Due to work, I spent: - 3 months in Japan - 3 Months in Germany - 3 months in the US - 3 months in India The transition was alarming. I see bits of both Germa

Due to work, I spent: - 3 months in Japan - 3 Months in Germany - 3 months in the US - 3 months in India The transition was alarming. I see bits of both Germany and India in the US. Unfortunately (having grown up in America) I see the trend as towards India. I don't mean this as a cultural slight, but as a cultural observation. I've seen high-trust vs low-trust societies brought up many times on HN. Traffic was most pronounced. In Germany, they obeyed the rules to the extent they wouldn't J-walk even if there was no traffic. In America, you'd look both ways then cross. In India might makes right, big cars get the right of way, pedestrians have to be aggressive and just make their way, eyeballing cars down with a death stare of determination. Anyway all this is to say, it seems like there are two types of wealth: - In India, you can found a startup, make money, buy a Ferrari, but that would be a terrible move because if you drive it anywhere on public roads you will go max 30kph, and it will get destroyed on the roads - In Germany, you can have a modest Skoda and still hit 200 kph on their impeccable freeways with confidence that the person in the right lane will never, ever change lanes without a signal and mirror check So, my personal take, and I realize that this is highly reductionist, but I hope, relevant is that there are two types of wealth: 1. a type where society is wealthy, and that translates into well being for the individual and the whole 2. a type where wealth is relative, and the wealthy take joy not in having an absolute sense of wealth (as in compared to a German), but as in "my neighbor lives in a shack and I live in a gated tower high rise" I fear America is at a cross roads and will make a choice that makes us poor in a global sense.