America vs the rest of the world

[WhoIam]

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1. Why was US (finally) involved in WW2? Because they wanted a market for there overproduction and if the Russians got a hold of Europe that market wouldn't be there.

2. Why did they set up the Marshall Plan? An economical waistland isn't exactly a market you can export a lot of your stuff too.

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This is partly correct but is waaaaaaay oversimplified. It's no different than saying "America invaded Iraq for oil!" Sure, that had something to do with it, but the motivations are far more complicated.

[vozzie]

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1. Why was US (finally) involved in WW2? Because they wanted a market for there overproduction and if the Russians got a hold of Europe that market wouldn't be there.

2. Why did they set up the Marshall Plan? An economical waistland isn't exactly a market you can export a lot of your stuff too.

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This is partly correct but is waaaaaaay oversimplified. It's no different than saying "America invaded Iraq for oil!" Sure, that had something to do with it, but the motivations are far more complicated.

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I know it is oversimplified but I was just making my point that Europa shouldn't be as grateful as some Americans seem to think!

And you are right. They didn't invade Iraq just for oil. Oildollars is more accurate. Sending a message to other Middle Eastern regimes that they should't switch there oilcurrency into the Euro like Iraq did. That would be a disaster for the US economy. The whole american system would implode if all those oil dollars would come on other markets if they become obsolete. The problem is, that sooner or later the oil market will dry up and what then with all those dollars that other countries have in reserve to buy and sell oil?

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

Reasons why America has been successful:

1. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
2. Natural Resources
3. 150 years of Strong Governments ending w/ JFK.

Its not like capitalism is some great mystery.

Im surpised no one has mentioned accents. Transfering in JFK airport is practically suicidal. I dont know how you could live in a place like NY, Boston, or the South and not kill yourself. I havent been out West, so I dont know how hard it would be to listen to people speak out there.

[By-Tor]

i can see myself living in china for a couple/few years, but i could never leave california for any extended period of time and the thought of leaving forever is not an option.

[jogger08152]

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I would also say that there's a way better chance of U.S. going to war than the E.U.

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I didn't say the EU. I said Europe.

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I think it also really depends on where you are for what's cheaper. NY and California are way more expensive than Spain/Portugal (in general).. but the midwest is way cheaper than Paris. It's all relative.

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This is only true if you earn your money in the US. If you earn your living in the country you live in, most of Europe is generally more expensive than the US. Some nations in Eastern Europe could be exceptions, depending upon your skills.

[KJS]

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for people who have lived outside of the US for more then one year, and then returned - if you like America better, can you please explain why, especially things other then friends and family or language barriers.

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It is really hard to answer that with the extra clause at the end.

After living in Thailand for 18 months, it was really hard for me to separate my desire to go back to familiar people and familiar surroundings with my desire to be in America per se. Because, as an American, being in America means I have easy access to my friends and family. My feeling was more like 'can I give up what I like about here in order to see my favorite people more regularly again' with the icing on the cake being the things I like about America that don't have anything to do with my favorite people. But I will try for the sake of argument to compartmentalize like you said.

I think one of America's gifts to the world is that we have welcomed people from every country on earth to live here, and I very much like that. I think it is amazing and wonderful that in my city, for example, I can eat food from so many different places, see all different kinds of people, hear so many languages and meet so many people with such different experiences than me. And I live in Seattle, which is not as diverse as other places. London was fabulous in this regard and I felt fortunate to get to be a part of that city for a while last year. Ditto NYC, of course. When I lived in Thailand, which is pretty monocultural, I missed that and feel like America = +1 for that.

I think that America breeds independent thought, creativity and personal expression more than other places. This is a result of the above re: diversity, plus the "you can do it" attitude that we seem to have. I am continually amazed at the cultural options I have on a nightly basis, be they art, live music, theater, film, what have you. We are a country of creative people and as someone who enjoys original art and music I eat it up. When I lived in Thailand I was terribly disappointed with my options for original, thought provoking entertainment. Part of this was that they just do not value individuality in the same way that we do. People here feel free (city bias here) to express themselves and they get affirmation for being creative and celebrating their individuality and I think that is very important to living a life that is interesting and affirms the good things: food, sex, art. Free to be me and you baby; that [censored] would not fly in a lot of cultures.

I think America is fantastically beautiful, which adds a lot to my enjoyment of it. Particularly open spaces. Fly fishing in a remote lake in Washington State makes me feel incredible and I am thankful whenever I do it that I live in such a beautiful area.

I think we have made great in-roads towards equality between the sexes and racial harmony. We are certainly not all the way there yet but we are far closer to where I think we should be than many other places I have lived and visited.

While very very far from perfect, I feel like we do a good job protecting the rights of privacy and the individual and overall our lack of deep-seated corruption means I do not fear arbitrary justice. When I was in Thailand I reported on people being killed in the open, where there was certainty beyond any doubt who the perpetrators were, but no one faced justice because who did it was a powerful person. That was very distressing to me. I have to reiterate that we are not perfect in the areas of governance and justice we are much better off than many other places.

I think in general people here are friendly and kind to strangers which is important to me. I am as cynical as the next person and don't like everyone by a longshot but I think it is a point in our favor that we are not for the most part a country of a-holes.

I like that we do not have a class-based system that makes it hard to improve your lot vis a vis your parents. There are a lot of places that have deep-seated cultural biases that prevent people from getting opportunities that are based on family wealth, accent, appearance even. Certainly here not everyone can succeed and it is silly to say 'you can do anything' because that is now how capitalism works, but if you apply yourself you can get places without having to overcome as many cultural biases as many other places.

This is long enough already, so I will leave it at that.

KJS

[BigSoonerFan]

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Reasons why America has been successful:

1. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans
2. Natural Resources
3. 150 years of Strong Governments ending w/ JFK.

Its not like capitalism is some great mystery.

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Throw in an influx of hard-working immigrants/slaves periodically and you're there.

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Im surpised no one has mentioned accents. Transfering in JFK airport is practically suicidal. I dont know how you could live in a place like NY, Boston, or the South and not kill yourself. I havent been out West, so I dont know how hard it would be to listen to people speak out there.

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Other countries have the same thing, but I see your point. We (Americans) have very diverse accents. I played golf with two Cajuns (white collar dudes) about ten years ago and didn't understand a single word they said to each other in 18 holes. I visited a New Jersey mall a few years ago at lunchtime and it seemed like it was full of women who talked exactly like Chandler's ex-girlfriend on Friends (Janice?). Good times.

[ThaSaltCracka]

J-Mac, this is late, but great post.