My problem with political topics on HN is that the focus is (in 90% of the cases) completely US-centric.
Hearing what US people think about their health system, their education system, their immigration system, or SF roads is pretty uninteresting to me, since it doesn't affect me. I can tolerate them once in a while, just to be aware of the general opinion, but I have zero interest in diving in detailled discussions on the details.
And the political context and problems in my country are completely different, so they can't even be taken as example or something.
For better or worse US is still the most influential country in the world with disproportionately big military spending and the cradle of the majority of tech industry giants. It is important what goes on there. US also is one of the big bastions of freedoms at least on paper. The erosion of rights and liberties there is scary.
US also is one of the big bastions of freedoms at least on paper.
If you want to know what the biggest issue facing Americans right now, you have just summarized it nicely by this line of thinking. This mythology of the US being a forward-thinking model of how to run a country may have been true in the 18th century (arguable), but since then the rest of the world has caught up. Today, on the world stage the United States is a nation like any other.
In fact, there are many nations where people are just as free, if not more, than in the US. As one example, while the myth of the "American Dream" is about social mobility, especially inter-generational mobility, in reality the US ranks fairly poorly by that measure. It is not enough for everyone to be de jure free, if their parents' race or socioeconomic status strongly determine the choices a person has available to them and their eventual success in life.
The US has deep social, political and economic problems, all of which impinge on an American's practical freedoms. Until Americans recognize these problems facing their country, and cease with this "bastion of freedom" bullshit, those problems cannot be addressed and will continue to fester.
Hearing what US people think about their health system, their education system, their immigration system, or SF roads is pretty uninteresting to me, since it doesn't affect me. I can tolerate them once in a while, just to be aware of the general opinion, but I have zero interest in diving in detailled discussions on the details.
And the political context and problems in my country are completely different, so they can't even be taken as example or something.