"noting that "the peoples of Western Europe have developed the habit of blaming their misfortunes on some force out of their reach." She believed that her adopted country, by comparison, enjoyed a kind of clarity of public vision: "With the possible exception of the Scandinavians," she wrote, "no European citizenry has the political maturity of Americans, for whom a certain amount of responsibility, i.e., of moderation in the pursuit of self-interest, is almost a matter of course.""
"The United States is now a nation run by public servants who behave no better than internet trolls, deflecting criticism with crassness and obscenity. The White House press secretary answers a question from a member of the free press-a serious question about who planned a meeting between the American and Russian presidents-by saying, " Your mom did." The secretary of defense cancels DEI and other policies by saying, "We are done with that shit." The vice president calls an interlocutor on social media a "dipshit.""
A 1949 assessment of postwar Europe contrasted Western Europeans' tendency to blame misfortunes on forces beyond their control with American political maturity and moderation in pursuing self-interest. The assessment praised American civic responsibility while stopping short of idealization. Contemporary U.S. public servants increasingly respond to criticism with crassness, obscenity, and social-media-style insults, eroding norms of adult political behavior. Specific examples include a press secretary's juvenile retort to a serious question, a defense official's vulgar cancellation statement, a vice president's insult online, and a president's provocative AI-generated video posted during mass protests.
Read at The Atlantic
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