Of the messages our government likes to sell us, which ones stand out to you as obvious propaganda pieces?
I’m American and I’ll say years ago I was at Disney in Orlando in the Americana section and many an international would roll their eyes and mutter under their breath when they would say things about how America is so great, that it stands for freedom, that we are the greatest nation, etc…
Wait, there’s a theme park that overtly sells Americana to Americans? That’s just sad.
Countries that harbor terrorists. Very few countries really want to do that.
I’ll agree that very few countries want to harbor terrorists. But I think the dispute they’d have with America over the issue is differing definitions of who’s a terrorist.
There’s that pledge of allegiance thing. That, seriously, is a massive WTF. Even if you can opt out or not all schools do it, the sheer fact that it exists as a concept is utterly ridiculous to many, many people abroad.
The War on Terror.
“Terror” is an abstract noun. You can’t wage a war against it. That is like fighting smoke.
Oppose, resist, defuse, ignore - certainly.
Presidents mentioning God all the time. (Well, all the time compared to other Western leaders). The phrase God Bless America. Just the whole self-aggrandizing thing. The UK govt gets a bit like that with the monarchy sometimes, sadly.
Similarly, countries that want to attack the US.
Pakistan is a notable country where many sectors of the establishment do indeed harbor terrorists.
As an American, thank you for mentioning this. The concept of having to pledge your allegiance to anything, let alone a flag, is repugnant . . . and un-American.
I agree.
‘The Constitution’/‘Amendments’ as gestalt entities.
I get that the articles of the US Constitution, The Amendments, The Bill of Rights, etc are all things that didn’t just spring into existence, and have all been fought for and argued into their places, but I often find arguments such as ‘because it says so in the Xth Amendment’ unsatisfying.
I’m sure it’s mostly perception on my part, but it feels like people are saying that X is thus and so because it’s written down, not just because it’s a demonstrably true or good thing.
The deification of the founding fathers is just bizarre.
Even more bizarre is that, within the last decade or so, anyway, it’s not deification of the actual Founding Fathers. It’s deification of their idealized versions of the Founding Fathers. In their minds, the Founding Fathers are actually the devoutly Evangelical Founding Fathers who wanted the USA to be a Christian theocracy.
The silly notion that the Constitution, (with all its amendments), is the ne plus ultra of constitutions worldwide, a unique treasure trove of rights and freedoms unsurpassed by any other country’s. When, in reality, it is seriously outdated and due for a complete reboot.
And the odd thing that allows the question to be asked - presumably most countries get a version of “We are the best”, but we get “U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!” pumped into our living rooms probably more so.
The official term is the Global War of Terrorism which although still broad is a bit more concrete than "terror’.
Terror is still a tactic, not a thing or a people. A war on terrorism has the same meaning as a war on bullshit.
The Pledge is not only to the flag, but to the republic for which it stands, under God, btw. It’s still inconsistent with democratic ideals, though, you’re right.
Yeah, the whole “greatest country in the world” thing. When, in reality, the US doesn’t rank number one in any metric, and in a lot of cases barely cracks the top 10.
Look, I like your country, but you’re not the best in the world at anything anymore, OK?