I've just come back from a week on holiday over in Austin, TX which is the first time I've been to the states as an adult. I work with several Americans however.
My POV on the USA is generally positive. Yes, America is far from perfect but then there's very few nations that I'd say are above the US in most aspects. I certainly found the Americans we met in Austin very friendly (as a bloke, it's not often you get drinks bought for you but it happened several times on nights out in Austin) & were easy to chat to. We never saw any trouble over there. Going to one of the shooting ranges over there was a whole new experience; the range staff were chilled & getting to fire some of the weaponry, such as an AR-15 rifle with no direct supervision was interesting. I can't quite get my head around why you'd need such a powerful weapon system for home use but on the range it was great fun.
There's no doubt in my mind that, throughout the 20th Century at least, the USA has been a force for good: many of conflicts America has fought in, such as the two World Wars, Korea, the Cold War & the 1991 Gulf War, are testament to the strength of its military & industrial base. Other conflicts, such as Vietnam, didn't go so well but much of that can be attributed to the political landscape of the 1960s/70s. I believe Western Europe, if not the world, owes Reagan (and Thatcher to an extent) a debt for the relatively peaceful destruction of the USSR during the late 1980s/early 90s. The "global policeman" role comes with much criticism & certainly some of it is relevant, especially after the 2003 Iraq invasion, but despite that fiasco, I believe the USA is far more suited to military intervention than the Russians or Chinese. Both of those nations seem to hold Western style democracy in contempt.
Some of my criticisms of the USA are as follows:
- Obesity
- Very expensive healthcare which increases poverty
- Racial tension that, although has improved, is still far from perfect
- Lack of global awareness/intelligence & an obsession with celebrities (although this seems to be expanding to the UK too)
- Homelessness; iI noticed more homeless people around Austin than anywhere in the UK including London. Apparently, LA is even worse.
I do think the way in which the USA treats it's former & serving members of the military is excellent. It's somewhat crazy that, as a member of the UK armed forces you actually get treated better in America than you do in Britain.