The long gaze in the mirror has to end in self-respect or it will swallow us up. But just as no one can live a happy and productive life in nonstop self-criticism, nations require more than facts-they need stories that convey a moral identity. Americans know by now that democracy depends on a baseline of shared reality-when facts become fungible, we’re lost. They’re the ones that address our deepest needs and desires. The most durable narratives are not the ones that stand up best to fact-checking. There is never just one-they compete and constantly change. National narratives, like personal ones, are prone to sentimentality, grievance, pride, shame, self-blindness. Nations, like individuals, tell stories in order to understand what they are, where they come from, and what they want to be.
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