Asklemmy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_exceptionalism lists out lots of the historical reasons. Essentially: successful propaganda over several centuries. Also helped: winning the last big war, winning the cold war, being the source of most of the entertainment/art in the western world.

In some ways, several places in the US probably are among the best in the world. And some are probably the worst. It's a large place in many ways.

It's the most lobotomized society in the world. As a Cuban soldier (close to Fidel) once told us:

It is a country with all kinds of technological development, comparable to other first world nations, but take away the high technology, especially weapons and you will notice that its social and political system is only comparable to those of third world nations.

The elites apply the most brutal chauvinism on their own population, to justify all kinds of crimes within their borders and in the world.

I live in the US. Half this country is completely delusional. The other half feels that doing anything to improve the situation is socialism™ or communism™. So we better not improve anything.

There are only a couple hundred countries, and only one can be "the greatest". You'll get different answers based on which metric you pick, but clearly the right metric is "quality of US-style BBQ restaurants". And that's why the United States is the greatest country in the world.

because we have the most well-funded propaganda apparatus in the history of forever

Stage 1: Denial.

Though some of them have moved on to Stage 2, Anger.

Because most of them think the entire world is America.

same reason the best sports teams just happen to be where I live.

We are taught that from school and in our families. People like my father think that America is number one, and that all other countries have no freedom and that everyone is trying to escape to the US. It's just (attempted) to be passed down to the children.

We learn barely anything about other countries history in school except for the bad. A lot of our history taught, while accurate, leaves out a lot to understand other countries and commonly portrays us to be the "good guy".

Because some people in the US don't even leave their county, let alone their state, and therefore never experience any culture outside their own.

Because they are told so starting in school. And it's an easy lie to believe.

I don't think there's too many that do anymore. The sense that I have is that everyone feels a sense of pessimism and decline. Hell, the whole MAGA movement, make America great again, is based on the sentiment that America is not what it used to be, and it won in 2016, against "America is already great," the slogan of elite liberals. And things have gotten more pessimistic since with COVID, inflation, political violence. There are some people who believe in anything but I can't say I know anyone who could say America is the best in the world without a tinge of self doubt. Personally, I see myself as a pessimist in the short term, optimist in the long term.

Years of internet social media has disabused many of that idea, whether orchestrated by an outside entity, or simply via intermingling with other peoples. The backlash is the rampant nationalism that is sure to take over next go around.

Yep, Winning a competition of 1 participants.

I get that the states are big and have a lot of their own drama, but I gotta say it comes accros as fairly up-ones-self for adults to be so ignorant of the rest of the world.

It obviously isn't the greatest for standard of living. But it certainly is in soft and hard power towards the world (closely followed by china). Honestly though, as a german, I would much rather be controlled and spied on by the United States than China.

Ignorance is bliss. It’s that simple. There are a lot of Americans people no lack the emotional intelligence and maturity to admit when they are wrong. Add to that a lifelong indoctrination (in-school pledge of allegiance, national anthem at sporting events, Hollywood, and country music), and the social stigma of going against the patriotic grain, and you’ve got a recipe for America is the best. It also doesn’t help that schools are mandated to teach a one-sided history that makes America look good.

Patriotism