Is America Still the Good Guy? The Collapse of America’s Brand

Part 2 of our Crumbling American Myths series tackles the big one: American exceptionalism and the U.S. global brand. Chris and Des trace the arc from WWI creditors to post-WWII superpower to—as Chris puts it—“the Sears of global brands.” They walk through three body blows that shattered the “shining city on a hill” image, share international polling data that will make you flinch, and close with real actions you can take to rebuild soft power from the ground up. Plus: the launch of Bearing 287’s Paradox Platform for mission-driven organizations navigating AI.The Paradox Platform on SubstackTake the Paradox AssessmentTimestamps:0:00 — Intro & Paradox Platform announcement8:30 — The myth of American exceptionalism defined13:00 — How the U.S. rose to superpower status (WWI–WWII)19:00 — The American hero narrative vs. reality24:00 — Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”30:00 — The hypocrisy: voting rights, torture, foreign intervention35:00 — The Iran backstory most Americans don’t know44:00 — “The Sears of global brands”46:00 — Three body blows: Iraq, 2008, Trump57:00 — Where the U.S. brand stands today1:00:00 — Comparing fallen empires1:04:00 — What we can do about it====================Subscribe, watch and listen to I'm Not Even Supposed to Be Here Podcast====================🖥️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeHerePod📱 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today/id1867373928🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3bypMpSmcoIjt4bHk0nvzz?si=18eab826d1394fd9====================Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/====================#BeHerePod #NotEvenSupposedToBeHere #CulturalCommentaryReferences:Reagan’s Farewell AddressWSJ Opinion PieceProject Syndicate - Soft powerFederal Reserve History (wiki)Harvard - USAIDBright Line WatchForbes Forbes - TourismInternat’l Trade AdministrationProduced by Julia Bevolo