To a certain extent rankandfile I’d agree with you.
Historically the USA has been the powerhouse of the Western World. Many countries, including my own (The UK), looked to the States for its energy and ‘go-to-it-iveness’. The US certainly helped raise the standard of living in many European countries and despite the ‘America-bashing’ you hear sometimes, many countries like you and remember what you did for them post WWII. Its no accident that the UK is still one of the countries that supports you almost unquestioningly.
Unfortunately, that was then and this is now.
World perception of the States is that you’ve lost control of that thriftyness and entrepeneurial spirit and replaced it with mass consumerism at any cost.
When others see you driving around in huge gas-guzzlers, living in enormous inefficient houses, running ridiculously oversized, well, everything, they wonder what happened to you.
As to ‘people want better’, well everybody wants better.
You consume far more energy per capita than any other country on the planet, but yet it never seems to be enough, and you never seem happy.
The worrying thing is that many developing countries use the US as a model, want the consumerism that goes with the ‘American Lifestyle’. If you’re already running into trouble (energy consumption and personal debt just being two of many problems), what’s going to happen when China and India really get into thier stride? Take oil away from the US and we’ll truly see WWIII…
I’m not trying to slate the US, on a personal level it has many fine people and places, and I for one an happy to be here. I just think that sometimes America as a whole loses track of how others see it.
As to the granite counters vs roof insulation, give me insulation any time!
Granite countertops tell me that the seller is trying to ‘improve’ thier home cosmetically, while insulation tells me they’re trying to do it practially. With the money I save from my cooling/heating bills, in a year or two I can buy my own granite countertops!
