Yeah, that's about right. Not voting is just as bad as voting for the wrong person. There's this giant chunk of America that's sleepwalking everyone else into chaos.
Patriotism is ingrained from birth like religion — They're forced to pledge allegiance to the flag through schooling, taught little about the world outside the US, and constantly propagandised by politics, hollywood, and capitalism from all angles; non-stop affirmation that the USA is the greatest Democracy™️ in the world, and their Freedoms™️ are the free-est free that ever freedomed.
And an irrational hate for "dirty commies", gays and jews for some reason. Maybe it was just the Midwest in the early 00s, but that was my experience throughout high school.
(I know, I know, McCarthyism and the Cold War all shaped public perception, but all the kids were screaming it to each other and I didn't understand why back then.)
Pretty much. Secular education tends to begin with Columbus sailing across the Atlantic and seldom ventures north or south of our boarders -- let alone touch on the rest of the planet until World War 2, after which a lot of curriculums just end. Elective courses are better... which is why nearly every year at least one of the states try to ban them.
Most of our protestant schooling likes to make special note of the fact that people fled here to escape religious persecution, that this or that sect wouldn't be possible without American Freedoms™. Hell, Mormon scripture straight up says the US is a promised holy land.
1307 – Knights Templar officer Hugues de Pairaud is forced to confess during the Trials of the Knights Templar. He was persecuted on the charges of false idolism and sodomy.
This may come off as ignorant, but what is that whole "We will never forget" supposed to mean? Like for what purpose will you keep reminding yourself of this?
I think it was just the brand of right wing patriotism under Bush. That's back when people used to wear NYPD hats and t-shirts even though they weren't cops.
"You have to take off your shoes at the airport and then let a random person take pictures of you naked before getting on a flight because we need to prove that you're not a terrorist. Remember what happened the last time we didn't do that? You can either submit to us, or we can have another terrorist attack."
It also marks a time in history when people started going back to church in order to find some semblance of an explanation, and the churches like the increased attendance. They've got to keep us scared that the "terrorists" are around every corner, and they have the only solution.
It was pretty much stolen from Holocaust survivors. The original idea was 'never forget the Holocaust so that people will understand that hatred leads to genocide.'
It has no concrete meaning in this context as far as I can tell.
I'll never forget... when you could buy a 12pk of brand name soda for under 5 bucks. Got a 12pk of mtn dew baja (well the free 3 cans ver.) and coke last week... 20 bucks! 😿
There is a sale this weekend at a nearby store, 2/10$ and It felt like the soda apocalypse in there with everyone running around grabbing up case after case. I don't get it, one can and my mouth feels nasty while my body is demanding water to wash it down. I guess if your body is addicted to it you get a different reaction.
The really disturbing part was seeing all the kids gleefully freaking out as they helped carry case after case (some could barely carry one case because they were so young). I have addictions myself and the parent's purchase is their own prerogative, but I would never let my kid participate in my bad habits.
The answer to the question “who thought this was a good idea?” Is Coca Cola. The companies (and distributors) selling these products to stores negotiates with those stores to build these displays and decides what they look like.
who actively participated in planning the attack at a state level
None of this is true. He was an outlaw in Saudi Arabia and left it in the 1990s and never returned. The US though was still working with Alqaeda in Central Asia before 9/11/2001.
The reason, same with Israel, is because the US needs allies in the Middle East. A lot of "shock and awe" was launched from bases in Saudi Arabia. Which is extremely unsettling. But it highlights why the US keeps these countries as allies.
Imagine how different the world might be if the U.S. hadn't systematically interfered in every popular, leftist movement in South America in the last 50 years; that's even without mentioning the Banana Wars in Central America in the preceding 50.
