Random thought on American Politics

There are two things at play here.

There is the American mentality that the world = the USA. This mentality permeates everything from your sports (how the hell can you call something a "World Series" when no other country in the world participates in that sporting competition, it's bloody insane........and ridiculously arrogant), to your business practices, to your foreign policy decisions. Consequently, we feel compelled to comment.

Then there is the idea that America is the shinning star on the hill for democracy and freedom. An idea that America has promoted since WW2 and many other countries have accepted as the truth. Over the last six years, we've seen time and again that it's nowhere near the truth. Consequently, we feel compelled to comment.

There is a third factor which is, perhaps, a tad more debatable. Since the rise of the USSR, the world has divided itself into super-powers. Not just in a military sense but also in a socio-political ideological sense. And many countries have aligned themselves accordingly. Those of us who, for decades, have aligned ourselves with the USA now see it destroying itself from within. A situation which will inevitably create a profound power vacuum. Who is going to fill that space? Consequently, we feel compelled to comment.

I tend not to comment on US internal politics. However there are always expectations to the rule....

*like when they enact laws made by men that disenfranchise women.
*I don't even know the relevance of your amendments you talk about except I regularly plead the fifth.
*I respect the office of the POTUS although not necessarily the incumbent.
*I am sure I made fun of Trump.
*The centre of the world however is Aotearoa not the US.

Reality is that the U.S. -- both its megalithic corporations and its post-WWII foreign policy -- has influenced life in practically every nook and cranny of the planet, and dominated some. The rest of the world tends to acknowledge that, whether they welcome it or lament it. So of course they have an interest in the politics and social forces driving it, since it affects them. What they resent, and tend to criticize, is the U.S. centric attitudes and policies that accept no responsibility for the impact of our world-wide footprint, nor any advice or input from the rest of the world; i.e., think America is the center of the world. The self-centered absorption that eventually led to the destruction of every dominant world-wide influence from the Macedonians/Greeks under Alexander the Great, the Roman Empire, the Mongols of Genghis Khan, or the various European colonial empires, the Ottoman Empire, and the Persian Empire.

What has changed, in my experience, is the type of criticism. During the pre-9/11, what I would hear from my travels and international chat friends, was appreciation for what we did but questions about our policies, and our blindness on the impact some had elsewhere in the world. In the post-9/ll era, they would go out of their way to say how much they admired and liked our country but hated our President and his administration's policies. Now, what I hear, is concern and fear about how we could ever have elected someone like Trump; the gridlock, polarization, and open hostility between the extremists consuming both political parties and society in general; the weakening of the U.S. dollar and the instability of the world-wide markets due to it. Essentially fear that we are destroying ourselves, rotting from within, and the impact that will have on them and the rest of the world.

I think it's usually in response to Americans talking about foreign politics as if they're all supposed to be living the way we live, even when we're wrong. And how Americans ONLY know about what's going on in America, while people in other countries are more knowledgeable about global events. Like when Angela Merkel stepped down after decades of leadership, it was talked about all across Europe, but most Americans don't even know who she is.

in many ways, USA is the centre of the world...

The idea of the American dream is great since it's quite human to have dreams and aspirations, but the shitshow of recent years is hard to not find amusing irrespective of where you are, especially when historically they've waded into other nations to supposedly solve their messes

Nice ass

A very good point. We’re often scolded for inundating the site with posts about U.S. politics, but it seems like the majority of such posts here originate from Canadians and Europeans.

America used to lead the Western world post WW2 so it makes sense. Now it’s in decline but still the biggest Western county..