Quote Originally Posted by Shaps View Post
You're looking at it as only a layer deep - just my opinion from your comments. This is not about a specific individual (though we both use individuals as examples), it is about a Nations mentality... the underlying zeitgeist if you will.

Your and my examples from the US/Western expansion of the arts, media, corporations, goods and services, etc. defined the world post WW2. If you remember the Marshall Plan, Hollywood movies of all decades, music/tv, the airplane, automobiles (ie. the Mustang), Coca-Cola (voice of a generation), We Are the World, Live Aid, etc. etc. etc... That zeitgeist defined who America was and therefore influenced the world... because of the traditional "macho"/"cowboy"/"renegade"/"rebel" imagine... BUT also to your point, the freedom for people of other lifestyles (as you mention)....

That is in America. Pride in one's Nation is not a bad thing, but it is being sold as if it is here in the US. Everyone around the world should be proud of where they come from, their peoples, their traditions, etc.. it's okay. But the trend to denigrate that notion has been in the works for many years here in the States.

Places like China, Russia, etc.. after WW2 had their "zeitgeist" damaged. They had their asses handed to them. They did not have the same economic boom that the US did. They did not have the same freedoms (ie. your examples). They lived much more austere lives than compared to the US. That lingers in the "zeitgeist".

2 generations have passed and the third is coming up. That transition away from that mentality for those countries is occurring, as people in the US are shifting to hate their own country (for some fucked up reason)... it is happening. I don't mean to an individual, I mean the underlying "feel".

Maybe "manning up" and "pussies" are to general of a term to define what I'm talking about.. but it's the most bar friendly terminology without dissecting it further.

It's about self-reliance, fortitude, relishing challenges, etc... not participation trophies, safe spaces, and unicorns.

China is trying to force that mentality of National Pride - The US had it develop through it's peoples independence. One is the right way, one the wrong... but either way... the united brothers and sisters will prevail when an underlying pride in their fellow citizen is had. The US (IMO) has lost that - not specific individuals, but the institutions/laws/regulations/and freedoms that support the individual are being eroded.. which in turn leads to the loss, etc.

Shit we could talk for hours on the nuances of it, but hopefully you get what I'm saying.
I get what you are saying.. and you are right.. the US is going in the opposite direction.

We're letting the gigantic flapping pussies of the country dictate behavior.

But it's all cyclical.

Reminds me of a saying I heard: “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”