I saw an old post by halfsigma today, in which he stated that he was not patriotic, since "America hasn't done much for me." This annoyed me extremely, as it does whenever people say things like this (common especially among libertarians, probably because they are idiots).
First of all, it is inane as he lives in America and thus enjoys all the benefits of the society which surrounds him and makes his life possible. This would include things like:
clean, drinkable tap water (thanks water districts!);
a functioning sewage system;
good roads;
reliable electricity;
excellent medical care (it may bankrupt you to access but it certainly works well);
appliances that work (in China, a significant percentage of products just don't work because they don't regulate them well);
reliable telecommunications networks and mail;
a not-very-corrupt legal system;
food that is safe (no tainted milk or formaldehyde in your beer, both common in China);
breathable air and relatively unpolluted public spaces despite a large, urbanized population(rivers in China tend to be a greyish sludge color; thanks EPA!);
security for your property and person (compared to crime rates in hunter-gatherer societies or even South Africa, US rates are nonexistent);
free public education (which is pretty good, especially at the university level where it is the best);
safe, well-constructed buildings (thanks building codes!); etc.
In fact, everything necessary for modern life is only made possible by the society and government you live in, because without infrastructure no modern business or factory can exist, which means no well-paying jobs and no technology. This is largely why most African countries are so awful, because their governments aren't any good. I don't think halfsigma actually wants to live in a mud hut in rural Niger.
China is actually fairly well-run (I only criticize it heavily above because I lived there and am therefore more familiar with its issues). The roads are mostly good, the government is efficient if evil, the sewage, telecommunications, transportation and power systems work, and violent crime is very low (though there is some amount of petty theft). Thus, their economy is doing pretty well and it's not a bad place to live (assuming you have money, don't get ill and don't cross the government).
But the difference between living in the US and China is huge, and becomes even greater if anything goes awry. For example, in the US, I don't need to bribe doctors pre-surgery for a good outcome; if a company's carelessly released toxic chemicals give me cancer, I will get (probably generous) compensation (in a similar case in China, people who complained were put in jail; of course they got no compensation whatsoever); if a public official breaks the law in front of witnesses, he will probably be tried (while I was in China, an official raped a young girl in a restaurant bathroom and then admitted the fact to her irate parents on videotape in front of multiple witnesses shortly thereafter. He was transferred to a different position as punishment (note: no legal punishments were applied), but only after much public outcry).
Many countries (ie, Mexico, central America, most of eastern Europe)are just like China. As an American expat, it's true that you are immune from much of this (though not all!) but that's only because you are American and have the backing of your powerful, efficient and well-run government behind you. I don't think halfsigma would like to be at the mercy of a corrupt, potentially dangerous and often inefficient government either.
Perhaps, however, his statement is more along the lines of "Among the very small number of well-run, wealthy first world countries, what is uniquely good about the US, and what has it contributed to the world, that I have benefited from?" This is a more interesting question.
What makes the US uniquely good will vary depending on what countries you are comparing it to. But I think one unique aspect (and to me, good) is the ability here to live as you please. An American can be extremely religious (of a enormous variety of religions) or not at all, have an enormous number of children (19, for instance) or none, live in a tent, an apartment, a polyamorous commune, a rural homestead, or a suburban cul-de-sac, and change careers (or schools, or relationships) multiple times. To be an American means that you can always change your mind: the possibilities are never closed. You could leave your corporate job and become a hermit; go back to school as a thirtysomething single mom and become a lawyer; work, then stay at home with your kids, then work again; leave your wife, get a sex change and start a new life as a woman (or, in one of my mother's coworkers' cases, keep the wife but become a woman). It might be difficult and it might be a bad idea, but you could if you felt like it.
I think in most of the world, even where these things are not actually illegal (if you leave home and never speak to your parents in Taiwan, they can sue you for visitation rights), they are not possible because of social customs and pressures. For example, in most of Europe, you decide on your career (whether you go to college or not, and in what subject, for example) at 15 or so. It is not possible to change majors, return to school in midlife, etc. In Japan, you typically work for one company for your entire career. If you hate your job, you are out of luck. You also can't quit the workforce for an extended period (say, to raise children) and then return (for example, in Germany only 14% of women with a child return to work).
There is a great deal of tolerance in the US for odd choices. This doesn't mean that people will approve (since tolerance simply means putting up with someone) but it does mean that they won't interfere. This can be bad (allowing the mentally ill to roam major cities as incoherent, indigent homeless, for example) but it also means that the range of possible lifestyles in the US is much broader and more flexible than elsewhere ("out and proud" gays, hippies, Mormons, surfers, Black Panthers, cowboys, motorcycle gangs, and environmentalists all got their start here). Choice doesn't always make you happy (Americans are a restless, often dissatisfied bunch) but I like having the freedom it offers.
This freedom to be different (even if it means you end up dying because you refused a blood transfusion thanks to your wacky religious beliefs) is, I think, connected to America's contributions to the world in general. America's world contributions fall into three categories: the political system; media and culture; and technological innovation. All three stem from a willingness to invent and try new things (and the only way to be new is to dare to be different).
The political system: When founded, America was the world's first democracy since classical antiquity, and the only one for a unit larger than a city-state. At the time, every other country was ruled by kings (and most were aristocracies with strong class/caste systems). Today, even dictatorships pretend to be democratic, and aristocrats have almost entirely vanished. America was also the first major nation to adopt a written constitution (today virtually ubiquitous); the first to guarantee rights to every citizen (the English Bill of Rights only guaranteed them to Parliament; today we even have a bill of "universal human rights" courtesy of the UN); and pioneered the concept of a separation between church and state. All of these (at the time, truly revolutionary) innovations have become so universally accepted that people often forget to credit the US with them.
Media and culture: American media and culture in general is so widespread throughout the world that it often isn't thought of as "foreign". American music in particular (jazz, blues, hip hop, rap, rock and roll, r&b, pop), or music made by local performers in American style (often singing direct translations of songs to the same music) is by far the most popular globally, in virtually every country, and has been since at least the mid-twentieth century. Other important cultural contributions would include: movies; sports (especially baseball and basketball); dance styles; clothing styles (jeans are almost the uniform of the modern world); foods (hamburgers, pizza, french fries, sodas: people eat these all over the world now). Most of modern culture is American, at least in origin.
Technology: Virtually every important invention of the last 100+ years was invented in the US. This includes the: telegraph, revolver, machine gun, vacuum cleaner, motorcycle, telephone, photographic film, dishwasher, radio, tractor, air conditioning, cell phone, personal computer, polio vaccine, birth control pill, laser, and of course the internet. The list of US inventions was actually really shocking to me, because I had no idea so many common things were invented here (clothespins? paper towels? tampons?).
It's hard to imagine the modern world without the US. Since the modern world is on the whole a huge improvement over what existed before, America has certainly greatly benefited both me and the rest of humanity.
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