I’ve spent a lot of time online, and a good amount of it speaking with Americans of all walks of life. Once thing that I’ve learned, is that they can often come across as arrogant. This can make them extremely hard to deal with, because arrogance is one of the most detested traits overseas. But I think understanding and having empathy for Americans can help people overseas become better people. People from America are not that different from the rest of us. They’re just products of a different environment.
America is the easiest country in the world to succeed
America the only country where a single hardworking person can hope to support a non-working, non-functional individual or set of individuals. It’s the only country where you can reliably reach a $20 million net worth from scratch. America is magical in many ways, and winning in America is probably a fantastic feeling. If you want to make lots of money and have an illustrious career, the United States is one of the best places to do it.
America is unequal
America is the easiest place to become successful, so it’s a very unequal society. Some people are super rich, and others are super poor. This is because while America is the easiest place to be successful, it’s never actually easy to be successful. Most people end up being average or poor. There’s a big gap between the haves and have nots in the United States. This leads to a lot of poor and evil behavior on behalf of the “haves”. People want to be wealthy, but they associate wealth with bad behavior. This can lead to strange attitudes about rich people, and weird behaviors with regards to work and money.
America is a casino
This is what causes the arrogance and the entitlement. See in the USA, your odds of getting rich are high, but there are places where you can become wealthy more reliably, such as Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, or Iceland. But the United States has the most examples of people getting rich randomly. Think of all your favorite celebrities and viral sensations. That only really happens in the USA. America is a casino. Many people feel entitled to get rich easily in the United States.
The average American’s ego is constantly being destroyed
If you’re in the easiest place in the world to make it, but can’t, you’re going to have pretty low self-confidence. This is a feature of American society that will only go away once the world becomes more egalitarian. This is also why Americans might seem arrogant to foreigners. They’re very insecure people. Money and status mean a lot everywhere, but especially to Americans. That’s often all they have.
The average American refuses to learn
The average American assumes that because they have an intelligent government, they know what they need to know. This is correct, with regards to what goes on in the United States. They don’t know much about the wider world though. And they don’t really want to know. Why not? Because they’re American. Their worldview is what matters most. Get it?
America is a production-based country, meaning the people work very hard
This is probably why they don’t have free healthcare. The United States is focused on production over the welfare of the average citizen. This means that there’s a massive underclass of people working really hard to build other people’s dreams. This means that people feel entitled, and as though they’re getting a lot done. In many ways, they are. 80% of Americans are at least middle class by global standards. But things are shifting out of their favor. This means the average American is working harder and harder for less and less.
The average American is getting shafted
The average American is getting a pretty raw deal with regards to what goes on. It’s a very expensive country, and people can’t live very comfortably or easily. I was talking to an American, and they were surprised to know that you can order TGI Friday’s in my country. Little did he know that my country was actually one of the last countries to get online food delivery in the region. Americans live grand lives, but they get ripped off a lot. We have equivalent or better infrastructure across a lot of the world. This is because the country is wealthy, and the people are ignorant. Be patient with Americans, show them a bit of how the rest of the world is managing to progress. If you can even the tiniest bit of information across to them, you will have helped the world (and hopefully them).
For foreigners: Americans don’t have easy lives
Americans have money, but they have very hard lives. They live off of debt, and some of them may be supporting other people. They’re more privileged than the norm, but the advantage they have in being highly successful has largely disappeared. Nowadays you can live a great life if you choose the right location and apply elbow grease. Don’t assume that the random American you know is having an easy time of it. They may not be. America is a great country, but it’s also unforgiving. Everybody earns theirs in that society. It’s just that it’s easier to get the opportunity to earn yours.
Don’t always count on the US dollar
The US dollar is probably going to have a lot of financial issues in the future. The economy is going to become more unequal, and eventually there may be a crash. The dollar crashing is really the only uncertain part of all of this. Things are already quite tough for the average American. Basically, the country was built on a lot of debt, and people are already beginning to feel the effects of the contraction in purchasing power caused by post-COVID inflation. The US dollar could easily collapse over the next 10 to 20 years, and it’s important to watch out for that.
Do not follow American culture, as it will lead you astray
There is absolutely no way in which following American culture will help you in a 3rd world or middle-income country. It’s just far too different. American culture is designed to reward consumerism, and there are a lot of safety nets designed to keep people just functional enough that they consume. Following these people’s culture will lead to disaster overseas.
If you apply solid business principles in the United States, you will die rich
If you can start a business from scratch in a poor country and get to the point where you’re earning between $1,000 and $2,500 per month, you should be fighting to get into the United States. You have the skills to go far. That is, if money is your main focus. A lot of us care more about lifestyle.
Copying popular and useful American businesses in poor countries will make you rich
This is honestly easier to do than getting rich in the United States but requires more mental strength. This is why it’s easier to do. There’s less competition in helping poor countries develop, mainly because so many smart people are unwilling to work for a long time in exchange for minimal results. But if you can copy an American business and deal with boredom, you’re going to find yourself demolishing the competition overseas. You can do very well copying simple concepts.
In the long run, America will either change or die
I already see it when talking to my American friends. In some ways, life across the United States is falling apart. Debt levels are way too high, and things need to change. They won’t change until people experience real suffering though. Once people begin to experience real suffering, it’s up to them to either make a change, or watch their culture collapse. The American dream isn’t dead, but the culture is rotten and depressing. In order for things to improve, people need to change.
Generally speaking, it’s important to know what’s going on in the United States if you live overseas. It’s an important part of the global economy, and a lot of the world’s wealthiest people come from there for a reason. But it’s important to realize what’s going on in that country, and evaluate the situation holistically. American arrogance is a much-discussed phenomenon overseas. Hopefully this paper offered a coherent and sensible discussion of the subject.
Thanks for paying attention.
