An insightful piece with much on which to reflect.
I do take issue with the notion that it was the endorsement of Bonaparte that brought an end to the idealism of the French Revolution, as opposed to the Reign of Terror under Robespierre, and I will always wonder why the Bolsheviks imagined that they would avoid such an outcome in the figure of Stalin when they already knew what had happened to Danton and other ringleaders of the Revolution in France once the National Convention gained power. However, this is a side note to your point.
Lacking much familiarity with how secondary education unfolds in other developed countries, I am nonetheless inclined to believe you that it is different in most of them from how it is here, because I see the endless cruelty enshrined in our daily lives on a regular basis. Wrapped in ideology that takes on a sort of religious devotion even when it is secular, Americans tell ourselves that we are focusing on the “big picture” when we are actually chasing nonsense quips for our own amusement; all the while, we ignore the very real suffering of individuals all around us. That we cannot imagine in the moment a way to plausibly solve problems in their entirety becomes a reason to not do anything for anyone.
