Why is the NYTimes So Down on the US and the West?

I just kind of noticed that the NYTimes never has a positive view of the West. Of democracy over communism. Of capitalism over communism. Or really anything that the US does.

It’s all bad news. Constantly.

I’m not looking for a ra-ra “the USA is #1!” pitch either. That gets you Trumpism. No thanks.

Reality is complex and tends to sit in the middle of extremes. The US, and the West, are both highly flawed and the best thing going. Those can absolutely exist at the same time. And they do.

The US, Canada, Western Europe, and “the West” more broadly are without question the best places in the world to be if you’re a woman, a person of color, or a non-CIS person trying to thrive in society.

Yet if you read the NYTimes you hear the exact opposite. According to them, the rest of the world is a haven for those groups. That’s where they can go to experience true freedom without discrimination. And it’s the West that is oppressive towards them.

What the hell is going on?

1. Why does this narrative exist?

2. Is it accidental or on purpose?

3. If it’s on purpose, who’s pushing it? And why?

I guess the logical answer is that it’s accidental, but that it’s become popular with young journalists, so it’s become on purpose over time.

In other words, it’s “in” to be anti-Western. We’re the bad guys. We being the extremely white, liberal, educated people writing the paper.

So it’s like healthy self-attack, for the purpose of improvement.

I get that. And it definitely can be healthy in some measure. But at some point medicine becomes poison, and I think the NYTimes has crossed that line.

Racism, police violence, gender equality—these issues all remain problems that need to be addressed. I’ve not seen a single center-leaning person disagree with that.

But damn, we can’t continuously bash ourselves and hope for any self-respect. Any therapist will tell you that.

“How do you talk to yourself?” is one of the main paths of therapy these days. It’s the idea that depressed and anxious people are often repeating horrible things to themselves all day long. And therapy involves finding nicer things to say to oneself.

The NYTimes needs some of that therapy.

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LGBTQ people are not better off in Latin America, or Africa, or the Middle East, or in Asia.

It’s worse. Way worse.

Have some fucking self-respect. And stop telling us, and yourselves, how much we suck.

We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re doing ok.

At some point you become part of the problem by making it seem way worse than it is.

Dear NYTimes. Stop being part of the problem.

With Respect and Love,

A loyal reader and subscriber who still considers you the best paper out there