You could argue that its cultural. The US has always been a country that values opportunism and individualism. Both parties appeal to people’s feelings of national identity or manifest destiny, only to then skillfully curb the narrative back to personal freedom and personal responsibility.
When you teach people to value self-sufficiency and individualism, you get a populace that is mostly apolitical. Good luck trying to mobilize those people for any sort of grand project that requires a lot of personal sacrifice over many years.
I’ll tell you what’s at the bottom of it. If you can convince the lowest white man he’s better than the best colored man, he won’t notice you’re picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he’ll empty his pockets for you. -Lyndon B. Johnson
You could argue that its cultural. The US has always been a country that values opportunism and individualism. Both parties appeal to people’s feelings of national identity or manifest destiny, only to then skillfully curb the narrative back to personal freedom and personal responsibility.
When you teach people to value self-sufficiency and individualism, you get a populace that is mostly apolitical. Good luck trying to mobilize those people for any sort of grand project that requires a lot of personal sacrifice over many years.
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none of this is new though
Trump’s just adopted that mantra