It’s kind of hard to take pride in this country after the past 4 years have shown how many problems it has. This country has so many problems, and I have no idea how they’re going to be fixed, or if they even CAN be fixed.
Yeah, I have seen the Trump administration described as a “stress test for American democracy”. We didn’t come through it as well as we might have, though I guess it could have been worse.
I was pretty disillusioned by Dick Cheney. Trump far more so. And I was a very patriotic American.
I figure the entire world would be very different is the Karl Rove/Dick Cheney smear campaign of John McCain didn’t work in 2000 and he was our President then or of Al Gore showed some of the personality and fire he showed on Climate Change that he failed to show on the campaign trail and he beat Bush/Cheney.
But this country is corrupt. The Republican party is morally bankrupt. We have many millions of people still showing adoration for the leader of an insurrection that was based on hate and fear. We have a lot of work to do. So much work to do. It is sad. So sad.
After reading comments on r/politics, I came to one conclusion:
America sucks. Americans only think it’s the best country because most of them have never been to any other country.
It really has shaken my faith in America democracy. What has happened just since the election would have been inconceivable four years ago. I can hardly believe that so many Americas don’t really believe in democracy, and seem to be completely unable to evaluate evidence on their own,
I’ve been disillusioned before – Reagan, Shrub come to mind – but the ex guy’s regime filled me with such a visceral disgust and contempt for such a large section of the American electorate that I doubt I will ever recover from it.
The US is a populous and diverse country. We are doing pretty good in quite a few metrics. One of the largest problems is that social media and other echo chambers are loon amplifiers. A second but much lesser problem is that other nations recognize that and can exploit that. The third problem is that our philosophical traditions and foundations that could have attenuated the above are being actively undermined.
… by whom, in your opinion?
It may be comforting to know that every place has it’s problems and no place inhabited by mankind is going to be a paradise. I think a lot of us had higher expectations for our country than the last four years demonstrated, and I feel that disappointment as much as anyone. The Trump administration and the pandemic pulled-back the curtain on a lot of problems bubbling just below the surface that otherwise would have been hidden from superficial view. And unfortunately, a lot of these problems run deeper than just below the surface.
But there is always hope! If you stop following politics and reduce your news consumption (as well as limit to more non-biased sources), and severely reduce your social media activity, then life will seem better and brighter. Getting involved with charities and volunteering in your own community are also helpful. “Do” something to help this country be what you expect it to be, and don’t let the evils win.
What philosophical movement opposes Age of Enlightenment rationality? The folks influenced by and promoting post modernism.
Several, most prominently in the US Christian “family-values” conservatism and white-supremacist nationalism. These are accompanied by general anti-science and anti-facts delusionism such as QAnon and “stolen election” conspiracy theories, which I guess don’t really qualify as a “philosophical movement”.
The vast majority of the anti-rationality in US culture today is coming from the right wing, not the so-called “postmodernist” left.
Modhat: No, stop. This thread is not an invite to debate this subject. Address the op, no hijack into who or what is causing it. Start a thread about it if you like.
I’m not disillusioned with America, I’m disillusioned with that part of America which has shown themselves to be fundamentally anti-American. Not accepting election results is about as anti-American as you can get.
However, they have been heading that way for years, with voter suppression and gerrymandering, so it isn’t as if this trend started with Trump.
The past four years brought into focus and amplified long-standing problems with this country that lay gurgling, infrequently breaking the surface in a major way until Trump coalesced them into a viable political force. Sexism, racism, religiously-reinforced ignorance and economic inequality all predate Trump’s election in 2016; indeed, they predate the founding of the republic. Given the nature of U.S. politics and the human beings who run it, there is no fix for these problems; there is only management. That says there will be times when they get out of control.
A useful test might be to compare today’s “disillusionment” with those of previous times. The Great Depression, the early years of WWII, the routing of the Left during the Red Scare, the aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate followed by the malaise of the Carter years were all periods (to name but a few) of heavy-duty disillusionment with America and the image politicians and mass media like to give it. The more one buys into that image of American greatness/pride/exceptionalism, the greater likelihood of feeling disillusioned by the reality.
Feeling disillusioned by the mass of problems facing the country (and world) seems to me a healthy reaction - psychologically speaking - to today’s realities, but it’s important to recognize how the ebb and flow of hope and hopelessness can distort perception, making things seem better or worse than they actually are or ever were. As for the future and the long-term threats like climate change that aren’t being adequately addressed now…we’re fucked. It’s only a matter of time.
Have a great week.
Yeah, I have been saying all along during the past few years that it’s better to know what things are really like than to keep kidding ourselves about it. In particular, I think the last few years have forced many middle-class white Americans to see a lot of unflattering things that many other Americans already knew about.
The OP’s thread title is a simple Yes/No question. I guess we’re only allowed to make one-word Yes or No posts in this thread.
That “test” is not over yet, Even if Trump does not run again for public office, the movements that have spurred into action by his presidency and calls to action have still organized and seen the results of their action, which even if ineffectual in achieving their goals have garnered them media attention. The Weimar Republic didn’t fall in a day, either.
Stranger
I moved from the U.S. to Europe several years ago because I wanted a better life for myself and my family.
So I guess, yeah, my answer is yes, though it’s not limited to Trump specifically. My disillusionment has grown over decades, though of course recent history has accelerated this and hardened my opinion.
20-30 years ago, I used to read stories in the news about far away places where bitter political animosity and violence were endemic, and people fervently believed the most ridiculous, impossibly evil conspiracy theories about their opponents. I remember being glad that kind of toxic shit didn’t seem to exist in my country: the American populace for the most part was civil, rational, reasonable, a role model for the world of how a representative democracy could and should work.
The political animosity has slowly ramped up since then, and in the last four years it’s really shot up, along with the violence and bizarre paranoid conspiracy theories. All of it was stoked by a man who acted less like a US President and more like a third-world strongman spouting the kind of angry, stupid rhetoric one might have expected from someone like Duterte or Chavez.
During the 2016 campaign it was plain to see how empty-headed and divisive Trump was. Yes, I’m disillusioned that in spite of Trump making his toxic inadequacy and incivility plain to see during that campaign, 46.9% of Americans voted him into office. And I’m really disillusioned that in spite of the awfulness of the last four years, virtually the same proportion of people - 46.1% - wanted him to stay on for another four years.
Many years ago I read The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. It was geared toward separating science from pseudoscience, but the kind of rational, skeptical thinking it promoted is useful throughout everyday life. I would say that everyone should read it, but the people who most desperately need to read it probably never will.
I only really started following politics a couple of years ago. That’s why I’m only now disillusioned with America.