But wasn't that the prime argument for the US previously? "Disregard the wars that the US gets into, have you seen their cars and houses?" And it did work for

But wasn't that the prime argument for the US previously? "Disregard the wars that the US gets into, have you seen their cars and houses?" And it did work for a long time. People would give you a lot of leeway if you had a nice house and a car.