Even America now generates its own social passivity and new residues

Evidence

The commercialization of culture, the new dynamic forms of mass culture—television, pop music, advertising, youth culture—the incorporation of the masses more fully into the market, and the phenomenon of mass consumerism were all to be found there, emerging, in the postwar period, in their strongest contemporary forms. This marked the shift in the index of “leading instance” of advanced industrial capitalist society from Britain to the US. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 161 (#expands, via linked claim)

Vann was sure that he would be able to see what motivated the Vietnamese officers with whom he would be working and persuade them to do what was in their best interest and in the interest of the United States. … History had not shown Americans to be fallible as other peoples were. Americans were different. History did not apply to them. — Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, 121 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Americans mistakenly believe they are different from other nations. — Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, 121; Postwar America replaced Britain as the leading instance of advanced capitalism — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 161; Americans increasingly consume culture while abandoning participatory social forms — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 376

Related

• Postwar America replaced Britain as the leading instance of advanced capitalism (similarity 0.85)
• Americanism is an intensification of European civilisation, not a new type (similarity 0.83)
• American elites lag behind the rest of the world in recognizing civilizational politics (similarity 0.79)
• Belief in a ‘postmodern condition’ is American historical amnesia. (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Postwar America replaced Britain as the leading instance of advanced capitalism #expands (0.85) — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 161
• Americans mistakenly believe they are different from other nations. #expands (0.75) — Neil Sheehan, A Bright Shining Lie, 121