I think PCR may have a point; my first thought was why has Caitlin not expanded her point to cover all people, not just Americans, as I do believe that an overwhelming majority of people are innately good, fair-minded, oppose to injustice etc. Then I thought about the shocking 90%+ support of ordinary Israelis for the infamous mass-murdering killing sprees of innocent Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza. No, I don't believe Israelis had faulty compassion gene, and any other such racist nonsense, instead I suspect it has to do with the ideology of "Choseness", as I think it's inevitable that if you believe that you are more special than others, you will also believe that you are superior to others, and if you think you are superior, then others automatically has a lesser value as a fellow human beings. This is true of course for those Americans who believe in "Manifold Destiny", ie American Exceptionalism, and it was true for all those "civilising" European Colonists, as per the infamous "White Man's Burden". Although all these are often cloaked in religious language and connotations, it's actually not religion per se, but simply just the basic tribal ideology of believing that your tribe is superior to all the other tribes; probably an inherent early evolutionary instinct for survival that's taking its time to die-out.
Those that subscribe to the "My Tribe, Right or Wrong" mindset, are I believe fortunately in the minority, which is why Caitlin is right to be optimistic, but PCR is also right to highlight the pernicious power of tribalism that is still being deliberately cultivated by those who rule over us.