I spend excess amounts of time all over the world, including the US. Technology wise the US is BLOWN away by many other countries. The US only has the most advanced military in the world and as such it thumps its chest the loudest and it's the biggest bully.
Forget about architecture - places like Dubai are cleaner, with better facilities, better infrastructure, better medical facilities, better education, less crime and much higher standard of living. The US is a ghetto in comparison.
Europe which has architecture thousands of years older than the US is more advanced than the US. I am not talking about how a place "appears" but how it actually is.
And don't bring the argument that everyone wants to move to the US. Nobody that I know does. Nobody that lives in a half decent country does. The only people that want to move to the US are the ones that live in totally shitty countries.
The US is the worst to live in in the democratic world. You have the least amount of individual rights of any of the 1st world countries. Most Americans believe the Kool Aid that their country is the best, which is not by a long shot. I'd only live there if I had to. To choose though, it is way, way down the list.
I will respond in more depth later, but you state that
"the U.S., Technology wise, is BLOWN away by many other countries."...and then you say that other countries are
"cleaner, with better facilities, better infrastructure, better medical facilities, better education, less crime and much higher standard of living".
I would not use any of those examples, aside from medical care (but that depends on context) are a determinant of "technological capability". I could be a filthy pig and yet possess the technology to raise the dead (just an example)--something that no one else can do. Does that mean the guy with a cleanlier appearance is more technologically advanced? Nope. It's the same with every other category you listed. We possess some of the best architects/engineers (i.e better potential facilities), best colleges (i.e. better potential education), etc. As for crime and quality of life, I wouldn't list those are determinant as technological capability at all. Russia has a LOT of crime, plenty of filthy places/ghettos, poor school systems, poor medical care for its citizens (relatively speaking)etc...YET their government (and therefore the country itself) possesses some of the greatest technology in the scientific world.
Yes, we do have the greatest military---and not because of numbers, but because of our technological MIGHT. If you think for one second that ANY other countries is just ALLOWING the US to tell them at to do, think again. We do (which I don't agree with in many cases) because we can...and if any of those countries could stop it, they would. They can't...so they don't...and it sure isn't for lack of trying. If there is any single area of technology one could look to in order to gauge a country's technological capability, it would be the military, as it encompasses so many cutting edge sciences..
So, if you really want to gauge technological capability, look at the countries with the most powerful militaries (I guarantee you that the US has not revealed even a fraction of its military technology). The U.S. "bullies", as you say, because it can...and any other country, if they could do the same, would. The history of the world has proven that time and time again.
Like I said in my first post, the US has a lot of problems, a lot of poor people, plenty of regions with a comparatively low standard of living, older buildings (because it came into its wealth earlier and built its cities long before a place like Dubai), etc...but NONE of that determines technological capability. the countries with the GREATEST technological capability ALWAYS rule the roost...and it is no different today than it has been over the last 10,000 years of recorded human history.
In closing., like I said prior, the purpose of my first post was not to brag about the US, but to simply say that a region like the Middle east is BY NO MEANS more technologically advanced than the US. NOT EVEN CLOSE! So many countries in the middle east can't stand us...and if they could wipe us off the map, they would do so in a heat beat. The only reason they don't us because they know they have NO CHANCE...because our technological superiority is so far beyond theirs they wouldn't even contemplate trying.
A country, like the US, could have a shit-ton of issues, but still be far more technologically advanced than a pretty country like Dubai, which would be holding onto the U.S.'s nut-sack if any other country in the Middle east ever attacked them. Oh yeah, that already happened during the Gulf War with Kuwait, which lasted 3 days. Fastest "war" in history. Social and economic issues don't determine technological capability.
Lastly, if the US does lack in any area of technology that it cares about, it simply buys that knowledge, or the people who possess it. We are constantly taking people from all over the world to serve our best interests. Oh, one more thing. You mentioned that many other countries are more medically advanced than the US. I have to strongly disagree. Some countries may offer better health care for the majority of its citizens, but when it comes to medical technology itself, we are right up there are the top of the heap with the world's other foremost medical standouts.
...and I NEVER bought the "Kool-aide", as you say, that the US was the "best" place to live. I think any country can be the "best" if you have enough money and it offers what interests you. I just think it is wrong to say that all of Europe and the Middle east is more technologically advanced than the US. If that were so, they would be making the rules. Dumb countries with lackluster technological capability don't rule world's. I LOVE all countries. I think many countries are super cool and I would love to go there...and even live there part-time, but the US offers a lot of great things too. You may not like it here because you weren't born here, but many things about the US are pretty great.
.gif "IP Gear")
