President Donald Trump made a shocking comment that left people in the Oval Office visibly uncomfortable on Thursday during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. A reporter asked Trump why he didn't tell U.S. allies, including European and Asian countries, such as Japan, that he was...
The Reverse Cargo Cult metaphor explains why dictators tell their citizens lies that citizens know to be lies: a verifiable lie told by a politician changes citizens’ perceptions of politicians and reduces their willingness to replace them
It’s puritanism, the country was founded on it and even though there have been waves of modernization, it’s still a puritannical deeply sick society at heart.
Wow, gotta read that paper now:
Source: https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-papers/the-reverse-cargo-cult-why-authoritarian-governments-lie-to-their-people/
People in some places are just convinced the rest of the world is just as bad — this is the context in which I’ve heard the term.
USians’ incessant belief that travelling to other countries is very unsafe is probably one example of this.
It’s puritanism, the country was founded on it and even though there have been waves of modernization, it’s still a puritannical deeply sick society at heart.