Gotdamn, good post. Oddly enough I was chatting with a patient today and she’s big on Asian policy and she was saying how the US doesn’t understand China and how it’s a problem. How we are a young country and see things through that lens, but China has more history than us because their nation/culture has existed much longer, so they view their interactions with other nations through that lens. And how although we are a young nation, we still represent the West and are grouped with European nations (which have been around a lot longer than us, as well).
Even got into the concept of “flat Whiteness” (although I admit I brought that up after she mention the idea of being “American” and people not drawing on the cultures of their home countries)— but she agreed!
Crazy timing.