"The U.S. used to be perceived as the moral leader of the world, and we have absolutely lost that"
About this Quote
Tom Ford’s line lands like a clean, expensive cut: minimal words, maximum indictment. Coming from a designer - a profession built on image, taste, and the social power of surfaces - the point isn’t policy wonkery. It’s brand damage. “Perceived” is doing the heavy lifting, admitting that “moral leader” was always part aspiration, part PR, sustained by Hollywood glow, postwar mythology, and the soft power of looking confident in your values. Ford isn’t mourning some pure past; he’s naming a collapse in credibility.
The bluntness of “absolutely lost that” is emotional, almost weary. No hedging, no “complicated,” no “in some quarters.” It captures a particular cultural moment of the late 2010s into the 2020s, when U.S. global standing started to feel less like leadership and more like spectacle: partisan chaos as export, hypocrisy amplified by social media, human-rights rhetoric undercut by images of detention, war, and democratic backsliding. Moral authority, in this framing, isn’t something you declare. It’s something other people grant you, and they can revoke it quickly.
There’s also a personal stake. Ford built an empire on American luxury and the idea that the U.S. still sets the tone. If the country’s moral “aura” dims, everything tied to its cultural prestige - fashion, film, art - loses some of its effortless magnetism. The subtext is simple: you can’t sell elegance to the world while behaving like a bully.
The bluntness of “absolutely lost that” is emotional, almost weary. No hedging, no “complicated,” no “in some quarters.” It captures a particular cultural moment of the late 2010s into the 2020s, when U.S. global standing started to feel less like leadership and more like spectacle: partisan chaos as export, hypocrisy amplified by social media, human-rights rhetoric undercut by images of detention, war, and democratic backsliding. Moral authority, in this framing, isn’t something you declare. It’s something other people grant you, and they can revoke it quickly.
There’s also a personal stake. Ford built an empire on American luxury and the idea that the U.S. still sets the tone. If the country’s moral “aura” dims, everything tied to its cultural prestige - fashion, film, art - loses some of its effortless magnetism. The subtext is simple: you can’t sell elegance to the world while behaving like a bully.
Quote Details
| Topic | Ethics & Morality |
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