One (terrible) Element of U.S. Culture – and a Major Export…

… blending very well with the local cultures.
“There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’“- Isaac Asimov (21 January 1980)
Reagan, who claimed that off-shore drilling was good for the fish (in the most “charming manner”), was on his way to become president at the end of that year.