Something I rarely see mentioned is that America has historically had a culture of individualism, exacerbated deliberately by people in power in order to reduce the risk of popular uprising. For generations, the American people have been convinced to view their neighbor with suspicion: always lock your front door, if you don't someone will break in. Don't go outside at night, you could get assaulted. Don't tell strangers information about yourself, they could track you down and kill you.
The most insidious propaganda aimed at the American citizen is "you are alone. Protect yourself, protect your family. Anybody could want to hurt you so treat everyone as if they plan to."
The worst part is that this works even if you're aware of it. In a culture where everybody has been taught to look at each other with suspicion, it becomes very hard to find community with people who have been isolated for so long they refuse to listen to your message.
Something I rarely see mentioned is that America has historically had a culture of individualism, exacerbated deliberately by people in power in order to reduce the risk of popular uprising. For generations, the American people have been convinced to view their neighbor with suspicion: always lock your front door, if you don't someone will break in. Don't go outside at night, you could get assaulted. Don't tell strangers information about yourself, they could track you down and kill you.
The most insidious propaganda aimed at the American citizen is "you are alone. Protect yourself, protect your family. Anybody could want to hurt you so treat everyone as if they plan to."
The worst part is that this works even if you're aware of it. In a culture where everybody has been taught to look at each other with suspicion, it becomes very hard to find community with people who have been isolated for so long they refuse to listen to your message.