The Affliction That Keeps On Inflicting — The American Superiority Complex
It is commonly referred to as “American exceptionalism” but don’t be fooled, it is the American Superiority Complex.
When Barack Obama compared “US exceptionalism” to other countries in 2011, he got a lot of flak for it because he dared to equate other countries with “the biggest and best” nation that the world has ever seen.
That phrase sounds very Trumpesque. But it is quite literally every American politician, Republican and Democrat, only less cartoonish when it’s not Donald Trump.
If sounding like Trump didn’t scare Democrats straight, the following, which had decades to take hold, never had any hope — and that is Hollywood stars, as self-proclaimed leftists, going on USO tours to “entertain and support the troops”. What are they actually supporting? Foreign interventionism. They are faux-leftists. But they are acting like real Republicans.
A core leftist principle is anti-interventionism. But American faux-leftists (read: the Democratic Party) are beholden to the same force that drives the Republican Party — American Culture. (And both parties partially, if not completely, created it). It is this culture that not only forbids Americans from speaking out against interventionism and warmongering, it practically mandates “celebrating the troops” at every opportunity.
What happened to the U.S. anti-war movement?
The voices that do speak out are immediately stifled and demonized by the attack dogs that obey both political parties.Another example of U.S. bipartisan attacks against Americans — who are trying to stop U.S. bipartisan attacks against the rest of the world.
Democrats (aka Junior Republicans) also refuse to speak out, much less provide any meaningful action against the golden boy of the U.S. Constitution — the Second Amendment and the so-called “right to bear arms”. Why? Because American Culture — and the NRA and Military Industrial Complex — forbid it.
The Second Amendment, though, does not give you the right to bear arms — and the Democratic Party knows it. But they follow the Republican Party and refuse to take action because they would lose votes and the profit from arms sales at home and abroad, both of which are more important to them than saving lives. But when the argument is made that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to bear arms (it actually refers to a militia, consider when it was written), ask yourself if you really want to talk about “what the framers intended”, again, considering when it was written. And do you want that running your life today?
American Culture, led by American politicians, their media and pundits, also mandates the daily proclamations that the United States is “the greatest country in the world”. If you love your country (this goes for any country) and think it’s the greatest, fine. But don’t tell me that you think you’re better than me! Now there’s a reference to the greatest TV show in the world (and yes, it’s American!) For those who don’t know what it is (how dare you!), it’s Seinfeld. I could write 18 pages — front and back — about it, but I digress… (with a bonus Friends reference).
The following should be clear to anyone, criticizing a country’s dangerous policies, and behaviour that enables these policies, are not attacks on that country or its people. But both American political parties want you to think it is so they can justify their murderous interventionism.They want you to believe that anyone who dares insult U.S. policy is “anti-American” and therefore, “anti-freedom” and “anti-democracy”. See what they did there? They equated the United States with “freedom” and “democracy”. They should have equated it with irony.
Let’s take Macedonia as an example. Under the guise of “spreading American values of freedom and democracy”, the U.S. has dropped bombs, killed civilians, enabled dictators, pardoned terrorists, terrorized populations, imprisoned innocent people, threatened their families, violated international law, stripped Macedonians of our most basic of human rights, it goes on…
And so many of these acts have occurred in the past few years, and are still occurring, as the United States installed a dictator in the Republic of Macedonia to force through the illegal name, identity and history change to “North Macedonia” and “North Macedonian” — with the goal of eradicating everything Macedonian — in order to appease our biggest oppressors, Greece and Bulgaria.
Why?
Because they threatened to veto the Republic of Macedonia’s Western-imposed NATO and EU membership bids unless our name, identity and history were wiped out. And the U.S. took the lead to fulfil its own misguided, racist foreign policy and to satisfy its insatiable thirst for imperialism.
But, American Culture forbids condemnation of American foreign policy — and this is by design, a “made in the U.S.A.” concept, by both American political parties. Tragically, it now resembles more of a cult. Even the “infallible” founding fathers — as both parties treat them — would realize that criticism of U.S. foreign policy (not just domestic policy), is an integral part of a real democracy. And they would realize that they never should have been seen as infallible. If they were, 23 amendments to the U.S. Constitution would not have been needed. And if they were, they never would have adopted and promoted slavery.
Americans, stand up for human rights — your own included. Break free from the cult that America has become.
Bill Nicholov, President
Macedonian Human Rights Movement International
twitter.com/billnicholov