[xtian]

You can call it “whataboutism”, but the only practical outcome of this performative caring in my lifetime has been the justification of endless wars, increased arms dealing, and brutal economic sanctions, which help no one but the US elite.

I am an American, not a “global citizen”. My responsibility is to America. Let the people of other countries take moral responsibility for their governments. To pretend that America has some unique moral insights that need to be imposed on the rest of the world is both deeply racist and contradicted by history.

[dundarious]

Yes, anyone actually interested in maintaining Liberal Hegemony would be better positioned if they tried to make the US actually like the "shining city on the hill". Instead the US "projects its values" by committing the "crime against peace" that contains within it all the other war crimes and that's against the UN charter, aggression, on a regular basis. Another way the US "spreads democracy" is by providing full military and diplomatic support (usually by stifling all criticism rather than full-throated support) for highly repressive regimes and full-on wars, including with the use of landmines, cluster bombs, white phosphorous, etc.

A particularly egregious example of this was the US condemnation of Russia at the UN for using cluster bombs in Ukraine, when the US has directly used some cluster bombs in Yemen in the last few years, and continues to supply massive quantities to Saudi Arabia. This claim is often "disputed" by saying that the US stopped manufacturing these weapons years ago, but with stockpiles as high as the US has, that is no refutation at all.

Focusing primarily on these US failings is exactly what a US person should do.