[rootusrootus]

> saying stuff like america was never great

I'd say it is working. The sheer quantity of anti-American rhetoric online, places like Reddit and even on HN, is astounding. Ostensibly coming from our own citizens, in many cases. If this kind of self-loathing is reality, we have a big problem indeed. The optimist in me likes to assume that a good chunk of it is planted deliberately by America's foes.

[tremon]

The sheer quantity of anti-American rhetoric online

The only way to make a great country greater is to acknowledge its flaws and strive to correct them. The default mode of communication seems to have been people pointing out US failures, and US people widely shouting them down, regardless of the merit of the claim. That has also been a major factor driving anti-American rhetoric, you can't blame that on foreign influence.

Or, in other words: anti-American rhetoric coming from American citizens is a good thing: it makes the country better.

[ttybird2]

The USA did this to itself though, with its actions both against the citizens of other countries and its own.