> America is where most of the innovation, cultural, and political power is.
American innovation has largely been a byproduct (European refugees, cold war spending, deregulation) and not a deliberate result of the rational egoism which you venerate. Where America has been successful is in the marketing of innovations, which has created a perception of America as being particularly innovative when in fact global innovation rankings consistently place countries like Norway, the UK and others ahead of America.
The claim that America is where most of the cultural power lies is even less substantiated by facts. Taking in to account population sizes and language barriers you will find that the relative cultural influence of many European nations exceeds that of America despite their 'collectivism'. That is unless you consider culture to be the commoditisation of everything and anything.
You are correct when it comes to political power - American political hegemony has been a great tool for enforcing a liberal world order. This however goes against your overarching point - the opposite of a collectivist mindset would be something along the lines of the John Quincy Adams maxim “we do not go in search of monsters to slay”. America simply could not 'justify' its military presence in far flung regions of the world without appealing to collectivist moral principles.
> I personally have lower taxes, high quality healthcare, and live in an awesome location, and I got all of that through an education and training. That is available to almost every American if they just put in the work.
You must live in a bubble (physical and delusional) if you fail to see the trade-off involved with having government spending/GDP on par with many European countries yet operating a low tax regime with little social safety nets.
Yours is the only developed nation which regularly shuts down it's government and doesn't pay its workers.
Unlike in most other western democracies, your veterans face disproportionately high suicide rates due to the comparatively poor levels of social assistance.
Your homicide rates and levels of incarceration are among the highest in the developed world.
You are guaranteed almost no holiday entitlement and are are one of few countries in the world that does not require employers to offer paid parental leave to new parents.
Your vast levels of inequality (individual, regional, etc.) are contributing factors to phenomena like the opioid crisis, leading to whole generations of individuals whose opportunity is never realised simply due to the accident of their birth.
You have every right to support this system of governance and I don't dispute that it has benefited you and your family. Choosing to extol its virtues and claim that it is the 'morally right thing' without even an attempt to recognise the trade-offs involved is disingenuous to yourself and everyone else however.
> America is where most of the innovation, cultural, and political power is.
American innovation has largely been a byproduct (European refugees, cold war spending, deregulation) and not a deliberate result of the rational egoism which you venerate. Where America has been successful is in the marketing of innovations, which has created a perception of America as being particularly innovative when in fact global innovation rankings consistently place countries like Norway, the UK and others ahead of America.
The claim that America is where most of the cultural power lies is even less substantiated by facts. Taking in to account population sizes and language barriers you will find that the relative cultural influence of many European nations exceeds that of America despite their 'collectivism'. That is unless you consider culture to be the commoditisation of everything and anything.
You are correct when it comes to political power - American political hegemony has been a great tool for enforcing a liberal world order. This however goes against your overarching point - the opposite of a collectivist mindset would be something along the lines of the John Quincy Adams maxim “we do not go in search of monsters to slay”. America simply could not 'justify' its military presence in far flung regions of the world without appealing to collectivist moral principles.
> I personally have lower taxes, high quality healthcare, and live in an awesome location, and I got all of that through an education and training. That is available to almost every American if they just put in the work.
You must live in a bubble (physical and delusional) if you fail to see the trade-off involved with having government spending/GDP on par with many European countries yet operating a low tax regime with little social safety nets.
Yours is the only developed nation which regularly shuts down it's government and doesn't pay its workers. Unlike in most other western democracies, your veterans face disproportionately high suicide rates due to the comparatively poor levels of social assistance. Your homicide rates and levels of incarceration are among the highest in the developed world. You are guaranteed almost no holiday entitlement and are are one of few countries in the world that does not require employers to offer paid parental leave to new parents. Your vast levels of inequality (individual, regional, etc.) are contributing factors to phenomena like the opioid crisis, leading to whole generations of individuals whose opportunity is never realised simply due to the accident of their birth.
You have every right to support this system of governance and I don't dispute that it has benefited you and your family. Choosing to extol its virtues and claim that it is the 'morally right thing' without even an attempt to recognise the trade-offs involved is disingenuous to yourself and everyone else however.