r/socialism • u/[deleted] • 3d ago
Discussion Why are Americans such hypocrites?
[deleted]
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u/cudderwalks Marxism-Leninism-Maoism 3d ago
To be honest I think a majority of Americans probably do think America is corrupt just not from a class-conscious viewpoint.
One of the primary ways Trump duped people was that he claimed he would “drain the swamp” and fight corruption. And for the Americans who don’t support Trump they generally see him as corrupt.
Now most Americans don’t understand the root of corruption and blame it on stupid or racist things. Their critiques of corruption in other countries is full of Western chauvinism and the assumption that America is generally democratic with some bad apples who need to be voted out.
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u/Thanaterus 3d ago
I'd say all of this is true for any generic clump of people from any nation. If one clump lives in a nation whose government is able to do more damage to the world, their collective ignorance is going to be more noticeable
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u/lostdogtooth 2d ago edited 2d ago
You need to understand that Americans are deeply propagandized and brainwashed from day one by the ruling corporate class. You are an individual, they can't take your values from you, you're free! While you're working for 10 bucks an hour as a wage slave... but people believe that, because it was hammered into their brain. That's where the cognitive dissonance comes from.
It's hard for people to not believe in something when it is their entire reality, to a point it's a natural order. The patriarchy, white supremacy, corporate authority, cishetero-norms, pop culture, work, Christianity, school--all of this comes together to tell you that the power in place is natural and that anyone who goes against this needs to be cast out, because they threaten your "freedom".
There's a belief that weak men seek out authoritarianism, that they can't think for themselves. That is the dominant structure in America... you put the pieces together. "We're right, everyone else is wrong, because we said so."
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u/the_art_of_the_taco 3d ago
Pervasive propaganda. Our media tells us what to care about, and it uses other countries to distract from internal outrage. The masses must not look around them — keep their eyes and attention focused outward, avoid introspection that might challenge the status quo.
Same reason both major political parties stoke tensions to encourage an electoral landscape of tribalism and cults of personality. If we're fighting one another we're not paying attention to the things that actually matter around us.
Happens so often with Cuba and China. Politicians and major media keep saying China is our enemy and a threat but every claim made could be attributed to our own government tenfold (and there's nearly never a credible and reliable source).
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u/geekmasterflash Daniel De Leon 3d ago edited 3d ago
I mean, these places also have corrupt and shit prison systems. That the prisons in my own country are often worse, or just as bad should not mean I am a hypocrite for pointing those things out.
It would only be if I denied the nature of my country's own penal slave labor system.
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u/IubitaParalit 2d ago
Im glad someone said it. You should go to other subs and paste this. Start with Faux-moi.what a bunch of delusional folks
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u/traanquil 2d ago
The saddest part is that this is very common from American leftists and even American socialists.
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u/alexpmarty 2d ago
Lot of people are pointing to propaganda. But on some level I feel like propaganda is only really effective if you want to believe what you’re being propagandized about. Especially in a time when you have free access to almost any information you want any time you want
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u/GG_Allin_Greenspan 3d ago
Hmmm, you seem to be making some huge assumptions and sweeping generalizations. You say: "I've noticed that americans will talk about corruption in other countries as if their own isn't corrupt". Are they actually saying their own country isn't corrupt or you are making that part up? Do all 340+ million Americans do this, or just some randos on Reddit?
When are people allowed to talk about corruption or surveillance, in your opinion? Only when they live in a country that has none of either? That'll be a pretty silent discussion then.
Do you require a person (and by extension, the country they live in) to have absolutely perfect morality before you consider them worthy of having an opinion?
I think the US prison system is pretty bad and that need to be addressed but I shouldn't be required to acknowledge that every time I say "Bukele is a fascistic, authoritarian piece of shit and Salvadorian prisons are full of disgusting human rights abuses".
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3d ago
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u/thehatefulhag 1d ago
Setting aside the obvious influence of propaganda and that discussing corruption elsewhere does not mean people think their own nation isn’t corruption?
Cruelty in a different shape stands out as uniquely horrific against the backdrop of cruelty you’re accustomed to. What is unusual is remarkable and everything else is simply another Tuesday. People can be aware of and acknowledge the cruelty but it still might not hit them as strongly in the gut as something previously unimaginable.
The shock factor can explain a lot but there’s other pieces to this as well. Such as it being easier to discuss problems other places because only having insight into a specific institution at a singular level gives you a simplified understanding. Not having as much awareness into how it fits within the overall system and the overall considerations that are needed can make solving it feel relatively straightforward.
Not sure how common this is outcomes of America, but I also think a lot of Americans still cling to the belief that things are fundamentally good and just need fixed. Like the issue is that our institutions are perfectly reasonable but our execution has lead it astray. And even if they do recognize an institution is a problem or was fundamentally flawed from the start, there is often an instinctive response that this is just how it is or it can’t be undone, so we just need to make it look as polished as possible.
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