Hacker News Reader

Comment by boyce | Hacker News Reader

Blaming the American people is like blaming the cogs in a machine for the design of the product it produces.

Have you lost so much faith in your democracy that you don't feel responsible for who you collectively elect?

For a people that is always chanting "USA! USA! USA!", "Freedom!", "Democracy!", I find the reactions in this thread pretty rich.

You, collectively, are 100% to blame for the actions of your government. You, individually, share 1/300 millionth of that blame. If you don't feel that way, your democracy has failed.

Someone else's democracy.

You don't get that flag-waving, chest-beating attitude here in Britain. We're shit and we know we are (as I think the chant goes)

Sorry, I assumed you were from the US. The British seem to at least be self-aware. Here in Canada we've always lived under the shadow of our neighbour, so we hear about American Exceptionalism all the time. Even that word, "American" I find somewhat offensive. It's as if they forget that there are 34 other countries on this continent.

> You don't get that flag-waving, chest-beating attitude here in Britain.

Brit here.

I think we do, just not to the perverse and extreme degree that the USA does.

We have a large section of the population in this country that absolutely refuse to entertain any criticism of the former Empire, its treatment of the former colonies and its effect on thew world as a whole.

To them, Britian is exceptional.

Read my link ( https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-poli... ) - their democracy has failed.

I find it hard to blame Americans for all the misinformation their media and politicians feed them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com