The internet is rarely lenient when it comes to duplicity, but a recent Australian commentary shared by Sasha Legerman has struck a chord with the American political elite with such elemental force that it\u2019s hard to ignore it. The post\u2019s direct reference is to Donald Trump\u2019s previous (and current) recurring narrative that NATO allies are \u201etaking advantage\u201d of America and that the alliance does nothing for the United States.<\/p>\n
The answer \u2013 penned by an anonymous Australian citizen \u2013 is not subtle. It cuts straight to the heart of Washington\u2019s rhetoric by highlighting the contrast: how does a superpower that is incapable of taking care of its own citizens want to educate the world about prosperity and security?<\/p>\n
### \u201eLook around your own portal\u201d<\/p>\n
The critique takes a look at the darkest aspects of the American dream, using numbers and everyday reality. The author reminds the American leadership that while billions of dollars are being spent on foreign military interventions, 600,000 people are sleeping rough on the home front, and a significant portion of the population is spiraling into debt due to a single unexpected medical bill of $400.
\nA particularly painful point of criticism is healthcare: skyrocketing insulin prices, medical debts cited as the number one cause of private bankruptcies, and the drama of women left untreated in hospital parking lots due to strict abortion laws.<\/p>\n
> \u201eYou lead a country where adults\u201d 40%s couldn\u2019t cover a $400 emergency without taking out a loan. Where insulin costs more than a car payment and people are on a dose just to stay alive,\u201d the post reads.
\n><\/p>\n
### Cages in the land of freedom<\/p>\n
The text also takes a dig at the proud American myth of freedom, pointing out that the US imprisons more people per capita than notoriously authoritarian regimes like Russia or China. In the \u201eland of the free,\u201d there are currently nearly two million people behind bars, including hundreds of thousands who have never been convicted \u2013 simply too poor to pay cash bail.
\nThe post cites Greenland (which Trump previously wanted to buy and criticized) as a counterexample, where universal healthcare and free education are basic human rights, not luxury items.<\/p>\n
### The price of historical amnesia<\/p>\n
But the foreign policy accusations are the hardest hit. The Australian commentator reminds us of one of the most important facts in modern history that \u201eAmerica First\u201d policy followers tend to forget: **NATO\u2019s collective defense treaty (Article 5) has only been invoked once in history \u2013 and that was in defense of the United States after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.**
\nAustralia, although not a NATO member, fought and bled in Afghanistan for two decades as an ally alongside the US. The chaotic manner of the withdrawal \u2013 when US troops abandoned their allies almost in the middle of the night \u2013 remains a thorn in the side of international partners to this day.<\/p>\n
### Why did this post get so many likes?<\/p>\n
Sasha Legerman\u2019s post went viral because it\u2019s raw, angry, and speaks from the perspective of the \u201elittle guy.\u201d While the text uses exaggerated or simplistic statistics as a political argument, the systemic problems behind it\u2014a crumbling welfare system, gun violence in schools, and a disregard for international allies\u2014are all real, existential points of tension in America.<\/p>\n
The post ends with a memorable insult, calling the champion of populist rhetoric a tanning-clad aluminum-clad agent. The message is clear: before you try to educate the world about democracy and leadership, clean up your own yard first.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Az internet n\u00e9pe ritk\u00e1n kegyelmez, ha k\u00e9tsz\u00edn\u0171s\u00e9gr\u0151l van sz\u00f3, de egy nemr\u00e9giben felbukkant, Sasha Legerman \u00e1ltal megosztott ausztr\u00e1l komment\u00e1r olyan elemi er\u0151vel csapott le az amerikai politikai elitre, hogy azt neh\u00e9z sz\u00f3 n\u00e9lk\u00fcl hagyni. A poszt k\u00f6zvetlen aprop\u00f3ja Donald Trump kor\u00e1bbi (\u00e9s jelenlegi) visszat\u00e9r\u0151 narrat\u00edv\u00e1ja, miszerint a NATO sz\u00f6vets\u00e9gesei \u201ekihaszn\u00e1lj\u00e1k\u201d Amerik\u00e1t, \u00e9s a sz\u00f6vets\u00e9g semmit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rs_blank_template":"","rs_page_bg_color":"","slide_template_v7":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[156],"class_list":["post-1956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-vilagpolitika"],"modified_by":"Antipropaganda H\u00edrblog","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/antipropaganda.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}