Comment by troupo
1 year ago
Another problem is that the US spills its own problems and "solutions" onto the world as if the one true set of problems and solutions.
E.g. at the height of the BLM movement there were BLM protests and marches in Sweden. 20% of Swedish population is foreign-born, and yet there are no such marches and protests about any of the ethnicities in Sweden (many of which face similar problems). Why? Because the US culture, and problems, and messaging has supplanted or is supplanting most of the world's
Sweden is hilariously influenced by American culture to the point I think most Swedes see themselves as sort of Americans in exile. Completely agree that BLM marches in Sweden are about as misplaced as if they had marched for the American Indigenous peoples of Sweden.
I live in Sweden and I am not a swede. I was surprised to see BLM marches here, which, OK, it's good to show solidarity to the cause, but I have seen no marches for the many problems that exist in this country, including racism. I suspect that it is due to the very distorted view swedes have about themselves and their country.
As someone not from the US this is despairing to me. I want to focus on the issues in my own country, not a foreign country's.
What can I even do without giving up the Internet (much of it is UScentric)? I can only know to touch grass and hope my mind can realise when some US-only drama online isn't relevant to me.
You can’t really unless you check out completely. America isn’t a country like yours or any other. America is the global empire with hegemony everywhere. This includes not just unparalleled military might but cultural artifacts and technology and of course the dollar too. Most groups of people are more than willing to assimilate to this and you see it with imitations of hip hop, basketball preferences, fast food chains, and the imbalance in expats from the USA and every other country. There’s thousands of examples like this.
This is why you see incoherent things like Swedish youth marching for BLM.