Re:They Thought They Were Free, by Milton Mayer, an Excerpt
by throw10920 on Wednesday February 05, 2025 @08:11PM
(#42957706)
You make some really good points in your comment. One of the most unfortunate (that I believe to be true) is:
> don't even know what it does and by extension, don't care.
Apathy is a problem in so many different social, political, and even technological systems - for instance, if people cared just a little bit more about digital privacy, the entire adtech scene probably wouldn't exist.
This was an American. This caused me to think back to my schooling and you know what? I don't think I ever did take a class that went over all the divisions and (larger) programs of the US government. It was like you suggest, a simplified explanation (three branches and that's about it).
Clearly, that wasn't enough. Even something as simple as, "USAID provides humanitarian aid to foreign countries in order to give the US a strong influence in those places" would've been better than nothing.
Right now we have a critical US foreign influence apparatus in a non-working state and most Americans don't even know what it does and by extension, don't care.