I do like reading these articles but here I’d say both Polgreen and Kasparov are partially right and totally wrong.
Polgreen’s correct that the problem isn’t just Trump, the American system created him. But framing America as uniquely sinful ignores structural realities. Korea wasn’t a “disaster”—it prevented half the peninsula from becoming a Stalinist prison state. Blaming US “persuasion” for Chinese authoritarianism gives Washington too much credit and Xi too little agency.
Kasparov’s correct that self-flagellation isn’t strategy. But his claim that “the United States was the first country founded on principles rather than ethnic or religious affiliation” is nationalist mythology, not history.
The facts:
Switzerland’s confederation (1291, formalized 1848) was built on federalism and direct democracy centuries before the US existed. Scandinavian countries developed egalitarian governance structures independent of ethnic nationalism. The Dutch Republic (1581) established religious tolerance and representative government 200 years before Philadelphia.
The US founding in 1776 wasn’t about equality, it was for wealthy white landowners. No women. No Black people. No poor people. That’s not liberal interpretation. That’s documented fact.
By international measures (and I can state this as a former US Foreign Service Officer with no hesitation), the United States wasn’t a full democracy until the Civil Rights era, 1960s at earliest. We’ve been backsliding significantly over the past decade on every democratic ranking index.
My family came from Ukraine. Like most Americans, we came from somewhere else. But I rejected nationalism and foundational myths precisely because they’re the problem.
Why do we cling to nationalist myths about American exceptionalism when we could build humanist futures instead? I worked for the US government because I believed, and still believe, America can do good in the world. But “can do good” doesn’t mean “is perfect” or “was founded purely.”
The US has done tremendous harm internally: the legal system crushes the poor and minorities, economic disparity rivals developing nations, violence is endemic. Externally, yes—some interventions prevented worse outcomes. Others were/are disasters.
Both things are true simultaneously: The American system created the conditions for Trump AND Trump made it worse. That’s not contradiction, that’s gradient.
Polgreen’s error is treating America as uniquely terrible. Kasparov’s error is treating America as uniquely principled. Both miss that nations are systems…designed by people, for purposes, with trade-offs.
The US wasn’t founded on universal principles. It was founded on principles for some people with the rhetorical framework to expand inclusion over centuries of violent struggle. That expansion happened—-incompletely, unevenly, and it’s now reversing.
The question isn’t whether America is good or bad. It’s whether we’re building systems that reduce suffering and increase flourishing regardless of national identity. Humanism as nationality. Not American exceptionalism. Not self-flagellation. Just clear-eyed assessment of what works, what fails, and what we’re building next.
Myths: American, Russian, Iranian, Icelandic, any nationalist mythology are the problem. They prevent us from seeing systems clearly and building better ones.
—Johan
P.S. At least Icelandic mythology is honest about chaos, impermanence, and Ragnarök…the gods themselves aren’t immortal. American founding mythology requires pretending wealthy white landowners invented equality while owning humans.
So true. If America so great a supporter of freedom and democracy why did they vote for a Hitler fascist? No not a king. George 111 was a kindly man. Why didn't Americans vote for a decent coloured woman? Because they support wealthy white men greedy and sociopaths. Canada right to leave America and stay as a UK Dominican.
America is divided today and in trouble today because America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Canada was founded by exiled Americans, wave after wave, since 1776, tens of thousands of them. These Americans were exiled because they objected to the hypocrisy of mob rule and the manipulation of mobs by a faction of a powerful, propertied elite. John Hancock, richest man in MA, financed Samuel Adams, a brilliant propagandist and populist agitator but also a bigoted religious zealot. Adams incited a small portion of the population to acts of violence against fellow citizens and the existing legal authority in order to provoke wider social disorder and incite civil war. A few wrong-headed cabinet ministers in an elected Parliament in London played right into his hands. Adams was brilliant, but not well-intentioned. He turned brother against brother, son against father. America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Cut to today: Canada has a highly functioning democracy today thanks to its founding exiled-American citizens. In the USA, the cousins of the exiles, who drove them out using the most abhorrent violence (in the name of liberty and free speech!) wrote a Constitution that has proven to be easily ignored by many past presidents and especially the current president. Pew Research shows half of Americans despise the other half, while 92% of Canadians respect each other, whatever their political views. Canada scores 10/10 as a functioning democracy, America 3/10. The exiled Americans (Canadians) rejected violence in favour of compromise. Always choosing violence (even in the name of humanitarian ideals) does not prove to work well for the USA. And the USA did not win World War 2 on its own. They joined the Allies late in the game, 3 years into a 6 year war. Canada was defending democracy from Day 1, and paid a higher price in terms of blood and treasure, per capita, versus the USA. And Canada did not end up with a global economic empire, as did the USA. Those are all facts, not opinions.
75,000 French Canadians in 1776. About 10,000 English in Nova Scotia before the first wave of exiled Americans. By 1790s, the English population in British North America (Upper+Lower Canada, Nova Scotia+New Brunswick) was on par with French. Most of the English were exiled Americans. And @RobinBury is right - without the protection of British regulars and Loyalist militia, French Canada would not have survived the Patriot expansionism that soon swallowed up the Ohio, the Mississippi and everything west and south of the 49th parallel. In what is now Canada, English Protestants have legislated minority rights (French language and Catholic religion, and then others evolved) since the Quebec Act of 1774 -- the Intolerable Act that enraged Samuel Adams (and his brand of vigilante republicanism) into the civil war of 1775-83.
Thanks George. Read Rory Sutherland in the Spectator this week page 65. He writes Trump 'is the heir to Washington , Jefferson and other tax evaders and property speculators whose signatures will be proudly on display this year. (John Hancock orchestrated the Boston Tea party because he'd been making a fortune smuggling in untaxed Dutch tea; the new lightly taxed but cheaper tea from the East India company threatened to upend his business model.)
So please no more from Subtract people on the heir to Washington and Jefferson!
I agree! From outside Polgreen paints the picture we live as our experience of the USA. American exceptionalism and colonisation of the world is not welcome. I also know neither the country nor the people are ‘uniquely terrible’ nor is it ‘uniquely principled’ & self-flagellation is never the answer. Honesty, openness and equity offer a powerful & efficacious way forward towards healing and rehabilitation.
I’d take slight exception to “The US founding in 1776 wasn’t about equality, it was for wealthy white landowners. No women. No Black people. No poor people.”
The US was hardly unique for 1776. Women were low status everywhere at the time.
Nor did democratic multiracial states with full equality exist elsewhere at the time.
Canada didn’t have slavery (nor did the northern US states), but the indigenous people didn’t do well, largely wiped out by introduced disease.
To be fair Canada wasn't the only place where indigenous people where largely wiped out by introduced disease. That was the case throughout the new world both north and south America. The reason was that they didn't domesticate and therefore live close to animals in that region of the world. So disease that come from living close to livestock didn't exist. If they had, then either they would have had immunity against old world disease or infected people from the old world with new world disease. Since that happend prior to vaccination and even germ theory there wasn't much that could be done about it.
I’ll likely get slammed for saying this, but i think what’s happening in the US political world is happening because of widespread complacency and/or complicity amongst a majority of US citizens.
Sure, DJT is a monster, and anyone paying the least bit of attention saw that before he was even elected. If they somehow still managed to miss his blatantly cruel, crude, racist, and sexist remarks, they could not have missed his words and deeds during and after his first term. Yet in November 2024, after so much was known about him, after he’d shown his true colours, after the Epstein revelations, after Jan 6, after he and countless members of his innermost circle were shown to be criminals, approximately 36% of eligible voters still didn’t care enough to show up. Of the ones who did, approximately half of them were willing to throw away women’s independence, the safety of non-whites, the legitimacy of any LGBTQ+, reasonable access to healthcare, poverty and addiction programmes, international aid, etc etc. FAR too many Americans are willfully indifferent to any form of oppression, suffering, and abuse, as long as what’s happening suits their personal desires. US schools are crap, gun violence is an epidemic, and ignorance and complacency run rampant. It’s 2026, and US still allows the rich to buy the government. It still doesn’t care that non-white communities are woefully underfunded and underserved. It still hasn’t managed to pass the equal rights amendment. Where is the love for one’s fellow citizens? Where are the Christian values?
Even many of the people who didn’t vote for Trump are part of the problem. They’re definitely clutching their pearls now that these issues are headline news, but how much did they care when they could ignore them? With a few notable and inspiring exceptions, even your opposition party’s been brilliant at the game of avoidance.
Sure, DJT is a puppet, a symptom, a puss-laden boil on the face of your country. What he isn’t, however, is the root of the rot.
Excellent analysis. The rot set in under Washington and Jefferson and yes America is deeply flawed voting twice for a tax evader and refuses to remove him.
Garry, you've pretty much spelled out the difference between those who pound their chest, begging for forgiveness for all the "bad" things the United States has done over the years; much more than the good, and those, like you and I who believe this "experiment" is worth fighting for. We surely have sins that we need to recognize, even now as DJT runs roughshod over the constitution and world order. However, my father fought in WWII, my stepfather was in the Air Force during Korea, we grew up learning how to hide under our desks in case of a Soviet attack, the Cuban Missile Crisis, ... and the Vietnam disaster. If not for the blood spilled by the thousands of American, and allied, soldiers over those years, where would we be today? Polgreen certainly has the right to proselytize an opinion, no matter how wrong it is. And it is absolutely wrong.
My brother and I are the only members of our family who didn't vote for Donald. Those who did believed his lies and false promises. At least some of them have now awoken to the truth of the danger that man poses. Little by little, the pendulum swings. I suspect, and hope dearly, that November will provide a wake up call to our leaders. Keep up the good work. Our numbers grow daily.
Hi Garry, I'd actually land in the middle, but not really near you. While you have some good points, Ms. Polgreen's surmising is correct. America has long been a "bully state for good"...as we see it. We are for freedom...as we see it. We support governments we like...and topple those we don't. Compared to Russia, we have been fantastic. But when held to the ideals we espouse, we are (and have been) nowhere close to them--unless they benefit us. Even USAID, as much as I love it, has always had a dual purpose, and the bigger is to benefit our our self. We are indeed a for-profit venture. Not that this is an evil presentation. But it is less-than-marketed, at the least. Ulteriorly motivated, in many other instances.
Criticizing America instead of Trump is a deliberate effort to lay the blame on the people — where it belongs — because they are the ones with the power to change it. Too many Americans blame Trump and walk away — forgetting that Americans GAVE HIM his power (every ounce of it).
She doesn’t encourage readers merely to see America as a product of sin. She simply refuses to allow Americans to blame nefarious billionaires and convicted felons for their own bad judgment. There are fundamental problems with Americans’ self-concept that leave them ever-ready for imperialistic military adventurism. She didn’t make that up. It is how deep red areas think of America: warrior ethos. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s rise didn’t shock those of us who grew up in these deep red pockets.
I appreciated her willingness to refuse to let Americans believe they don’t need to change a thing except their president. Maybe it is because of where you grew up that you attribute so much agency to the leader and do not think the citizens can do more than cheerlead whichever leader they like best. She appropriately recognizes the true agency of the American public and rightly challenges the American public to be better — if it is better.
Ah, you're all partially correct. The underlying problem is that 50% of Americans (of all humans, actually) are just pretty dumb and can be pulled in any direction, from MAGA to Woke, for dumb reasons. The founding fathers were geniuses, for their time and for all time. We have a Republic, and I hope we can keep it.
Opinions should nevertheless be based on actualities and facts, not on invented or distorted notions. You may think X or Y is not good but your understanding of X and Y should be based on the same facts as someone who think X or Y is wondeful.
77m adult Americans voted for Trump. Thats the problem. Its Americans, not the system, not the hiistory, not education or lack if knowledge. 77m Americans voted for a lunatic. They may do so again for a different lunatic in 2028...hope not.
Trump AND the republicans are trying to rig it all. Funny thing is the 77 that voted for him and the ones that did not vote will also get royally screwed. Only a very tiny few will benefit. That is the Trump view of the world. All the aspirations realized and un realized by the USA will disappear. THE question is will the USA revert to 16th century values or will we be able to continue the journey.
Lest we forget, Trump was voted in at a time when many Americans were responding to high inflation. Several progressive governments were voted out worldwide during this period. FURTHERMORE:
Kasparov’s defense of America rests on a distinction that critics like Polgreen too often collapse: the difference between a nation’s imperfections and the enduring value of its founding ideals. To argue that American missteps invalidate the broader project of liberal democracy is to misunderstand both history and human progress. No great political experiment has ever unfolded without contradiction, and yet the arc of modern freedom is inseparable from the influence—however uneven—of the United States.
Historical perspective reinforces Kasparov’s point. In the aftermath of World War II, much of Europe and East Asia lay in ruins, vulnerable to totalitarian expansion. American policy was not flawless, but the Marshall Plan, NATO, and security guarantees in Asia created the conditions under which democratic institutions could take root and survive. West Germany, Japan, and South Korea were not destined for liberal democracy; they became so in part because the United States chose to invest in reconstruction rather than domination. These outcomes were not expressions of imperial vanity but of a belief—sometimes overstated, often contested—that free societies are worth defending beyond one’s borders.
Critics frequently highlight failures such as Vietnam or Iraq, and rightly so; these episodes demand scrutiny and humility. But to extrapolate from them that the American project is inherently malign ignores a broader pattern. The same country that stumbled abroad also helped institutionalize norms of human rights, supported the creation of international organizations, and provided refuge and opportunity to millions. The Cold War itself, which Polgreen treats as evidence of overreach, was also a contest in which the eventual collapse of Soviet communism vindicated, at least in part, the appeal of democratic governance and open economies.
Kasparov’s personal testimony adds weight to this argument. Those who lived under authoritarian regimes understand that the absence of freedom is not an abstraction. The United States did not impose the internal logic of Soviet repression, nor does it dictate the choices of modern autocrats. To deny the agency of those regimes while exaggerating American omnipotence is to invert reality. Authoritarianism persists not because democracy was offered too forcefully, but because it remains threatening to those who wield unchecked power.
None of this absolves the United States of its contradictions—racial injustice, political polarization, and episodes of overreach are real and ongoing. But the proper response to these flaws is reform, not repudiation. The idea that a nation can be founded on principles—imperfectly realized, continuously debated, but fundamentally universal—is itself a historical anomaly worth preserving.
Kasparov is right to resist both blind idealization and sweeping condemnation. The American belief that freedom can expand beyond its borders is neither unshakable nor always wisely applied. Yet it has, at crucial moments, helped tip the balance toward more open and humane societies. To abandon that belief entirely would not usher in a more just world; it would leave the field more open to those who reject freedom altogether.
The United States is not perfect, but the idea it represents remains one of the most powerful forces for progress in modern history. That idea—tested, criticized, and renewed—remains worth defending.
After the American people have watched Cheeto over 5y+ it’s apparent that there is nothing that comes out of his mouth that is factually correct As he has said in a campaign speech in 2016, “don’t believe what you see or hear, just believe me” He did it during the early COVID days(it’ll be gone by summer)and he’s now doing it with gas prices and the consequences of his Iranian war Tell so many lies that it’s difficult in real time to fact check him Using hyperboles like “never seen before”, “horrible”, “never seen anything like it”, ”strongest economy the world has ever seen”, reinforces his lies
So Cheeto decided to address the American people but it was a litany of nothing but lies and misinformation in order to make a case for complete military victory But the conflict has not resolved and it’s obvious he’s just buying time Because he can’t be a loser, as a country we’re in this for a long haul, not 2w as he claims
Lie Cheeto falsely claimed that Obama gave Iran billions of dollars to get the Iranian to sign the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Policy of Action) which stopped the Iranian uranium enrichment program needed for a nuclear bomb Cheeto in his first 4y tore up that agreement and Iran reinstituted the enrichment program but were not as he inferred that Iran had a nuclear weapon
Lie He kept making Venezuela and its Permian Basin as if the oil is already available which it’s not and because there is poor Venezuelan infrastructure it’ll be at least a decade before it will increase US oil reserves and that’s if US oil companies are interested financially
Lie The Strait of Hormuz will open up quite naturally and told NATO allies they should get guts and take the Strait of Hormuz since he wasn’t able to do it himself
There is no end to the war and Cheeto won’t give an answer He threatened infrastructure attacks which is against international law By hyperbole he's the "worst most horrible president that the world has ever seen and they've never seen anything like it"
Dear Chess Master - Thank you for this. It’s a familiar message to some who’ve been around long enough. The American people, that massive, nebulous entity so regularly both loved and abused by platformed wags ever since 7/4/1776, have much to do and an inescapable duty to uphold their limited opportunity to influence the course of events even as they busy themselves with daily life. Since none of our elections has ever been a complete and comprehensive skunking shut out the mantle of collective blame has never made for a comfortable fit. The fuck ups we’ve countenanced have often been spectacular and devastating. Accusations of inadequacy sting in a place so relentlessly subject to the rhetoric of pols and assorted other salesmen. But the testimony of those who come here from elsewhere always matters.
It's always good to be reflective...but not ok to bash the homeland tthat has long been a beacon to so many others around the world. Yes America is spiraling down & T has surely unleashed all of the cockroaches! But this is recent & planned chaos & UNdoing by the R. Therefore I primarily blame them & still feel confident Americans could & should stand up to them & quash them all! Then rebuild smarter do THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!
America is divided today and in trouble today because America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Canada was founded by exiled Americans, wave after wave, since 1776, tens of thousands of them. These Americans were exiled because they objected to the hypocrisy of mob rule and the manipulation of mobs by a faction of a powerful, propertied elite. John Hancock, richest man in MA, financed Samuel Adams, a brilliant propagandist and populist agitator but also a bigoted religious zealot. Adams incited a small portion of the population to acts of violence against fellow citizens and the existing legal authority in order to provoke wider social disorder and incite civil war. A few wrong-headed cabinet ministers in an elected Parliament in London played right into his hands. Adams was brilliant, but not well-intentioned. He turned brother against brother, son against father. America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Cut to today: Canada has a highly functioning democracy today thanks to its founding exiled-American citizens. In the USA, the cousins of the exiles, who drove them out using the most abhorrent violence (in the name of liberty and free speech!) wrote a Constitution that has proven to be easily ignored by many past presidents and especially the current president. Pew Research shows half of Americans despise the other half, while 92% of Canadians respect each other, whatever their political views. Canada scores 10/10 as a functioning democracy, America 3/10. The exiled Americans (Canadians) rejected violence in favour of compromise. Always choosing violence (even in the name of humanitarian ideals) does not prove to work well for the USA. And the USA did not win World War 2 on its own. They joined the Allies late in the game, 3 years into a 6 year war. Canada was defending democracy from Day 1, and paid a higher price in terms of blood and treasure, per capita, versus the USA. And Canada did not end up with a global economic empire, as did the USA. Those are all facts, not opinions.
I do like reading these articles but here I’d say both Polgreen and Kasparov are partially right and totally wrong.
Polgreen’s correct that the problem isn’t just Trump, the American system created him. But framing America as uniquely sinful ignores structural realities. Korea wasn’t a “disaster”—it prevented half the peninsula from becoming a Stalinist prison state. Blaming US “persuasion” for Chinese authoritarianism gives Washington too much credit and Xi too little agency.
Kasparov’s correct that self-flagellation isn’t strategy. But his claim that “the United States was the first country founded on principles rather than ethnic or religious affiliation” is nationalist mythology, not history.
The facts:
Switzerland’s confederation (1291, formalized 1848) was built on federalism and direct democracy centuries before the US existed. Scandinavian countries developed egalitarian governance structures independent of ethnic nationalism. The Dutch Republic (1581) established religious tolerance and representative government 200 years before Philadelphia.
The US founding in 1776 wasn’t about equality, it was for wealthy white landowners. No women. No Black people. No poor people. That’s not liberal interpretation. That’s documented fact.
By international measures (and I can state this as a former US Foreign Service Officer with no hesitation), the United States wasn’t a full democracy until the Civil Rights era, 1960s at earliest. We’ve been backsliding significantly over the past decade on every democratic ranking index.
My family came from Ukraine. Like most Americans, we came from somewhere else. But I rejected nationalism and foundational myths precisely because they’re the problem.
Why do we cling to nationalist myths about American exceptionalism when we could build humanist futures instead? I worked for the US government because I believed, and still believe, America can do good in the world. But “can do good” doesn’t mean “is perfect” or “was founded purely.”
The US has done tremendous harm internally: the legal system crushes the poor and minorities, economic disparity rivals developing nations, violence is endemic. Externally, yes—some interventions prevented worse outcomes. Others were/are disasters.
Both things are true simultaneously: The American system created the conditions for Trump AND Trump made it worse. That’s not contradiction, that’s gradient.
Polgreen’s error is treating America as uniquely terrible. Kasparov’s error is treating America as uniquely principled. Both miss that nations are systems…designed by people, for purposes, with trade-offs.
The US wasn’t founded on universal principles. It was founded on principles for some people with the rhetorical framework to expand inclusion over centuries of violent struggle. That expansion happened—-incompletely, unevenly, and it’s now reversing.
The question isn’t whether America is good or bad. It’s whether we’re building systems that reduce suffering and increase flourishing regardless of national identity. Humanism as nationality. Not American exceptionalism. Not self-flagellation. Just clear-eyed assessment of what works, what fails, and what we’re building next.
Myths: American, Russian, Iranian, Icelandic, any nationalist mythology are the problem. They prevent us from seeing systems clearly and building better ones.
—Johan
P.S. At least Icelandic mythology is honest about chaos, impermanence, and Ragnarök…the gods themselves aren’t immortal. American founding mythology requires pretending wealthy white landowners invented equality while owning humans.
I’ll take the Norse honesty;)
So true. If America so great a supporter of freedom and democracy why did they vote for a Hitler fascist? No not a king. George 111 was a kindly man. Why didn't Americans vote for a decent coloured woman? Because they support wealthy white men greedy and sociopaths. Canada right to leave America and stay as a UK Dominican.
America is divided today and in trouble today because America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Canada was founded by exiled Americans, wave after wave, since 1776, tens of thousands of them. These Americans were exiled because they objected to the hypocrisy of mob rule and the manipulation of mobs by a faction of a powerful, propertied elite. John Hancock, richest man in MA, financed Samuel Adams, a brilliant propagandist and populist agitator but also a bigoted religious zealot. Adams incited a small portion of the population to acts of violence against fellow citizens and the existing legal authority in order to provoke wider social disorder and incite civil war. A few wrong-headed cabinet ministers in an elected Parliament in London played right into his hands. Adams was brilliant, but not well-intentioned. He turned brother against brother, son against father. America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Cut to today: Canada has a highly functioning democracy today thanks to its founding exiled-American citizens. In the USA, the cousins of the exiles, who drove them out using the most abhorrent violence (in the name of liberty and free speech!) wrote a Constitution that has proven to be easily ignored by many past presidents and especially the current president. Pew Research shows half of Americans despise the other half, while 92% of Canadians respect each other, whatever their political views. Canada scores 10/10 as a functioning democracy, America 3/10. The exiled Americans (Canadians) rejected violence in favour of compromise. Always choosing violence (even in the name of humanitarian ideals) does not prove to work well for the USA. And the USA did not win World War 2 on its own. They joined the Allies late in the game, 3 years into a 6 year war. Canada was defending democracy from Day 1, and paid a higher price in terms of blood and treasure, per capita, versus the USA. And Canada did not end up with a global economic empire, as did the USA. Those are all facts, not opinions.
There were quite a few settlers in Canada prior to the Loyalists, including a large French speaking minority.
True and they were protected by the British. Canadians today respect rather than deny French speaking Quebec
75,000 French Canadians in 1776. About 10,000 English in Nova Scotia before the first wave of exiled Americans. By 1790s, the English population in British North America (Upper+Lower Canada, Nova Scotia+New Brunswick) was on par with French. Most of the English were exiled Americans. And @RobinBury is right - without the protection of British regulars and Loyalist militia, French Canada would not have survived the Patriot expansionism that soon swallowed up the Ohio, the Mississippi and everything west and south of the 49th parallel. In what is now Canada, English Protestants have legislated minority rights (French language and Catholic religion, and then others evolved) since the Quebec Act of 1774 -- the Intolerable Act that enraged Samuel Adams (and his brand of vigilante republicanism) into the civil war of 1775-83.
There must have been people in what is now Ontario.
The descendants of the loyalists could put UEL (United Empire Loyalist) after their name.
Thanks George. Read Rory Sutherland in the Spectator this week page 65. He writes Trump 'is the heir to Washington , Jefferson and other tax evaders and property speculators whose signatures will be proudly on display this year. (John Hancock orchestrated the Boston Tea party because he'd been making a fortune smuggling in untaxed Dutch tea; the new lightly taxed but cheaper tea from the East India company threatened to upend his business model.)
So please no more from Subtract people on the heir to Washington and Jefferson!
I agree! From outside Polgreen paints the picture we live as our experience of the USA. American exceptionalism and colonisation of the world is not welcome. I also know neither the country nor the people are ‘uniquely terrible’ nor is it ‘uniquely principled’ & self-flagellation is never the answer. Honesty, openness and equity offer a powerful & efficacious way forward towards healing and rehabilitation.
Largely agree. Interesting about Switzerland.
I’d take slight exception to “The US founding in 1776 wasn’t about equality, it was for wealthy white landowners. No women. No Black people. No poor people.”
The US was hardly unique for 1776. Women were low status everywhere at the time.
Nor did democratic multiracial states with full equality exist elsewhere at the time.
Canada didn’t have slavery (nor did the northern US states), but the indigenous people didn’t do well, largely wiped out by introduced disease.
To be fair Canada wasn't the only place where indigenous people where largely wiped out by introduced disease. That was the case throughout the new world both north and south America. The reason was that they didn't domesticate and therefore live close to animals in that region of the world. So disease that come from living close to livestock didn't exist. If they had, then either they would have had immunity against old world disease or infected people from the old world with new world disease. Since that happend prior to vaccination and even germ theory there wasn't much that could be done about it.
Yep, it’s all explained in Jared Diamond’s book, “Guns, Germs and Steel.”
At one point, sailors brought cholera back from India to Europe.
I’ll likely get slammed for saying this, but i think what’s happening in the US political world is happening because of widespread complacency and/or complicity amongst a majority of US citizens.
Sure, DJT is a monster, and anyone paying the least bit of attention saw that before he was even elected. If they somehow still managed to miss his blatantly cruel, crude, racist, and sexist remarks, they could not have missed his words and deeds during and after his first term. Yet in November 2024, after so much was known about him, after he’d shown his true colours, after the Epstein revelations, after Jan 6, after he and countless members of his innermost circle were shown to be criminals, approximately 36% of eligible voters still didn’t care enough to show up. Of the ones who did, approximately half of them were willing to throw away women’s independence, the safety of non-whites, the legitimacy of any LGBTQ+, reasonable access to healthcare, poverty and addiction programmes, international aid, etc etc. FAR too many Americans are willfully indifferent to any form of oppression, suffering, and abuse, as long as what’s happening suits their personal desires. US schools are crap, gun violence is an epidemic, and ignorance and complacency run rampant. It’s 2026, and US still allows the rich to buy the government. It still doesn’t care that non-white communities are woefully underfunded and underserved. It still hasn’t managed to pass the equal rights amendment. Where is the love for one’s fellow citizens? Where are the Christian values?
Even many of the people who didn’t vote for Trump are part of the problem. They’re definitely clutching their pearls now that these issues are headline news, but how much did they care when they could ignore them? With a few notable and inspiring exceptions, even your opposition party’s been brilliant at the game of avoidance.
Sure, DJT is a puppet, a symptom, a puss-laden boil on the face of your country. What he isn’t, however, is the root of the rot.
Excellent analysis. The rot set in under Washington and Jefferson and yes America is deeply flawed voting twice for a tax evader and refuses to remove him.
Garry, you've pretty much spelled out the difference between those who pound their chest, begging for forgiveness for all the "bad" things the United States has done over the years; much more than the good, and those, like you and I who believe this "experiment" is worth fighting for. We surely have sins that we need to recognize, even now as DJT runs roughshod over the constitution and world order. However, my father fought in WWII, my stepfather was in the Air Force during Korea, we grew up learning how to hide under our desks in case of a Soviet attack, the Cuban Missile Crisis, ... and the Vietnam disaster. If not for the blood spilled by the thousands of American, and allied, soldiers over those years, where would we be today? Polgreen certainly has the right to proselytize an opinion, no matter how wrong it is. And it is absolutely wrong.
My brother and I are the only members of our family who didn't vote for Donald. Those who did believed his lies and false promises. At least some of them have now awoken to the truth of the danger that man poses. Little by little, the pendulum swings. I suspect, and hope dearly, that November will provide a wake up call to our leaders. Keep up the good work. Our numbers grow daily.
Hi Garry, I'd actually land in the middle, but not really near you. While you have some good points, Ms. Polgreen's surmising is correct. America has long been a "bully state for good"...as we see it. We are for freedom...as we see it. We support governments we like...and topple those we don't. Compared to Russia, we have been fantastic. But when held to the ideals we espouse, we are (and have been) nowhere close to them--unless they benefit us. Even USAID, as much as I love it, has always had a dual purpose, and the bigger is to benefit our our self. We are indeed a for-profit venture. Not that this is an evil presentation. But it is less-than-marketed, at the least. Ulteriorly motivated, in many other instances.
You still misunderstand American culture.
Criticizing America instead of Trump is a deliberate effort to lay the blame on the people — where it belongs — because they are the ones with the power to change it. Too many Americans blame Trump and walk away — forgetting that Americans GAVE HIM his power (every ounce of it).
She doesn’t encourage readers merely to see America as a product of sin. She simply refuses to allow Americans to blame nefarious billionaires and convicted felons for their own bad judgment. There are fundamental problems with Americans’ self-concept that leave them ever-ready for imperialistic military adventurism. She didn’t make that up. It is how deep red areas think of America: warrior ethos. It didn’t come out of nowhere. Trump’s rise didn’t shock those of us who grew up in these deep red pockets.
I appreciated her willingness to refuse to let Americans believe they don’t need to change a thing except their president. Maybe it is because of where you grew up that you attribute so much agency to the leader and do not think the citizens can do more than cheerlead whichever leader they like best. She appropriately recognizes the true agency of the American public and rightly challenges the American public to be better — if it is better.
I think you have it wrong here.
Ah, you're all partially correct. The underlying problem is that 50% of Americans (of all humans, actually) are just pretty dumb and can be pulled in any direction, from MAGA to Woke, for dumb reasons. The founding fathers were geniuses, for their time and for all time. We have a Republic, and I hope we can keep it.
The NYT has been getting so much wrong about russia and Ukraine since 1932 and Walter Duranty. Little has changed.
To be fair, it wasn’t the editorial board of NYT, but a single opinion writer. They have other op-ed writers with different opinions.
But yes, they got actual news wrong in the past, as you note.
To be fair, most opinions in the Times lean the same way. Everyone knows this.
You wouldn’t get that type of thing with Bret Stephens, Ross Douthat or David French.
Opinions should nevertheless be based on actualities and facts, not on invented or distorted notions. You may think X or Y is not good but your understanding of X and Y should be based on the same facts as someone who think X or Y is wondeful.
Op-ed writers have a lot of leeway. This is traditional.
77m adult Americans voted for Trump. Thats the problem. Its Americans, not the system, not the hiistory, not education or lack if knowledge. 77m Americans voted for a lunatic. They may do so again for a different lunatic in 2028...hope not.
Trump AND the republicans are trying to rig it all. Funny thing is the 77 that voted for him and the ones that did not vote will also get royally screwed. Only a very tiny few will benefit. That is the Trump view of the world. All the aspirations realized and un realized by the USA will disappear. THE question is will the USA revert to 16th century values or will we be able to continue the journey.
It’s all on the table.
This was not an editorial, so not The New York Times getting anything wrong. Simply an opinion.
Lest we forget, Trump was voted in at a time when many Americans were responding to high inflation. Several progressive governments were voted out worldwide during this period. FURTHERMORE:
Kasparov’s defense of America rests on a distinction that critics like Polgreen too often collapse: the difference between a nation’s imperfections and the enduring value of its founding ideals. To argue that American missteps invalidate the broader project of liberal democracy is to misunderstand both history and human progress. No great political experiment has ever unfolded without contradiction, and yet the arc of modern freedom is inseparable from the influence—however uneven—of the United States.
Historical perspective reinforces Kasparov’s point. In the aftermath of World War II, much of Europe and East Asia lay in ruins, vulnerable to totalitarian expansion. American policy was not flawless, but the Marshall Plan, NATO, and security guarantees in Asia created the conditions under which democratic institutions could take root and survive. West Germany, Japan, and South Korea were not destined for liberal democracy; they became so in part because the United States chose to invest in reconstruction rather than domination. These outcomes were not expressions of imperial vanity but of a belief—sometimes overstated, often contested—that free societies are worth defending beyond one’s borders.
Critics frequently highlight failures such as Vietnam or Iraq, and rightly so; these episodes demand scrutiny and humility. But to extrapolate from them that the American project is inherently malign ignores a broader pattern. The same country that stumbled abroad also helped institutionalize norms of human rights, supported the creation of international organizations, and provided refuge and opportunity to millions. The Cold War itself, which Polgreen treats as evidence of overreach, was also a contest in which the eventual collapse of Soviet communism vindicated, at least in part, the appeal of democratic governance and open economies.
Kasparov’s personal testimony adds weight to this argument. Those who lived under authoritarian regimes understand that the absence of freedom is not an abstraction. The United States did not impose the internal logic of Soviet repression, nor does it dictate the choices of modern autocrats. To deny the agency of those regimes while exaggerating American omnipotence is to invert reality. Authoritarianism persists not because democracy was offered too forcefully, but because it remains threatening to those who wield unchecked power.
None of this absolves the United States of its contradictions—racial injustice, political polarization, and episodes of overreach are real and ongoing. But the proper response to these flaws is reform, not repudiation. The idea that a nation can be founded on principles—imperfectly realized, continuously debated, but fundamentally universal—is itself a historical anomaly worth preserving.
Kasparov is right to resist both blind idealization and sweeping condemnation. The American belief that freedom can expand beyond its borders is neither unshakable nor always wisely applied. Yet it has, at crucial moments, helped tip the balance toward more open and humane societies. To abandon that belief entirely would not usher in a more just world; it would leave the field more open to those who reject freedom altogether.
The United States is not perfect, but the idea it represents remains one of the most powerful forces for progress in modern history. That idea—tested, criticized, and renewed—remains worth defending.
Cheeto’s Lying To The American People
After the American people have watched Cheeto over 5y+ it’s apparent that there is nothing that comes out of his mouth that is factually correct As he has said in a campaign speech in 2016, “don’t believe what you see or hear, just believe me” He did it during the early COVID days(it’ll be gone by summer)and he’s now doing it with gas prices and the consequences of his Iranian war Tell so many lies that it’s difficult in real time to fact check him Using hyperboles like “never seen before”, “horrible”, “never seen anything like it”, ”strongest economy the world has ever seen”, reinforces his lies
So Cheeto decided to address the American people but it was a litany of nothing but lies and misinformation in order to make a case for complete military victory But the conflict has not resolved and it’s obvious he’s just buying time Because he can’t be a loser, as a country we’re in this for a long haul, not 2w as he claims
Lie Cheeto falsely claimed that Obama gave Iran billions of dollars to get the Iranian to sign the JCPOA(Joint Comprehensive Policy of Action) which stopped the Iranian uranium enrichment program needed for a nuclear bomb Cheeto in his first 4y tore up that agreement and Iran reinstituted the enrichment program but were not as he inferred that Iran had a nuclear weapon
Lie He kept making Venezuela and its Permian Basin as if the oil is already available which it’s not and because there is poor Venezuelan infrastructure it’ll be at least a decade before it will increase US oil reserves and that’s if US oil companies are interested financially
Lie The Strait of Hormuz will open up quite naturally and told NATO allies they should get guts and take the Strait of Hormuz since he wasn’t able to do it himself
There is no end to the war and Cheeto won’t give an answer He threatened infrastructure attacks which is against international law By hyperbole he's the "worst most horrible president that the world has ever seen and they've never seen anything like it"
Dear Chess Master - Thank you for this. It’s a familiar message to some who’ve been around long enough. The American people, that massive, nebulous entity so regularly both loved and abused by platformed wags ever since 7/4/1776, have much to do and an inescapable duty to uphold their limited opportunity to influence the course of events even as they busy themselves with daily life. Since none of our elections has ever been a complete and comprehensive skunking shut out the mantle of collective blame has never made for a comfortable fit. The fuck ups we’ve countenanced have often been spectacular and devastating. Accusations of inadequacy sting in a place so relentlessly subject to the rhetoric of pols and assorted other salesmen. But the testimony of those who come here from elsewhere always matters.
It's always good to be reflective...but not ok to bash the homeland tthat has long been a beacon to so many others around the world. Yes America is spiraling down & T has surely unleashed all of the cockroaches! But this is recent & planned chaos & UNdoing by the R. Therefore I primarily blame them & still feel confident Americans could & should stand up to them & quash them all! Then rebuild smarter do THIS NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN!
America is divided today and in trouble today because America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Canada was founded by exiled Americans, wave after wave, since 1776, tens of thousands of them. These Americans were exiled because they objected to the hypocrisy of mob rule and the manipulation of mobs by a faction of a powerful, propertied elite. John Hancock, richest man in MA, financed Samuel Adams, a brilliant propagandist and populist agitator but also a bigoted religious zealot. Adams incited a small portion of the population to acts of violence against fellow citizens and the existing legal authority in order to provoke wider social disorder and incite civil war. A few wrong-headed cabinet ministers in an elected Parliament in London played right into his hands. Adams was brilliant, but not well-intentioned. He turned brother against brother, son against father. America was born divided as a result of horrific civil violence. Cut to today: Canada has a highly functioning democracy today thanks to its founding exiled-American citizens. In the USA, the cousins of the exiles, who drove them out using the most abhorrent violence (in the name of liberty and free speech!) wrote a Constitution that has proven to be easily ignored by many past presidents and especially the current president. Pew Research shows half of Americans despise the other half, while 92% of Canadians respect each other, whatever their political views. Canada scores 10/10 as a functioning democracy, America 3/10. The exiled Americans (Canadians) rejected violence in favour of compromise. Always choosing violence (even in the name of humanitarian ideals) does not prove to work well for the USA. And the USA did not win World War 2 on its own. They joined the Allies late in the game, 3 years into a 6 year war. Canada was defending democracy from Day 1, and paid a higher price in terms of blood and treasure, per capita, versus the USA. And Canada did not end up with a global economic empire, as did the USA. Those are all facts, not opinions.
Wait, what? The NYT got America wrong? Say it ain’t so………………..
Sadly, NYT is part of complicit corporate media so they are paid to misinform.
In comparison with European Democracy the uber Capitalist pseudo democracy of the USA seems wanting