Well, some DO value the things that were given to them. Sometimes it may take awhile to truly realize the value of those things. Nowadays it seems to be getting harder & harder to value them though as they seem to be drifting away and/or replaced by things that have little or no value. Supposing that right after WW2 a soldier from NYC had come home to a mayor such as Mamdani. I bet he would describe the man in the kind of language that most of us won’t use. By the time Vietnam had ended,many soldiers were already coming home to little or no respect. To me it now seems that our president is trying to build back some of that respect for our soldiers & our nation as a whole, but I can see that it’s a tough battle.
America is culturally and in values, very fast changing and flexible.
Today they might deny someone a job with a clearance, claim they are mentally ill, make fun of them in the arts and media, give them no job working with kids as a homo. 20 years later they will go to homo venues to recruit them.
Abortion, climate change, inner-racial marriages, the Iraq war 2003 and Vietnam... Things can change 180 degrees in a matter of just a few years. Today you can’t watch a commercial without seeing an inner racial couple, and nothing is off limits, see hormone blockers and sex changes for kids or abortion as examples. Long term plans, strategic plans, are nearly impossible, see our policies towards Iran or energy as examples (changes with every administration). We break promises, lie and cheat or withdraw from treaties because the promises of the predecessor mean little.
We will exceed your wildest dreams of how much and fast we can pivot on any issue.
I have learned to take the bad with the good. Our political system and society reinvents itself, changes course often, but this can also be a good thing.
We are able to adapt to new technology, fast. We cut our losses when things aren’t going so well. As the international world changes, we can change course and aren’t entrenched in old dogmas. Even though it’s technically lying or breaking a promise, we don’t abide to rules or agreements when they make no sense for us anymore (missile defense - and that has proven to be a real threat and worthwhile investment).
So while we aren’t people that necessarily stay the course and are consistent, things you would normally see as being virtues, our rapid ability to change course and flexibility morally allows us to adjust to the times / situation.