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Notes -
Maybe. I mostly lurk and you’re certainly a level headed presence around here so if I’m out of line I’m sorry.
That said - are these comments inaccurate do you think? While humorous, they both accurately describe the current state of what has felt to me like a race to the bottom in terms of societal expectations and social norms over my 50 years on the planet. FWIW I’m American - family here since the 17th century and I live here all the time. I miss it when I’m abroad too long but I usually feel like the country I grew up in has been replaced somehow and no one really noticed.
No need to apologize and yes, the listed qualities are probably accurate for a large percentage, but certainly not everyone. And by uncharitable I mean it frames Americans in a very unflattering manner while ignoring qualities that I at least have noticed about the common man, namely openness to relative strangers, straightforwardness, the ability to enjoy simple pleasures, a sense of humor, self reliance, resistance to pretentiousness, an innate sense of equanimity, occasional unexpected generosity, morality that drives one's actions whether it is always adhered to or not, and so on. You see where I'm going with this--not everyone will have all of these qualities of course, yet nor do they have all of the previously listed.
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