I don't think all Americans are ignorant / facist / etc. But the last election shows that enough are and enough of the rest are at best apathetic about it...
Just like I don't think all my fellow Brits are dumb, but Brexit and the rise of our own "poundshop Trump" idiots like Farage shows that enough of my fellow countrymen have the same issues.
And we're far from alone.
Maybe an even better idea than thinking "some people are dumb" is to work out why there's such a large number of people out there apparently totally disenfranchised by traditional politics in their own country to the point where extremism becomes attractive. Understanding people probably starts with stopping lumping them together as "dumb"...
I wonder if the comparisons are just lazy journalism. Saying "it's like that" has to be much less effort than properly summarising the content.
The comparison I'd reach for is STALKER tbh but I'm trying to let it be its own thing in my mind. Because mumbles I'm looking forward to trying it as I really like fallout...