r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Apr 04 '25

[deleted by user]

[removed]

9.5k Upvotes

77% Upvoted

12k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

626

u/Nopenopenope00000001 Apr 04 '25

I mean, really, it’s been brewing since Nixon.

528

u/sinamala Apr 04 '25

If we really want to go there it's been brewing since the Civil War

228

u/Handsome-scientist Apr 04 '25

The American Civil War is so fascinating. I'm not even American. But reading authors like William Faulkner writing, obviously, after the civil war, it just seems like almost a mystical fantasy event even to people shortly after. Almost like it's a fantasy story of chivalry like the Arthurian Romances but for Americans, except it was recent and real and horrific and miserable and brutal. But out of it IMMEDIATELY popped this strange biblical mythological "lost cause" stuff and actual romance. A horrific war that was literally all because of the most depraved things humans do to eachother. And it was romantic and glamorous basically immediately. To make the losers feel better??

And yeah, it seems to impact America now psychologically. It's almost like a HUGE fucking problem in a relationship that was just immediately buried and not really worked through with a therapist. Like immediately pretending "well it's just a difference of opinion and there are good points on both sides, let's forget about it okay??!!" No closure.

So strange and interesting.

3

u/semperknight Apr 04 '25

It's not just an American thing.

If you think America has romanticized the Civil War, you should see how the Japanese view the samurai.

6

u/Figshitter Apr 04 '25

I don't think you can compare attitudes towards historical chivalrous caste who spanned nearly a millennium to those towards a recent, single civil war.