4 ms·

I'm an immigrant myself, and I share this sentiment deeply as well. The best description which I ever heard, curiously enough, was on a really old episode of th

I'm an immigrant myself, and I share this sentiment deeply as well. The best description which I ever heard, curiously enough, was on a really old episode of this American life. My memory could be playing tricks on me, but I think it was some small story of folks doing car audio competitions, where the point was to build the car with the loudest possible speaker. It was absurd, silly, and for a nerd, obviously enthralling. But at some point, I don't know if it is the narrator or someone in the story, but they say something to the effect of: "Everyone wants to be king of the hill, but there aren't enough hills to go around. The US is particularly great at creating more hills."

zsmizzle 3y ago
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript
- ChicagoBoy11 3y ago
  Ha, yeah, that's it. And, the quote in question, from David Segal, apparently: "Everyone wants to be the king of the hill. That's international. But the number of aspiring kings always dwarfs the number of available hills. So in this country, we build more hills. We're geniuses, in fact, at building more hills."
  - dempedempe 3y ago
    Which is great until those hills directly or indirectly affect people's health. Healthcare should not be a hill. Prisons should not be a hill. Politics should not be a hill.
    - robertlagrant 3y ago
      They affect health by creating enormous numbers of new fields for research and medicine, which after patent expiry is generified and manufactured cheaply for eternity.
      - dempedempe 3y ago
        You can have medical research without charging $1000 for an ambulance ride, $10k - $20k for having a child, $100,000 for staying in the hospital a few days. Those are the things I'm talking about.
        robertlagrant 3y ago
        You can, but these are complex systems, where some areas will have a profit incentive and be efficient, and others just mired in regulation, either directly or in a way that prevents competition arising. I don't think anyone deliberately built that hill. It's made up of lots of awesome hills and lots of hideous quagmires.
    - ativzzz 3y ago
      Pick your poison - would you rather have too many hills or not enough hills? Turns out limiting hill making is complex, and requires an even bigger hill that calls the shots
      - Podgajski 3y ago
        I would, in fact, rather, we had a flat landscape.
        ativzzz 3y ago
        A flat landscape implies no opportunity for anyone to do anything. If you really want, go live in the wilderness on your own. That is the only true flat landscape
        Podgajski 3y ago
        Flat landscape means no one rules over anyone else. I means you can give people authority but you can take away that authority without repercussions. If you want to live in a world subjected by a king or some fool on a hill, go ahead. I don’t pretend like you’re anything other than a peasant.
        ativzzz 3y ago
        > no one rules over anyone else This is impossible, because in this scenario, someone will get weapons and will forcefully take over and rule everyone else. This is just how human nature works
        Podgajski 3y ago
        Wow, you have such a depressing take on human existence. I don’t see people getting weapons and taking over people in the streets, do you?
        ativzzz 3y ago
    - qez2 3y ago
      [dead]
plz-remove-card 3y ago
> The US is particularly great at creating more hills. Because the US government has a money printer and an insatiable appetite for debt. The day will come for us, our kids, or our grandkids where it catches up to us.
- thatnerdyguy 3y ago
  I think that the argument goes US debt actually really doesn't matter, so long as Pax Americana is maintained. Being the global empire really helps out... until it doesn't
  - saturn8601 3y ago
    The US is running out of challengers. Europe is gone...like gone gone. Ditto Russia. China has a demographic bomb coming but they have a lot of things going for them so maybe they are the next challenger? Maybe India? They have problems but they too have a lot going for them. I guess it is possible that maybe in a generation or two Europe, Russia, China can fix their problems, get a solid working class and challenge the US. But it really feels like the entire planet is sinking right now and the US is the best of the worst. Maybe we need some aliens or something.
- rewmie 3y ago
  > Because the US government has a money printer (...) I don't think your non-sequitur bears even a passing resemblance to the subject. I think the whole point of the thread you're replying on is mentioning the individualism and personal freedom that's the US's cultural basis, and that has a profound impact on the well-being of those who feel the need to be the best of what they do, regardless if what that might be. A while ago I stumbled upon an Instagram account of a middle-age man who had a bunch of videos of him juggling random stuff in his back yard, and he made it his point to stress that he was the best at what he did and he made a whole career out of it. Such a random thing, and I'm sure there weren't that many competitors for the title of best pillow juggler, but that fit definitely the description of someone making his own hill to be its king.
Obscurity4340 3y ago
Also valleys tho. Gotta have a lot of lows to have that many highs There's definitely at least three Americas. And that bottom America is a frightening reality that so many have never known otherwise
- bwanab 3y ago
  Even so, putting on Rawl's Veil of Ignorance, if you were in the bottom America, would you choose to be in a lottery that would place you, randomly, in another situation? Sure, you might end up a living in a chalet in the Swiss Alps, but it's a lot more likely you'd be in the global south toiling just to survive day to day.
  - Obscurity4340 3y ago
    I guess I might be often missing the part that like even if you're the poorest here, like you're technically still richer and have better qol that many other jurisdictions. Reminds me of Dracula where he's in the shitty ghetto apartment that is depressing af and he's beaming like "Kings never knew such luxury" Still though particularly in places like Appalachia or rougher cities, its terrifying. America is realky liberty or death with few in-betweens
  - kylebenzle 3y ago
    US still has 2nd highest murder rate and highest incarceration, so just statistically, absolutely ANYWHERE BUT America if you are at the bottom, US is great for the middle and upper classes.
    - Obscurity4340 3y ago
      Thats kinda what I was obliquely referring to originally Edit: and also, I feel like there's bigger and smaller examples of similar equally or moreso populous jurisdictions that are quite safe and peaceful to the extent that I feel like its gotta be the god and its gotta be the guns.
    - sokoloff 3y ago

zsmizzle 3y ago

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript https://www.thisamericanlife.org/279/transcript

ChicagoBoy11 3y ago
Ha, yeah, that's it. And, the quote in question, from David Segal, apparently: "Everyone wants to be the king of the hill. That's international. But the number of aspiring kings always dwarfs the number of available hills. So in this country, we build more hills. We're geniuses, in fact, at building more hills."
- dempedempe 3y ago
  Which is great until those hills directly or indirectly affect people's health. Healthcare should not be a hill. Prisons should not be a hill. Politics should not be a hill.
  - robertlagrant 3y ago
    They affect health by creating enormous numbers of new fields for research and medicine, which after patent expiry is generified and manufactured cheaply for eternity.
    - dempedempe 3y ago
      You can have medical research without charging $1000 for an ambulance ride, $10k - $20k for having a child, $100,000 for staying in the hospital a few days. Those are the things I'm talking about.
      - robertlagrant 3y ago
        You can, but these are complex systems, where some areas will have a profit incentive and be efficient, and others just mired in regulation, either directly or in a way that prevents competition arising. I don't think anyone deliberately built that hill. It's made up of lots of awesome hills and lots of hideous quagmires.
  - ativzzz 3y ago
    Pick your poison - would you rather have too many hills or not enough hills? Turns out limiting hill making is complex, and requires an even bigger hill that calls the shots
    - Podgajski 3y ago
      I would, in fact, rather, we had a flat landscape.
      - ativzzz 3y ago
        A flat landscape implies no opportunity for anyone to do anything. If you really want, go live in the wilderness on your own. That is the only true flat landscape
        Podgajski 3y ago
        Flat landscape means no one rules over anyone else. I means you can give people authority but you can take away that authority without repercussions. If you want to live in a world subjected by a king or some fool on a hill, go ahead. I don’t pretend like you’re anything other than a peasant.
        ativzzz 3y ago
        > no one rules over anyone else This is impossible, because in this scenario, someone will get weapons and will forcefully take over and rule everyone else. This is just how human nature works
        Podgajski 3y ago
        Wow, you have such a depressing take on human existence. I don’t see people getting weapons and taking over people in the streets, do you?
        ativzzz 3y ago
  - qez2 3y ago
    [dead]

plz-remove-card 3y ago

> The US is particularly great at creating more hills. Because the US government has a money printer and an insatiable appetite for debt. The day will come for us, our kids, or our grandkids where it catches up to us.

thatnerdyguy 3y ago
I think that the argument goes US debt actually really doesn't matter, so long as Pax Americana is maintained. Being the global empire really helps out... until it doesn't
- saturn8601 3y ago
  The US is running out of challengers. Europe is gone...like gone gone. Ditto Russia. China has a demographic bomb coming but they have a lot of things going for them so maybe they are the next challenger? Maybe India? They have problems but they too have a lot going for them. I guess it is possible that maybe in a generation or two Europe, Russia, China can fix their problems, get a solid working class and challenge the US. But it really feels like the entire planet is sinking right now and the US is the best of the worst. Maybe we need some aliens or something.
rewmie 3y ago
> Because the US government has a money printer (...) I don't think your non-sequitur bears even a passing resemblance to the subject. I think the whole point of the thread you're replying on is mentioning the individualism and personal freedom that's the US's cultural basis, and that has a profound impact on the well-being of those who feel the need to be the best of what they do, regardless if what that might be. A while ago I stumbled upon an Instagram account of a middle-age man who had a bunch of videos of him juggling random stuff in his back yard, and he made it his point to stress that he was the best at what he did and he made a whole career out of it. Such a random thing, and I'm sure there weren't that many competitors for the title of best pillow juggler, but that fit definitely the description of someone making his own hill to be its king.

Obscurity4340 3y ago

Also valleys tho. Gotta have a lot of lows to have that many highs There's definitely at least three Americas. And that bottom America is a frightening reality that so many have never known otherwise

bwanab 3y ago
Even so, putting on Rawl's Veil of Ignorance, if you were in the bottom America, would you choose to be in a lottery that would place you, randomly, in another situation? Sure, you might end up a living in a chalet in the Swiss Alps, but it's a lot more likely you'd be in the global south toiling just to survive day to day.
- Obscurity4340 3y ago
  I guess I might be often missing the part that like even if you're the poorest here, like you're technically still richer and have better qol that many other jurisdictions. Reminds me of Dracula where he's in the shitty ghetto apartment that is depressing af and he's beaming like "Kings never knew such luxury" Still though particularly in places like Appalachia or rougher cities, its terrifying. America is realky liberty or death with few in-betweens
- kylebenzle 3y ago
  US still has 2nd highest murder rate and highest incarceration, so just statistically, absolutely ANYWHERE BUT America if you are at the bottom, US is great for the middle and upper classes.
  - Obscurity4340 3y ago
    Thats kinda what I was obliquely referring to originally Edit: and also, I feel like there's bigger and smaller examples of similar equally or moreso populous jurisdictions that are quite safe and peaceful to the extent that I feel like its gotta be the god and its gotta be the guns.
  - sokoloff 3y ago