Timothy Birdnow

Here is a great observation made on Facebook:

Mary Wilkinson

What I see is a nation that appears to like a leader that prefers other nations rather than their own. I had toxic parents, everyone else on the block was better than I. Well, it appears others had parents like me! Too many others. With the exception of a small percentage of presidents, most put industry and technological opportunity into the nations of others. America doesn't take care of America, like my toxic parents, everyone else was better. That is the fall of the American mind, America doesn't appear to like itself, most of us have had narcissistic and toxic backgrounds? My theory. Blast away, folks.

Tim adds:

That is an excellent point Mary Wilkinson! America seems to have an inferiority complex, and seeks to punish itself. It's almost a kind of masochism. I don't know why so many Americans feel the need to promote others at our own expense, or to denigrate our nation. It may have something to do with Frederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis (in which he argued the closing of the frontier would have profound effects on the American mind). It may be that at this same time America had a massive influx of immigrants from the more socialistic and despotic parts of the world and these people never experienced America as it had been. Or it may be that being thrust into a position of world leadership made some of us feel inadequate and seeking the approval of others - who will never give it to an upstart. I don't know. I think your thesis here is a brilliant observation. It's not unique to America; we see this in Europe as well, and in fact in all Western nations. I suppose it goes back to the fact that the West was once defined by it's Christian nature and having apostacized back in the 19th century the whole West now has an identity crisis. But it does seem unusually pronounced in the U.S.

Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at 09:51 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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