BD�
Two things.
First, the worst aspect of Reagan (or the mythology we associate with Reagan) is the optimism. . .sorry. . .politicos feed into a warped Utopian mindset that plagues humanity. What we need from leaders and the common person is realism.
An example, No Child Left Behind actual calls for 100% success on testing and graduation by 2014. This is idiotic; a political and Utopian "dream" that can only be a failure. Only in politics would such inane goals be tolerated.
[Note: For those who want to suggest my comment about the Reagan myth is partisan; we also have a Kennedy myth and a Gandhi myth. That we mythologize is a fact; that the myth is a distortion of the biography is a fact.]
Second, I agree that the American mindset makes little sense. Part of the problem (if not the crux of the problem) is that we misrepresent ideologies and theories; we spend too much time creating a "team" view of everything. Thus, for our team to win and be right, we must also demonize the other team. Thus, we don't want to associate our police force or judicial system or military with "socialism" or as "government" because we have spent so much intellectual capital demonizing both! Ironically, we demonize government, which is US. . .
We lack a political party or movement that clearly defines the MINIMUM role government should play and then how we should invest in that, and that alone. Instead we have partisanship on two sides that are little different from each other. It is (and has always been) a very expensive sporting event among the elite; the rest of us pay heavily for the tickets to watch. . .
