I hope we’re not, but I am afraid we are.

I meant that in today’s Europe, particularly Western Europe, there isn’t the same cultural attachment to exceptionalism

True. But again - with enough propaganda, it could be. And our shitheads in basically all of the European governments are hard at work to re-establish totalitarian regimes.

While I don’t agree, your point and my observation do not contradict each other.

As much as I despise what’s normal in Magastan, telling ourselves we are in any way more smart or ethical in Europe is precisely how we run our bus off the same cliff.

brainrot through social media / smartphones, coupled with propaganda.

We have the brainrot already in Europe - if our propaganda were as strong, we’d be just as bad, sadly.