This isn't a cultural misunderstanding. I asked him to clarify what he couldn't reconcile and he didn't.

To be clear, I didn't actually need him to clarify it. I wanted him to understand the fallacy in his position.

Here's GPT's response to asking what the reconciliation is. You be the judge:

> The user is having a hard time reconciling the consistently negative narrative they’ve heard about American public education—that it’s failing, propagandistic, or poorly preparing students—with their own lived experience, which was overwhelmingly positive.

> They describe going to a well-resourced high school (McLean High, in a wealthy district) where teachers were excellent, curricula were rigorous, and their education prepared them well for life and career. That stands in stark contrast to the media and social media portrayal of American schools as “atrocious” and failing.

> In short: they can’t reconcile the national discourse (education in crisis) with their personal reality (education that worked extremely well for them).

To reconcile this, he needs to understand that his personal live experienced is independent of the experience lived by others with lesser resources.