[microtonal]

When the middle-class in America was booming, you would have had to be crazy to leave America. Good job. Nice car. Family and a house?

Lack of old culture? Lack of proper healthcare for everyone? Lack of decent unemployment benefits? Being stuck in your own little bubble? (No tastful bread? ;))

Do not misunderstand me, I do like the US for its nature and kind citizens. But many would never trade their life for a life in the US. Even if they were given the choice of a 'booming middle class life'.

[tokenadult]

Lack of old culture?

Your comment was kind, so please interpret this as a kind reply. When I used to interpret for official visitors to the United States from China, I could take them to a cemetery in the city of Boston where there are graves that were dug before the founding of the Qing Dynasty in China. Harvard University, for example, dates to the Ming Dynasty.

Similarly, here in the United States we use the ROMAN alphabet, a cultural survivor now more than 2,000 years old, and the Indo-Arabic decimal place-value numeral system (just as much of a new upstart in Europe as it is for any American), and Gregorian chant and other music that precedes the use of musical notation anywhere in the world. We have plenty of old culture here.

The United States also has new culture such as ragtime, jazz (various genres), blues, soul, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip-hop music that compare favorably in the aggregate to traditional music from anywhere in the world, broadcast media and motion pictures that were largely invented here but now enjoyed around the world, and this cool thing called the Internet that links all of us together on Hacker News.

Your point is well taken. A lot of countries offer a lot of interesting lifestyle features. I would return to Taiwan (where I met my wife, and where I last lived a decade ago) at the drop of a hat. My oldest son is very interested in living in Norway, a land my ancestors left for Minnesota a century and a half ago. It's wonderful that more and more what country a person lives in is a matter of choice rather than solely a matter of birth. The trade-offs involved in living in one country rather than another involve many interesting incommeasurable issues.

[microtonal]

Harvard University, for example, dates to the Ming Dynasty.

I do not disagree that there are no traces of old culture. However, go to any random city in, say Europe, the middle east, or Asia. Chances are high that you will easily find artifacts from the roman age until now. Most of the US is new, in many cities you'll have to work hard to find something older than one hundred or two hundred years old. This is not a criticism, but many people appreciate cities and artifacts that are old ;).

Also, with respect to culture in the other sense, the difference is huge. US city centers tend to be boring (with notable exceptions such as New York), since much of the activity is in the outskirts, and are only reachable by car. Compare this to many other countries, where city centres are cramped with pubs, small theaters, etc, and people tend to hang around until the early morning. I liked some cities int this respect (e.g. Portland), but in comparison it's still a bit dull.

The United States also has new culture such as ragtime, jazz (various genres), blues, soul, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and hip-hop music that compare favorably in the aggregate to traditional music from anywhere in the world,

It's just marketed a whole lot better. E.g. I am into jazz mostly, and American musicians are the most well-known. But Europe had (and still has) a lively avant-garde scene, which was at least as progressive is the scene in the US. In Africa, mostly isolated and in parallel, what resembles modern jazz developed (e.g. check out the excellent Ethipiques series). One good example is Getatchew Mekurya from Ethiopia, who developed his own weird flavor of jazz, that sprung directly from traditional ethiopian music. Anyway, I digress. The rest of the world had thriving and progressive music scenes, but often failed to package is for mass consumption.

broadcast media and motion pictures that were largely invented here

Are you kidding? Ever heard of Nosferatu, Battleship Potempkin, Le voyage dans la lune?

but now enjoyed around the world

Hollywood movies are often looked down upon as superficial, but 'ok if you want something easy'.

and this cool thing called the Internet that links all of us together on Hacker News.

True, ARPAnet was invented in the US, but the 'interface' that we all use was invented by a Brit in Geneva ;). Sure, it had its precursors, but the point is, that in contrast to popular belief, the US did not bring us to modernism. It's a collective contribution.

[Vivtek]

Actually, let me just say on the bread issue, that Meijer's Pan Bigio is the best bread I've had in America and every bit as good as most European bread. It's revolutionized our life since they introduced it.

The rest, I agree with. It's important to highlight progress when it's made, though.

[microtonal]

Good. Next time I am in the US I'll check it out! :)