“means NOTHING.”
It means overwhelming wealth and power.
Your words became (or seemed) important only because you had that.
“All the tech in the world without the morality and freedom to use it wisely means NOTHING.”
It means everything. Humans are great at blessing things after the fact. “Your words are great”! (because you are rich). So that is now what is moral. Words and customs matter only if they come, probably inadvertently, or accidentally, accompanied by reality.
The US became big through vast immigration prompted by its reputed wealth.
“And Americans don’t *worship* the founding documents of this country” - up for debate. I see it often as a form of idol worship, or sometimes a form of biblical literalism.
“”””The US became big through vast immigration prompted by its reputed wealth.””””
What is big and what time are you saying it happened?
“Science is about knowing; engineering is about doing.”- Henry Petroski
To make that historic lathe , you needed the metal material science behind it. Which means you needed 3000+ years of metal smelting knowledge and production skills.
You need a zot foreigner.