Everything you've listed is apparent in other countries and even more so. Even today, anybody ambitious would kill for the kind of opportunities Americans have.
That's probably true for the very ambitious. I think the US doesn't work as well for people who just want to have a decent life.
I'm from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, the poorest location in America. I have memories of my uncles sleeping in the snow, 14 people stuffed into a 2 bedroom home, dirty streets and boredom being the norm, no jobs and what little money was to be had spent across state lines in White Clay for cheap liquor.
There are far more of people like us than there are the people living the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. Don't stab your brother in the back in hopes of being one of them.
There is a huge gulf between the poorest 10% and the top 50%.
Every other American is in the bottom 10%, and 1 in ~7,500 are in the top 10%.
If I were a gambling man I wouldn't take those odds.
1 in 10 Americans are in the bottom 10%.
i.e., the bottom 50% of Americans population-wise own 10% of the overall wealth, while the top 7,500 people (0.002% population-wise) own 10% of the overall wealth.
That said, those numbers are actually overly optimistic. The wealth chart offered up by the federal reserve show the bottom 50% population-wise only own 2.5% of the wealth. Particularly alarming (though not surprising) is how much that share has shrunk in the last 20 years.
See: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distr...
Still, a quick google search says Europe's bottom 50% own only 1.2% of the wealth there.
No, most of us would not like to live and work in the USA.
As always, you guys think too high of yourselves.
I am ambitious and from Europe. I live in Switzerland and I love it here.
There is no way I would wish to move to a dysfunctional country like the US(no offense).
People from France, Spain etc. tend to be more polite about it, but specifically 3 people from German speaking regions in Bay Area - 2 natives and one who moved to the US via Germany from Eastern Europe - basically said the above directly :)
I myself looked into moving to Austria / North Italy for the nature and good cities, but the salaries and cost of living are just too much of a joke, even for non-developer. In Austria back then I'd be making less than my wife makes as a teacher in the USA. Switzerland is somewhat better, but still pretty bad, even for a developer
I loved London for nearly 2 decades, but moving out to the countryside was the best thing I've done - huge house, cheap mortgage and nearly (but not quite) as many well paying job opportunities. I could go back to London and maybe even double my wages. But to have the life I love now in terms of just housing and location I'd have to quadruple or more my outgoings.
But I'm sure I'd give you a great story for why I was in London if I ever moved back there.
That is 5x the total population of Switzerland.
And no offense taken, I've heard Switzerland is an amazing place!
40% have a migration background, you can see the stats here: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/statistics/population/m...