"...we've convinced ourselves of our own superiority over the other nations of the world without actually knowing if our beliefs are founded in anything real."

You mean that mindless drivel "America is the greatest country in the world"? Anyone who did not grow up being brainwashed with that nonsense (read: citizens of any other nation) could have told you it never was founded in anything real.

I'll repeat an axiom I've posted here before:

Patriotism is the mistaken belief that the geographical accident of one's birth has more worth or relevance than membership of the human race and citizenship of Planet Earth.

Cheers,
Michael