Gonna say something kind of ugly and no doubt controversial -

[Beacool]

67. The U.S. has always thought too highly of itself.

The thought that we are a beacon of democracy that other countries wish to emulate, that we are the guys in white hats, that we want to spread goodwill around the world, has always been propaganda. The truth is that we are no better than any other imperialist nation. White Europeans stole the land and killed the indigenous people. Once we became a republic, we expanded our imperialistic tendencies to other lands. Thanks to the U.S., the Philippines was under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos for 21 years. Chile was ruled by Pinochet for 30 years. Ditto for Argentina and their various generals who ruled for years. We never cared about the wellbeing of the people who were under these dictatorships, as long as these dictators were our allies. We are not inherently good, that's just a myth.

Back home, we are what we have always been: a racist, misogynist, xenophobic and homophobic country. Trump is just a symptom, under our veneer of tolerance and inclusivity, we are rotting from within. Trump just gave his followers a voice, he legitimized their feelings and resentments. One could even argue that 2016 was a fluke, but this election proved that it was no fluke. I mistakenly thought that we were a better people than the MAGA folks, that we should appeal to people's better angels. Boy, was I wrong!!!