[ballooney]

That’s specifically german though, because of its pretty abyssmal 20th Century, rather than specifically american. That said most modern west europeans do find american nationalism and exceptionalism a bit odd, especially after they’ve visited and US and seen the reality of most people’s situation. If anyone reads this and thinks I’m being unfair, especially on california-centric HN, consider if you’ve ever hosted a western european friend in SF and had them comment about just how abnormal the level of homelessness and mental illness is there. And how they looked at you/us when you said ‘well it’s because SF is a warmer place to sleep on the streets’ as if that was fine.

This article is honestly quite objective, and should invite some introspection if your first instinct is to be offended.