Part 2 of our Crumbling American Myths series tackles the big one: American exceptionalism and the U.S. global brand. Chris and Des trace the arc from WWI creditors to post-WWII superpower to—as Chris puts it—“the Sears of global brands.” They walk through three body blows that shattered the “shining city on a hill” image, share international polling data that will make you flinch, and close with real actions you can take to rebuild soft power from the ground up. Plus: the launch of Bearing 287’s Paradox Platform for mission-driven organizations navigating AI.

The Paradox Platform on Substack
Take the Paradox Assessment

Timestamps:
0:00 — Intro & Paradox Platform announcement
8:30 — The myth of American exceptionalism defined
13:00 — How the U.S. rose to superpower status (WWI–WWII)
19:00 — The American hero narrative vs. reality
24:00 — Reagan’s “shining city on a hill”
30:00 — The hypocrisy: voting rights, torture, foreign intervention
35:00 — The Iran backstory most Americans don’t know
44:00 — “The Sears of global brands”
46:00 — Three body blows: Iraq, 2008, Trump
57:00 — Where the U.S. brand stands today
1:00:00 — Comparing fallen empires
1:04:00 — What we can do about it
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Sponsored by Bearing 287 https://www.bearing287.com/

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References:
Reagan’s Farewell Address
WSJ Opinion Piece
Project Syndicate - Soft power
Federal Reserve History (wiki)
Harvard - USAID
Bright Line Watch
Forbes
Forbes - Tourism
Internat’l Trade Administration

Produced by Julia Bevolo