(11-28-2018, 07:13 PM)robkelk Wrote: I suspect the first two points have an undue effect on the matter. As soon as you append "ism" to a term, you've named a religion (intellectualism, anti-intellectualism, populism, even Haruhism) - and religions aren't normally open to considering facts that disagree with their tenets.
"The conceit that this Nation special and above what ails everyone else" ... well, yeah, the "Ugly American" has been an issue for decades. That's one of those facts that disagree with some people's tenets.
"A system of government that disproportionately favors rural states" is only an impediment if the rural states are responsible for causing the big problems. Which they might be; I don't know.
They aren't, not directly the people in them anyway.
But their disproportionate power is exploited by special interest groups funded by big corporations on the behalf of those big corporations.