Americans don't "ruin everything". America has ruined them, and everything around it. Americans are simply fucked beyond most of their individual capacities to parse that fact.
Some of us still genuinely care about other people, and deeply — the ones who haven't given up yet and checked out, at least.
Not that long ago, I used to avidly, ardently teach children how simple it can be to choose kindness. Now, I'm all but broken to my core, and I'm all outta metaphor. How can I expect anyone else to be capable of better, for longer — or even just pick up where I set down that torch, that essential flame?
No, Americans don't ruin everything. We are ruined, hollowed and shaken. The ones who live to see what comes after might be able to carry these lessons to the next generation, but who can say.
Hope, I guess. You might be around when something sparkly happens from that. I would like that.