last I checked it was more or less a coin toss between "murka bad" and "murka bestest" depending on which filter bubble you happened to be in at the minute. Every society tells people that it is the best. I think pride based solely on group membership is a very bad thing at any scale beyond small groups but every organization from the smallest up to nations tries to foster that sentiment to varying extents so... >I think the West used to be better at putting these principles into action although it's true if never has been very consistent. I'm inclined to believe this but I'm also inclined to believe a lot more bad stuff was easier to sweep under the rug in the past so the error bars on any "it used to be better" observation are massive. Hearing about these things at all is a prerequisite to changing them.