Why is the US doing so well relative to other countries?

Question

Having traveled the world and living in the US, I must say that I am somewhat stumped by this phenomenon.

How do you explain the overwhelming US dominance in science, culture, economics and military power - among others?

It makes no sense to challenge the premises.

Science: We publish more than the rest of the world together.

Culture: You can watch Hollywood movies everywhere. American food and music can be heard all over the planet. Can't be said for any other culture - not to the same degree.

Military: No comment

Economics: By far the largest economy, judged by GDP.

Answer 1

While the US has substantial natural resources, so do many 3rd world nations, so I would not consider that to be the dominant factor.
A country is only as great as it's citizens. People who immigrated to this country throughout its history must have been pretty motivated individuals to go through what it took to travel long distances in search of a better life. The lazy or inept citizens of another countries society wouldn't typically get the notion and/or wherewithall to make what used to be a very cumbersome & expensive journey. Apples don't fall far from trees, so you would assume that the decendants of these immigrants where typically motivated individuals too. Motivation is what makes entreprenuers and hard workers, which leads to a creative and productive society. The bottom line is that go-getters get things done.

Answer 2

dominance may be a bit strong...

let's look at a few things... China's economy is growing a rate many times faster than the U.S. economy, granted, it's got a ways to go to match the U.S. economy...

education and health care: tests/studies show that America is not in the top of the class in the world... many Asian and European countries score better

culture: in a way, yes... movies and music... but I often wonder how much these things will stand the test of time... much of it seems to be frivolous... "American Idol" for example...

military power... you have a point there... a huge amount of money is spent on it, and it is the best...

The U.S. is great... a lot of hard work has gone into it... but I think there is always room for improvement... don't want our heads to get too big...

Answer 3

Oh, I think perhaps culture is pushing the point a bit too far, don't you? Culture, what culture? No offence but where did you visit?

Money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around...lalalalla.

Dominance in science?......hahahaha. Your people are dying in poverty when the science could be there to save them.

Money make the world go around, etc. lalallalallallllll.

I would never want to leave my country for yours because you have the highest achievement in patriotism, and that, my friend, is very dangerous.

Answer 4

It may just be the age of the present US civilisation. Civilisations rise and fall. Maybe the US is in its late thirties - at the height of its powers but beginning to worry about the male menopause.

The reason it is so dominant globally, at the moment, is because of technology, which enables both goods, businesses , ideas, cultural behaviour and weapons to spread/travel worldwide. This technology did not all originate in the States, by the way.

Answer 5

We have a number of freedoms that other societies lack. Capitalism is the main freedom. The More you produce, the More you get to keep. The greater incentive to participate in the work force.

Other countries punish success by taking an increasing share of what you produce to provide for the indolent. The More you produce the Less you get to keep. The less incentive to participate in the work force.

Give those two choices, which system do you think would thrive?

I have made my choice and am very happy.

Answer 6

The US isn't doing better than other countries in science, although it may depend on what kind of science. In mathematical and biological science, we are behind many countries. In terms of technological science, we may be slightly ahead. I guess part of it is because we are richer than many other countries, so we have a lot of money to spend of research and development, whereas other countries may not necessarily have the finances to pay for extravagances like robots and they stick to simpler stuff.

Culturally, I really don't think we are ahead at all. I think most European countries are culturally ahead of us -- they are much more welcoming and liberal when it comes to alternative lifestyles and the like.

Economically, we are ahead because we have tons of natural resources combined with a low population density. That means that compared to other countries, we are fairly self-dependent and can produce more things at home without relying on imports, and export many things to the world market. Due to our bounty of natural resources, we were able to industrialize very quickly and reap its benefits.

Militarily, we are superior due to our industry. In WWII, we were able to gear our industrial base towards producing war supplies, and we haven't looked back since. The military-industrial complex dominates politics today, and we spend like mad on the military. No country spends more than the US on it.

Answer 7

It's not doing as well as you think.
Economics :you have a huge deficit ,the Chinese are buying you like crazy ,the euro is stronger than the dollar ,and you are loosing on all markets.
Science :now that the scientists you got from Europe after WW2 are dead ,even your space program is not what it used to be.
Military power :Vietnam? Korea? Iraq? Afghanistan? You are very powerfull fighting camels.I am impressed.
I won't even bother to comment on culture.
Now ,if you take into consideration:
1.You suffered no destruction in you country due to war ,you never had to rebuild from scratch
2.You attracted many smart people from small countries ,giving them opportunity to research and create
3.You are a big country with big population
4.You have oil
it seems to me you are doing rather poorly.

Answer 8

The liberal media tries its hardest to minimize our dominance by publisizing all of the efforts from Europe, Japan, etc... We feel like we're middle of the road after there reports. In reality, we are far superior to any other country in terms of intelligence, culture, quality of life, and pretty much anything else that is good.

Answer 9

Protecting their interest to stay on top (super power) ie. maintaining their military bases in strategic locations world wide. Invading oil rich countries like Iraq and taking control of its neighboor like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Answer 10

that is actually a very good question, but to put the answer into words is very hard, i know it is hard to believe but we have had good leaders leading this country in the past, george washington, abraham lincoln, etc. unlike other countrys we took it upon our selfes to better this country and to develope faster, we wanted our own rule, and since then we have developled, sorry if that doesnt help but that was the best way i could put it