Hacker News Reader

Comment by alan_cx | Hacker News Reader

Yeah, I came to the conclusion that the USA is more like religion than country. The constitution is it's bible, its schools and malls are it's churches, the president is it's pope, Washington is it's Vatican, its military it's jihadists, the national anthem it's lords prayer, and so on. Americans believe in the USA in a way no other population believes in theirs.

BTW, I make NO moral judgement, its just my own personal observation.

View on HN

I wish we could get Bible-like fanaticism over the Constitution. That would really, seriously, be the very best thing I could imagine happening to this country.

Really, you think the average American thinks more highly of his country than the average Frenchman? Have you ever spoken to a Frenchman?

There seems to be more questioning of the government though with the ability for people to dissent without being branded as terrorists, communists, etc...

America is so large that it is near impossible to impact the status quo. There is so much blind patriotism and faith in the government that anyone who disagrees is quickly marginalized and branded as unpatriotic. "You don't like it? Leave."

Since the US was formed the French have lived through five republics and a few empires. They know that government is provisional. This probably explains why they are so protective of their culture. There are still people alive today who lived under German rule.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com