Growing up in the US just after - arguably - the height of our power (post-WWII, but one could well argue that post-Soviet-collapse was really the height) we were subject to unbelievable propaganda. The Kim family in North Korea would be astounded how all us kids would stand and pledge allegiance, understood implicitly that communists were devils ready to pour over the borders of "wherever" to get us and our allies, and that Capitalism=Democracy.

The US origin story, from Columbus the founding of Plymouth (like Anthony Lawrence I’m also a Mayflower descendent on my mother’s side) to Thanksgiving to so many broken treaties we’ll probably never have an accurate count, our understanding of where we started as a country to where we are today is based on a bit of truth and an avalanche of bullshit.