Why does "rich" America look so poor?

Question

Americans always rant about being the "richest" country in the world..but if you travel it..it looks like one of the poorest. Sure there are rich areas but most of America is modest or substandard. If you visit most cities you will see high crime, filth, and overcrowding..all signs of poverty on a mass scale. Most people in the US cannot sustain a family with just one worker with one job. Certainly Americans are pretty deluded and are only sedated by the mantra of Americas being rich. It is rich...but for a small percentage who are rich off the backs of the ones calling out the mantra.

Answer 1

AMEN! What is called 'middle class' in America is really the very poor and poverty....just different degress of poverty. Our G'ment just wants to put the imagine out there that America is "rich" it is so untrue....many people here can barely feed. cloth and shelter their own family's. there are people living without water, heat, and all sorts of basic needs the RICH Americans want to go help other 3rd world countries to fell better about themselfs but don't take care who's in their own back yards first!

Answer 2

Unlike you I actually do travel widely, since I work for a European-based company. And you have got to be kidding. Yep, you can seek out the poorest parts of some cities if you want to reinforce your jealous biases, but you are the one deluding yourself if you think that is the norm.

The typical, average, median (whichever you want to pick) American household lives in a far larger and newer home, on much, much more land, owns more and bigger cars, owns a far larger inventory of material stuff, and in nearly every conceivable way enjoys a better choice of goods and services at all times of the day and night, with vastly better customer service and better prices, than is available in any other developed country I've been to (which includes nearly all of Europe and Japan.)

I have yet to see a foreigner visiting the US who is not flabbergasted that restaurant waiters are nice and helpful, and that they happily give you large classes with refills of all the soda or tea you can drink at no extra charge. That's just the beginning of the material differences between the US and other countries.

Of course, this is why so many Europeans and others who have any intelligence and ambition flock to the US to go to college and to become successful.

Answer 3

Obviously this is not a question but someone looking for support for their pre existing beliefs, but I will still bite anyway...

Obviously you have never visited a poor or even moderate country. Anyone above the poverty level in the US would be considered middle class in the majority of the world. In fact, even if you factor in the cost of living, minimum wage in the US is above the average wage in the majority of the world. We just forget that things that we take for granted is out of reach for most of the world - things like computers and internet access, having an auto, cable TV, microwave ovens, and the like. If you were to pllay the same quality of life as would apply to the rest of the world, what you consider poverty they consider comfort.

Not everyone is born on equal footing, but there exists more than ample room for economic advancement in the US. Fiancial aid and training is accessible to most Americans. I am not just talking about getting a college degree, I am also including vocational training in high school, associate and technical degrees, and even some very good after hours job training for virtually every skilled position (shy of those needing a degree) available for less than a couple of years of cable and internet access because of financial aid available from public and private sources. (Many of these classes go unfilled because of a lack of interest in pursuing these opportunities.) it is not fair to blame an upper class because a lower class does not take advantage of the opportunities to advance.

While lots of people would point to healthcare, the US still invests a lot in our social safety net. Well over 1/3 of the earnings of companies and private individuals go towards taxes, and well over 1/3 of the tax revenue goes towards social services - this come out to over 10% of the GNP.

Being the richest country is well founded. The US has the highest GNP, average income, and a low "True" poverty level (not the envious standard you would set). Aside from petroleum, it has the largest reserve of natural resources, and among the most fertile soil in the world.

There is a growing desparity in income, but less than is seen in the rest of the world.

Perhaps your biggest overstatement is that most cities are overcrowded. Most cities and towns are not overcrowded, just a few that are extremely large (a small percentage considering the entire population of the US), which is why they are large cities. Most cities comparable to Cleveland, Indianapolis, Detroit, and so on are primarily single residence homes or 2 residence apartments (often homes split into 2 apartments) - 1 or 2 families living in a home hardly makes the area overcrowded.

Answer 4

Being rich is not just a money matter. Many people are rich in their personal and social relationships and their job satisfaction. If people want to improve their economic status America is the best place to do that because we have more freedom of choice and more opportunities than anywhere else.

Answer 5

If you think America looks poor you haven't taken the time to look at the rest of the world. This country is as good as it gets.

Answer 6

My only answer to you is that I completely agree. At the heart of capitalism is the notion that "rich" only has value if the multitudes are "poor", therefore making it easier for the rich to have an inflated sense of their own worth/importance.

Answer 7

Have you traveled much? There are still countries where people starve to death.

Answer 8

Looks like you answered your own question. Aren't you glad you asked it?

Answer 9

it isn't what u say.

i'll take living here to anywhere else.

why is it everyone wants to live here?

Answer 10

it is because i have said so.