[balls187]

> I find it very strange that you are effectively calling culture “brainwashing”. Would you prefer we have no cultural values at all? How do you think that would even play out? Without a shared value system, you cannot have civilization.

That's an extreme conclusion from my argument--that we (as Americans) are indoctrinated into moral and ethical thinking even if such decisions aren't in our best interest, while other Americans avoid such thinking and are able to find success because they're not constrained by such beliefs.

There is much more to American values than blind obedience wrt paying back debts.

American's can have a shared sense of moral and ethical standards without creating an extreme adherence to such beliefs.