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Comment by scarmig | Hacker News Reader

Not advocating anything here. Just pointing out that every nation has heroic myths that the government nurtures, and those national myths make many (good!) things possible that wouldn't otherwise be.

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Do national myths need to be heroic? When we started virus measures (lasting two months), the government didn't invoke William Tell, instead leaning on the spirit of "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno."

Two american songs that resonate most with my head-canon of the "American Dream" are:

"Coat of Many Colors" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYAdKXzGtcY

"This Land" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRnHx3yVuf4

neither of which are particularly statue-wise heroic. But it's been a long time since I've been in the States. What are some current national mythos songs there?

I don't think you'll get an answer that. Everyone in the US who's sophisticated knows it's a mark of said sophistication to show aloof disdain towards 'the US'.

That is a ridiculous take. It is also possible people with education can see the flaws in the US myth too. I love a lot about this country but we have all manner of fractures and do a poor job trying to impose a single vision on to lots of different experiences.

They see the flaws in the myth, and thus move to deconstruct the myth. As they go, people become less connected, have less in common, as the shattering of the dream spreads down from the academies through social leylines, leaving behind atomisation as it goes.

You could describe the same process as 'late-stage capitalism'. Cynical detachment not unlike the death of god. The problem is, the flawed lie was at the base of what people had in common, and quickly-constructed replacements don't have staying memetic power.

As to quickly-constructed, I'd thought my suggestions too old and too outdated ("Coat of..." being 50 years old, and "This Land" nearly 75).

I'd look for older national myth songs, but I'd rather hear from someone who is committed to, not merely interested in, the future of the US.

Anyone? Bueller?

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