USA – Not What I Expected

 

I’ve now been to several places in the U.S. New York, St. Louis, Dallas and San Antonio and I can say I had a real cultural shock. After living in Sweden and Canada (Montreal), the U.S. feels like the far edge of the spectrum in terms of urban planning, culture, safety nets, food, roads and public transport. Basically everything looks and feels exactly as chaotic as it seems and I expected more from the world’s biggest economy.

Let’s be fair: the U.S. is enormous. But still, numbers are numbers.

• USA GDP per capita: $89,105

• Sweden GDP per capita: $74,900

Some might argue the U.S. is too big to keep everything as neat, clean, and well-organized as Sweden. But let’s look at my own invented metric GDP per square kilometer:

• USA: $3,102,347 / km²

• Sweden: $1,775,902 / km²

So by this measure, the U.S. has almost double the dollars per square kilometer. Yet paradoxically the roads are full of potholes old buildings are collapsing next to fancy hotels and “newly built” can mean “already falling apart.” It’s the land of contrasts where clean and dirty maintained and abandoned coexist just one block apart.

And with all that GDP you might think: “Well, at least they have free healthcare or free college.” Nope. Even here I’m scratching my head where does all the money go?

The Car Kingdom

One thing became clear fast: the U.S. is a car country. If you don’t have a car you basically don’t exist. Even the sidewalks when they exist, seem confused about their purpose they start, stop and sometimes end in a bush or a highway. People worship individual freedom and capitalism often treating collectivism or social safety nets as something suspiciously close to communism. Which is funny, because Sweden is obviously not a communist country it’s just the polar opposite of the American model.

Still I have to admit the U.S. is financially strong for a reason. Liberal and entrepreneurial thinking, vast natural resources, multiple climate zones, and a risk-taking mindset all play a role. Add to that light regulation compared to Europe and an enormous culture of consumption big cars (usually two per family), huge parking lots, mega malls, and fast food everywhere. It’s capitalism in 4K.

The downside? When everything revolves around cars public life disappears. No one walks, so no one meets by chance. No small talk at the café, no bumping into your neighbor at the bakery. The car isolates people behind steel and glass and suddenly the “freedom” of driving feels more like a self-imposed cage with Wi-Fi and air conditioning.

Nature: The American Redemption Arc

Beyond the economics the U.S. is stunning. You’ve got everything from hot deserts to icy tundra so there’s truly something for everyone. Standing in Monument Valley or hiking in Yosemite it’s impossible not to be impressed.

But nature isn’t why most people move around. They go where the jobs and low taxes are. Many states have little or no income tax so people and companies migrate in this constant dance of opportunity. Cities and states compete like brands to attract newcomers. It’s economic Darwinism in real time  evolve or decline.

This system creates incredible energy and innovation but also instability. The result is a patchwork country where some cities thrive and others decay sometimes just a few miles apart. It’s like watching two timelines of the same civilization playing at once: one shining, one crumbling.

So, How About the People?

From my subjective experience: it’s wild. People are loud yelling on the bus, arguing on the street, sometimes just shouting into the air for reasons only known to them. At first I didn’t feel safe. You really have to stay aware of your surroundings because you never know what’s going on in someone’s head.

There are also many homeless people often sleeping in parks, stations or even on public transport. Most I’ve seen were of African descent. The contrast between immense wealth and visible poverty is impossible to ignore a shiny skyscraper on one side a man sleeping on a cardboard box on the other.

At some point I realized this chaos is also part of what makes the U.S. so dynamic. People speak their minds. They express themselves loudly, sometimes aggressively but genuinely. It’s raw, unfiltered humanity. In Europe we often hide behind politeness; here, people let everything out. It’s messy but also strangely alive.

The Social Life That Isn’t

No matter if I was in a big city or the suburbs I often felt isolated. Social life just isn’t buzzing like in Europe. People talk about “downtown” like it’s this magical place full of life and connection, but in reality it’s mostly business offices and government buildings. You won’t find many cozy cafés, bakeries, or little artisan shops selling vegan pastries or local cheese.

Living downtown isn’t considered desirable either it’s too expensive and ironically, there’s not much to do. Everything happens by car: drive-through food, drive-through pharmacies, drive-through weddings. You name it and there’s a drive-through for it.

It’s the ultimate carification of culture no wonder people feel disconnected when they literally don’t leave their cars. In Europe people walk more, talk more, bump into each other, and somehow life feels more alive.

And yes, the car defines people here more than their homes do. I’ve seen luxury cars parked in front of half-broken houses as if the car is the main character of one’s life and the house just a side prop. In Europe your home reflects your identity, in America, your car announces it at 120 km/h with music blasting.

Final Thoughts

The U.S. is fascinating chaotic, powerful, loud, and contradictory. It’s a country where anything feels possible but nothing feels guaranteed. It’s a place of enormous ambition and unbelievable contrasts a giant experiment in freedom and excess, creativity and disorganization.

Was it what I expected? Not at all.
Was it worth seeing? Absolutely.

Because once you experience the U.S. you stop thinking of it as just a country it’s more like a living laboratory of civilization: part dream, part chaos, part movie set. And somehow despite all its contradictions, it keeps moving forward preferably in a big SUV. 🙂