[abstractbill]

Just in my own experience [1] this is not a U.S vs the rest of the world thing: It's literally Silicon Valley vs the rest of the world. I've seen a lot of "steady niceness" outside of the Valley.

[1] I've lived in London, and on both coasts of the U.S, each for several years. YMMV of course.

[enjo]

That's simply not true. Maybe if you live in a really tight technology bubble (but even that that's not true). Silicon Valley hardly has a lock on energetic entrepreneurs.

More than that you'll find a similar level in a ton of other verticals. Go hang out on wall street sometime and tell me that your not seeing a lot of mental energy expended.

I'd hesitate to call this a U.S. thing. The one thing our culture does do, however, is bubble these people to the top.