10 Things Most Americans Don’t Know About America

Imagine you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him.

This is how I lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t want to be near him at the moment.

I know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place these days. That’s not a socio-economic statement (although that’s on the decline as well), but rather a cultural one.

I realize it’s going to be impossible to write sentences like the ones above without coming across as a raging prick, so let me try to soften the blow to my American readers with an analogy:

You know when you move out of your parents’ house and live on your own, how you start hanging out with your friends’ families and you realize that actually, your family was a little screwed up? Stuff you always assumed was normal your entire childhood, it turns out was pretty weird and may have actually f***ed you up a little bit. You know, dad thinking it was funny to wear a Santa Claus hat in his underwear every Christmas or the fact that you and your sister slept in the same bed until you were 22, or that your mother routinely cried over a bottle of wine while listening to Elton John.

The point is we don’t really get perspective on what’s close to us until we spend time away from it. Just like you didn’t realize the weird quirks and nuances of your family until you left and spent time with others, the same is true for country and culture. You often don’t see what’s messed up about your country and culture until you step outside of it.

And so even though this article is going to come across as fairly scathing, I want my American readers to know: some of the stuff we do, some of the stuff that we always assumed was normal, it’s kind of screwed up. And that’s OK. Because that’s true with every culture. It’s just easier to spot it in others (e.g., the French) so we don’t always notice it in ourselves.

So as you read this article, know that I’m saying everything with tough love, the same tough love with which I’d sit down and lecture an alcoholic family member. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It doesn’t mean there aren’t some awesome things about you (BRO, THAT’S AWESOME!!!). And it doesn’t mean I’m some saint either, because god knows I’m pretty screwed up (I’m American, after all). There are just a few things you need to hear. And as a friend, I’m going to tell them to you.

And to my foreign readers, get your necks ready, because this is going to be a nod-a-thon.

A Little “What The Hell Does This Guy Know?” Background: I’ve lived in different parts of the US, both the deep south and the northeast. I have visited most of the US’s 50 states. I’ve spent the past three years living almost entirely outside of the United States. I’ve lived in multiple countries in Europe, Asia and South America. I’ve visited over 40 countries in all and have spent far more time with non-Americans than with Americans during this period. I speak multiple languages. I’m not a tourist. I don’t stay in resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I rent apartments and try to integrate myself into each country I visit as much as possible. So there.

(Note: I realize these are generalizations and I realize there are always exceptions. I get it. You don’t have to post 55 comments telling me that you and your best friend are exceptions. If you really get that offended from some guy’s blog post, you may want to double-check your life priorities.)

Unless you’re speaking with a real estate agent or a prostitute, chances are they’re not going to be excited that you’re American. It’s not some badge of honor we get to parade around. Yes, we had Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, but unless you actually are Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison (which is unlikely) then most people around the world are simply not going to care. There are exceptions of course. And those exceptions are called English and Australian people. Whoopdie-f***ing-doo.

As Americans, we’re brought up our entire lives being taught that we’re the best, we did everything first and that the rest of the world follows our lead. Not only is this not true, but people get irritated when you bring it to their country with you. So don’t.

Despite the occasional eye-rolling, and complete inability to understand why anyone would vote for George W. Bush, people from other countries don’t hate us either. In fact — and I know this is a really sobering realization for us — most people in the world don’t really think about us or care about us. I know, that sounds absurd, especially with CNN and Fox News showing the same 20 angry Arab men on repeat for ten years straight. But unless we’re invading someone’s country or threatening to invade someone’s country (which is likely), then there’s a 99.99% chance they don’t care about us. Just like we rarely think about the people in Bolivia or Mongolia, most people don’t think about us much. They have jobs, kids, house payments — you know, those things called lives — to worry about. Kind of like us.

Americans tend to assume that the rest of the world either loves us or hates us (this is actually a good litmus test to tell if someone is conservative or liberal). The fact is, most people feel neither. Most people don’t think much about us.

Remember that immature girl in high school, who every little thing that happened to her meant that someone either hated her or was obsessed with her; who thought every teacher who ever gave her a bad grade was being totally unfair and everything good that happened to her was because of how amazing she was? Yeah, we’re that immature high school girl.

For all of our talk about being global leaders and how everyone follows us, we don’t seem to know much about our supposed “followers.” They often have completely different takes on history than we do. Here were some brain-stumpers for me: the Vietnamese were more concerned with independence (not us), Hitler was primarily defeated by Russia (not us), there is evidence Native Americans were wiped out largely disease and plague BEFORE Europeans arrived and not just after, and the American Revolution was partly “won” because the British invested more of their resources in beating France (not us). Notice a running theme here?

We did not invent democracy. We didn’t even invent modern democracy. There were parliamentary systems in England and other parts of Europe over a hundred years before we created government. In a recent survey of young Americans, 63% could not find Iraq on a map (despite being at war with them), and 54% did not know Sudan was a country in Africa. Yet, somehow we’re positive that everyone else looks up to us.

There’s a saying about English-speakers. We say “Go f*** yourself,” when we really mean “I like you,” and we say “I like you,” when we really mean “Go f*** yourself.”

Outside of getting sh*t-housed drunk and screaming “I LOVE YOU, MAN!”, open displays of affection in American culture are tepid and rare. Latin and some European cultures describe us as “cold” and “passionless” and for good reason. In our social lives we don’t say what we mean and we don’t mean what we say.

In our culture, appreciation and affection are implied rather than spoken outright. Two guy friends call each other names to reinforce their friendship; men and women tease and make fun of each other to imply interest. Feelings are almost never shared openly and freely. Consumer culture has cheapened our language of gratitude. Something like, “It’s so good to see you” is empty now because it’s expected and heard from everybody.

In dating, when I find a woman attractive, I almost always walk right up to her and tell her that a) I wanted to meet her, and b) she’s beautiful. In America, women usually get incredibly nervous and confused when I do this. They’ll make jokes to defuse the situation or sometimes ask me if I’m part of a TV show or something playing a prank. Even when they’re interested and go on dates with me, they get a bit disoriented when I’m so blunt with my interest. Whereas, in almost every other culture approaching women this way is met with a confident smile and a “Thank you.”

If you’re extremely talented or intelligent, the US is probably the best place in the world to live. The system is stacked heavily to allow people of talent and advantage to rise to the top quickly.

The problem with the US is that everyone thinks they are of talent and advantage. As John Steinbeck famously said, the problem with poor Americans is that “they don’t believe they’re poor, but rather temporarily embarrassed millionaires.” It’s this culture of self-delusion that allows America to continue to innovate and churn out new industry more than anyone else in the world. But this shared delusion also unfortunately keeps perpetuating large social inequalities and the quality of life for the average citizen lower than most other developed countries. It’s the price we pay to maintain our growth and economic dominance.

In my Guide to Wealth, I defined being wealthy as, “Having the freedom to maximize one’s life experiences.” In those terms, despite the average American having more material wealth than citizens of most other countries (more cars, bigger houses, nicer televisions), their overall quality of life suffers in my opinion. American people on average work more hours with less vacation, spend more time commuting every day, and are saddled with over $10,000 of debt. That’s a lot of time spent working and buying crap and little time or disposable income for relationships, activities or new experiences.

In 2010, I got into a taxi in Bangkok to take me to a new six-story cineplex. It was accessible by metro, but I chose a taxi instead. On the seat in front of me was a sign with a wifi password. Wait, what? I asked the driver if he had wifi in his taxi. He flashed a huge smile. The squat Thai man, with his pidgin English, explained that he had installed it himself. He then turned on his new sound system and disco lights. His taxi instantly became a cheesy nightclub on wheels… with free wifi.

If there’s one constant in my travels over the past three years, it has been that almost every place I’ve visited (especially in Asia and South America) is much nicer and safer than I expected it to be. Singapore is pristine. Hong Kong makes Manhattan look like a suburb. My neighborhood in Colombia is nicer than the one I lived in in Boston (and cheaper).

As Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world.

What’s so surprising about the world is how unsurprising most of it is. I spent a week with some local guys in Cambodia. You know what their biggest concerns were? Paying for school, getting to work on time, and what their friends were saying about them. In Brazil, people have debt problems, hate getting stuck in traffic and complain about their overbearing mothers. Every country thinks they have the worst drivers. Every country thinks their weather is unpredictable. The world becomes, err… predictable.

Not only are we emotionally insecure as a culture, but I’ve come to realize how paranoid we are about our physical security. You don’t have to watch Fox News or CNN for more than 10 minutes to hear about how our drinking water is going to kill us, our neighbor is going to rape our children, some terrorist in Yemen is going to kill us because we didn’t torture him, Mexicans are going to kill us, or some virus from a bird is going to kill us. There’s a reason we have more guns than people.

I’ve probably been to 10 countries now that friends and family back home told me explicitly not to go because someone was going to kill me, kidnap me, stab me, rob me, rape me, sell me into sex trade, give me HIV, or whatever else. None of that has happened. I’ve never been robbed and I’ve walked through some of the shittiest parts of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe.

In fact, the experience has been the opposite. In countries like Russia, Colombia or Guatemala, people were so honest and open with me, it actually scared me. Some stranger in a bar would invite me to his house for a barbeque with his family, a random person on the street would offer to show me around and give me directions to a store I was trying to find. My American instincts were always that, “Wait, this guy is going to try to rob me or kill me,” but they never did. They were just insanely friendly.

I’ve noticed that the way we Americans communicate is usually designed to create a lot of attention and hype. Again, I think this is a product of our consumer culture: the belief that something isn’t worthwhile or important unless it’s perceived to be the best (BEST EVER!!!) or unless it gets a lot of attention (see: every reality-television show ever made).

This is why Americans have a peculiar habit of thinking everything is “totally awesome,” and even the most mundane activities were “the best thing ever!” It’s the unconscious drive we share for importance and significance, this unmentioned belief, socially beaten into us since birth that if we’re not the best at something, then we don’t matter.

We’re status-obsessed. Our culture is built around achievement, production and being exceptional. Therefore comparing ourselves and attempting to out-do one another has infiltrated our social relationships as well. Who can slam the most beers first? Who can get reservations at the best restaurant? Who knows the promoter to the club? Who dated a girl on the cheerleading squad? Socializing becomes objectified and turned into a competition. And if you’re not winning, the implication is that you are not important and no one will like you.

Unless you have cancer or something equally dire, the health care system in the US sucks. The World Health Organization ranked the US 37th in the world for health care, despite the fact that we spend the most per capita by a large margin.

The hospitals are nicer in Asia (with European-educated doctors and nurses) and cost a tenth as much. Something as routine as a vaccination costs multiple hundreds of dollars in the US and less than $10 in Colombia. And before you make fun of Colombian hospitals, Colombia is 28th in the world on that WHO list, nine spots higher than us.

A routine STD test that can run you over $200 in the US is free in many countries to anyone, citizen or not. My health insurance the past year? $65 a month. Why? Because I live outside of the US. An American guy I met living in Buenos Aires got knee surgery on his ACL that would have cost $10,000 in the US… for free.

But this isn’t really getting into the real problems of our health. Our food is killing us. I’m not going to go crazy with the details, but we eat chemically-laced crap because it’s cheaper and tastes better (profit, profit). Our portion sizes are absurd (more profit). And we’re by far the most prescribed nation in the world AND our drugs cost five to ten times more than they do even in Canada (ohhhhhhh, profit, you sexy bitch).

In terms of life expectancy, despite being the richest country in the world, we come in a paltry 38th. Right behind Cuba, Malta and the United Arab Emirates, and slightly ahead of Slovenia, Kuwait and Uruguay. Enjoy your Big Mac.

The United States is a country built on the exaltation of economic growth and personal ingenuity. Small businesses and constant growth are celebrated and supported above all else — above affordable health care, above respectable education, above everything. Americans believe it’s your responsibility to take care of yourself and make something of yourself, not the state’s, not your community’s, not even your friend’s or family’s in some instances.

Comfort sells easier than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort and no work. Happiness takes effort. It requires being proactive, confronting fears, facing difficult situations, and having unpleasant conversations.

Comfort equals sales. We’ve been sold comfort for generations and for generations we bought: bigger houses, separated further and further out into the suburbs; bigger TV’s, more movies, and take-out. The American public is becoming docile and complacent. We’re obese and entitled. When we travel, we look for giant hotels that will insulate us and pamper us rather than for legitimate cultural experiences that may challenge our perspectives or help us grow as individuals.

Depression and anxiety disorders are soaring within the US. Our inability to confront anything unpleasant around us has not only created a national sense of entitlement, but it’s disconnected us from what actually drives happiness: relationships, unique experiences, feeling self-validated, achieving personal goals. It’s easier to watch a NASCAR race on television and tweet about it than to actually get out and try something new with a friend.

Unfortunately, a by-product of our massive commercial success is that we’re able to avoid the necessary emotional struggles of life in lieu of easy superficial pleasures.

Throughout history, every dominant civilization eventually collapsed because it became TOO successful. What made it powerful and unique grows out of proportion and consumes its society. I think this is true for American society. We’re complacent, entitled and unhealthy. My generation is the first generation of Americans who will be worse off than their parents, economically, physically and emotionally. And this is not due to a lack of resources, to a lack of education or to a lack of ingenuity. It’s corruption and complacency. The corruption from the massive industries that control our government’s policies, and the fat complacency of the people to sit around and let it happen.

There are things I love about my country. I don’t hate the US and I still return to it a few times a year. But I think the greatest flaw of American culture is our blind self-absorption. In the past it only hurt other countries. But now it’s starting to hurt ourselves.

So this is my lecture to my alcoholic brother — my own flavor of arrogance and self-absorption, even if slightly more informed — in hopes he’ll give up his wayward ways. I imagine it’ll fall on deaf ears, but it’s the most I can do for now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some funny cat pictures to look at.

Double Note: If you’re young and live in the US and want to know why you should work abroad, go here

I agree with most of that. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Philippines as well as Hong Kong and Singapore, with occasional visits almost everywhere else in Asia and have seen the shanty towns, the raw sewage, and the abject poverty, but the central thrust of his argument, that many Americans seem to have an innate sense of superiority, and are astounded when they find out the rest of the world doesn’t really give a flying fluke about the US or Americans one way or another, is hard to refute.

One of the jobs I had in my past was working as a manager for an English school here in Tokyo, and dealing with spoiled rotten American kids who came here to teach was a real eye opener. Simple things like making sure they paid their rent and monthly utility bills, knew how to use bank machines, explaining to them why they really DO need to get a personal seal made, etc. almost drove me around the bend.

Their most common complaint, by far, was that nobody spoke English, even though they had accepted jobs to come to Japan to TEACH English — and, of course, that none of the signs were in English. I had more than one such teacher haughtily explain to me, “I came here to teach English, not learn Japanese.” And this was just five years ago, when most of the train station ticket vending machines and even bank ATMs had already been upgraded with English options.

As far as Japan, specifically, with literacy at 99%, even though high school is not compulsory, you can make a case they are doing a better job than America is. I don’t personally know of any kid who did not go to high school, although I am sure it is more common in the rural communities where they go straight to work on the family farm.

And as far as danger zones are concerned, I can only say that yes, they exist, but you pretty much have to go looking for them — parts of Ikebukuro or maybe Kabukicho in Shinjuku, maybe — but I’ll also make the case that anyone that is cruising that area of town at night is looking for something illegal, immoral or questionable anyhow.

Ultimately, I think the author’s point was not that any of the other places in the world were superior to the US, it was that the US is just another country in the eyes of the rest of the world, and that it is not exceptional in the spiritual sense that most Americans like to assume it is.

Oh I agree with that premise that there are those in America who feel superior and need their eyes opened and I’ve met those to whom you refer who can’t refrain - but I’ve also seen the exact same thing from people in other countries who felt denigrated or superior when they’ve visited the states or other countries and find it difficult to find good sushi in Indiana, decent chinese dumplings, as one recent article had an Englishman complaining about “good biscuits”, or the french turning up their nose at stuff...

My issue is he seems to think it’s only the American’s that are this way and that it is all of us instead of just a portion. Just felt unbalanced overall.

I suggest you brush up on basic reading comprehension.

And I suggest you take a flying... Oh wait, FR ROE apply here. So more nicely, I suggest you read the article and my reply again. Just because a guy is a lefty does not automatically make everything he says wrong. I saw Alan Colmes on FOX get something right one time, shocked me to the core, could not believe it. But he was right.

Now instead of getting all indignant at me, let's look at your statement that 'Few Americans think they are better than people anywhere else in the world.' In your limited world this may be true, but I guarantee that this is a false assessment on your part. So if you can't get the little bits right, who cares what you say about bigger issues. Thanks for your reply, next time please employ a little critical thinking before you attack the KB.

Starts out pretty good. Then his own arrogance overtakes any American arrogance that he wants to correct. Pretty smug guy.

He also comes across as more than a little obsessive. Things that other people just accept apparently drive him crazy. He's also thinned-skin -- willing to get offensive and vulgar, but touchy about when people respond in kind.

I notice that we have about the same life expectancy as "the happiest place on earth," Denmark, so we must be doing something right.

And are we really that "status obsessed" and "attention seeking"? It sounds like he's comparing the "happy peasants" in the countries he visits with the people he may have gone to school with. Surely Parisians, Romans, Londoners hold their own with New Yorkers and Los Angelenos in those characteristics.

Good post. I’ve been around, and...

There is this pervasive “global” expectation that Americans heading abroad need to be gracious and understanding of the countries and cultures they visit, to be good ambassadors, to set good examples, to accept that “when in Rome...” blah blah blah.

However, notice that there is ALSO the pervasive “global” expectation that Americans IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY need to be gracious and understanding of the cultural cr@p that is foisted upon them by visitors and interlopers, to be good non-judgmental citizens tolerant of imported weirdness and abomination, to bend over backwards for the ferners, to accept that all cultures are deserving of respect, blah blah blah.

Americans at home and abroad are expected to be above the fray, to put up with all manner of idiocy, insult, and injury. Sure seems to me like the “rest of the world” is the one who sees Americans as a people on a higher plain of existence and discipline than those in their own finger-wagging cultures. If noone really hates us or cares about us, then they wouldn’t sit as self-anointed etiquette and thought-process managers.

Americans are the “white males” of the world... we are just expected to shut up and take it while idiots rant and rave at us. And generally we do, because for all of our own “issues”, we are still light years ahead in maturity than the perpetually offended Victimvilles of the planet.

The author is just another whine-about-America type. Dime-a-dozen.

Much of this is correct, but not for the reasons that the author thinks. I'll cherry pick one of the points:

"As Americans, we have this naïve assumption that people all over the world are struggling and way behind us. They’re not. Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. Norwegians make more money. The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world."

Sweden and South Korea have more advanced high speed internet networks. -- True, but not too many decades ago neither country had much of an information structure to begin with, much less a telephone system dating back to the days of the original Bell telephone system. Certainly not South Korea. It's easy to be #1 at something copycatting it for the first time if you're not supporting the evolution of a telephone system that dates to the 1920s that was invented here in the USA. Starting from scratch is always easiest.

Japan has the most advanced trains and transportation systems. -- True, but unless you live in the Northeastern seaboard of the USA you'll probably never ride a train in your life, nor need to. Nobody in the USA has needed to ride a train from Kansas City to Albequerque since 1946. Where I live, trains haul minerals and heavy equipment, period. If I need to travel a long distance, I use SouthWest Airlines. In Europe, I actually was very impressed at The Netherlands' railway system until I realized that all of Holland was about the size of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the same time, it sure was amusing to meet Dutch people who proudly acted like some town only 14 miles away required some long journey by train and that they'd never been near that town in their lives. I'd met Dutch relatives in Amsterdam who'd said they'd never before traveled south to the Gelderland that borders Germany on the Rhine. That's like living in West Los Angeles and pretending that you've never driven on the Pomona Freeway. Please. I could pave over The Netherlands entirely with the asphalt from the LA freeway system. The whole country would look like one big airport runway when I was done.

Norwegians make more money. -- Norway has a population of only 5 million people and funds every bit of its social welfare system with money to burn because they own the North Sea oilfields that serve a national GDP of a half trillion dollars per year. Again: Five million people, half a trillion dollars. Nice trick if you can swing it. Too bad for the author's point that they're the exception to the rest of the EU nations who aren't sitting on an ocean of oil.

The biggest and most advanced plane in the world is flown out of Singapore. -- It's a French airplane. The French just wanted to be biggest at something.

The tallest buildings in the world are now in Dubai and Shanghai -- Congratulations. This is a measure of something important to the author, I guess.

Meanwhile, the US has the highest incarceration rate in the world. -- Yes. Now let me think what peculiarity there is about the United States that Singapore, Holland, South Korea, Norway, Sweden, Dubai, and Shanghai don't share with America...

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