I know just what you mean. I lived in China and felt the same kind of shame when the US government or other Americans did wrong, even though it had little to do

I know just what you mean. I lived in China and felt the same kind of shame when the US government or other Americans did wrong, even though it had little to do with me. Chinese people understood immediately when I said the US government does what it wants, often against the will of ordinary people, or without their knowledge or consent, and that good people were working on the problems, but that it was very hard.