Currently, the popularly held view in America is that the country is on a major decline.
Necessities like food are difficult to afford, people are lonelier than ever, and almost no one trusts our leaders. Consequently, Americans on both the Left and the Right are feeling down on the country. These concerns for our nation are understandable, but I fear that they might propagate a growing hatred people have toward everything American.
I am, of course, referring to anti-Americanism.
To be fair, anti-Americanism is nothing new in our political climate. The Left has embraced it for many years now. Due to our dark past of chattel slavery and general “whiteness,” the Left believes America to be an illegitimate country. Leftists say America is also the biggest killer of the environment (which is funny, considering the United States has significantly fewer carbon emissions than countries like China).
However, it seems that the Right is starting to embrace anti-Americanism as well. It seems that the Left’s attempts to get everyone to hate America are finally working. Why am I saying this? To answer that question, we can examine Tucker Carlson’s trip to Moscow, Russia.
Tucker Carlson had initially gone to Russia for his interview with Vladimir Putin, but what happened afterward was very strange. In a series of videos from Tucker Carlson Network, the journalist fawned over the various places he visited. First, Carlson visited* a Russian supermarket and was “radicalized” by how cheap groceries were compared to American groceries. Never mind the fact that things were cheaper because Russia is a poorer country.
But the videos got stranger. Around the same time, Carlson visited the Moscow subway station and remarked how it was much more beautiful than “anything” in America. After a trip to a Russian McDonald’s*, Carlson remarked that the food was “McAwesome.”
Many people rightfully criticized these videos, as Carlson seemed ridiculously naïve in his observations. I don’t deny that the subway station looked nice, for example, but Carlson’s portrayal of Russia was dishonest. The videos seem to represent a growing discontentment for America among the Right. You know something’s gone wrong when a conservative journalist is shilling for Russia.
As of 2024, the prevailing narrative in America is that everything is terrible and there’s nothing we can do about it. For the most part, I would agree with this narrative. I believe the country is certainly on a moral decline. However, there seems to be more to this story than meets the eye.
It’s true that in some respects, America is getting worse. But in other respects, the country is improving. For instance, Noah Smith argues in his Substack Noahpinion that the Biden Administration has done a lot to give us cheaper energy. Thanks to cheaper batteries and solar power, we can improve the environment without having to sacrifice our regular lifestyles.
It seems millennials are beginning to recover economically. According to an Atlantic article by Jean Twenge, Millennials have better incomes today than Boomers did at their age. If that weren’t enough, it seems America is slowly recovering from its recession. Per an Axios article, “The United States economy grew faster than any other large advanced economy last year — by a wide margin — and is on track to do so again in 2024.”
Now, I understand the reader may not believe what I’ve written above. To be clear, this is not me saying that I support President Biden now. I still disagree with him on some moral issues. But intellectual honesty requires me to talk about the good things happening in America. We may still be in tough times, but it seems that things are getting better.
I understand that when society is in a dire situation, people want to embrace a sort of “learned helplessness.” I also understand that many families are struggling to make ends meet right now. However, I fail to see how it is productive for Americans to stay stuck in their negativity.
In terms of total GDP, the United States is still the richest country in the world. With this in mind, it seems baffling to me that people would want to live anywhere else. It is very disheartening to see that young people especially think other countries are superior to America.
The truth is this: we are unbelievably blessed. I am not saying that America doesn’t have problems, nor am I saying we should ignore them. What I am saying, however, is that we must have hope. Hope is what will allow America to survive the next several years. How are we supposed to save this country if everyone hates it?
The best warrior is a happy warrior, and the last thing we need right now is more pessimism. If we want to restore America to its former glory, we must become a nation of happy warriors.
*The links to the supermarket and McDonald’s videos are only available via a paywall on Tucker Carlson Network. Thus, I acquired these sources from YouTube. Credits to Bigwhitelunchbox and Benny Johnson, respectively.
Wrong Speak is a free-expression platform that allows varying viewpoints. All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
Your recognition of America's greatness as compared to the rest of the world, while being cognizant of its shortcomings, reminds me of this:
https://www.wrongspeakpublishing.com/p/why-patriotism-matters?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
and this:
smashwords.com/books/view/1184004
Let me know what you think. Good article, Brandon. ZL
I agree this is important. There has been a big movement to divide and bring the country down. I don't agree with your positives. We do need to come together as Americans and quit letting the forces that are dividing us fail at their task. I like that you brought up the Putin interview. That whole situation is very interesting. The blatant things he said in his interview that people overlook or don't get. Americans are all over the denazification reason he gives. They never stop and look at how many neo-nazi groups that Russia has. Blows that narrative of Putin's out of the water. He said fake Ukraine. He mentioned 1991 before they became independent. There is another country over there that the same thing is happening as well. Started just like Ukraine with a separatist movement to join Russia. It used to be part of Russia as well.