> "USA only has two things: a nice weapons industry and Silicon Valley" stuck with me. As I thought about it the days after, I could not really find anything to

> "USA only has two things: a nice weapons industry and Silicon Valley" stuck with me. As I thought about it the days after, I could not really find anything to beat the quote with. The U.S. has liberty, democracy, and opportunity, and believes in those things as universal principles for everyone. The current administration and their party have, unusually for the U.S., moved away from those principles, but they are the core of U.S. influence in the world. It's not a fringe idea, but it has been the core of U.S. policy and that has been very broadly accepted by experts and practitioners for generations. It also has great affects on the economic and political systems: By empowering people economically and politically, they thrive. You end up with a far better meritocracy and far more effective, more just, and more compassionate government. All the richest, most free, most prosperous countries in the world follow this same core belief, and it has spread around the world.