William Earl WeeksThinkers

Collective memory (n.) can ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠shrink a conquered people to a mascot: the Seminoles survive in the national consciousness as the emblem of a football team.

The Rhetoric of empire (n.) rests ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠on three pillars: the nation's unique virtue, its mission to redeem the world, and faith in its divinely ordained destiny.