After the civil rights, LGBTQ+ and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, the US devised an interesting mythology about itself to keep operating: ...

After the civil rights, LGBTQ+ and feminist movements of the 1960s and 1970s, the US devised an interesting mythology about itself to keep operating: namely, that America had always been about universal human rights, and had over time made improvements to live up to the promise of its founding principles. This wasn't true, but it was a convenient fiction that let some parts of the dominant subculture accept change as if it were their own idea. It was the story I was taught as a child.