The Impact of the US on Human History

David Papp

The Impact of the US on Human History

America has risen from the tiny Puritan settlements whose survival was at times doubtful to become a nation of unprecedented power and influence over the globe. With its founding and lead of sophisticated technologies that link even the most distinct parts of the world, the US revolutionised the rate of technological growth and communication. Despite foreign criticism of American extravagance, America’s standard of living and apparent happiness has resulted in a worldwide attempt to imitate the American lifestyle of hard work and opportunities. People abroad are gradually and subconsciously creating mirror images of the American Dream. This revolutionised ideology is replacing the traditional and more social oriented cultures and setting the world on a capitalist path focused solely on wealth.

The scientific powerhouse of the world, the US has essentially restructured the world into a vast matrix of communication. By encouraging the world’s brightest minds to work here since the dawn of the scientific era, the US created an unparalleled environment for innovations as significant as computers, space research, and the World Wide Web. These technologies have revolutionised communication: rather than the months it takes for news to deliver from Asia to America, it’s a mere millisecond in the digital age. The impacts of such powerful communication are innumerable, from global exchange of languages to being able to share one’s favorite links on social network sites. They have knitted the distinct minds of the world into one omnipotent brain with endless information. Consequently the rate of technological growth has become exponential for the first time in the course of human history: the total number of patents in the last decade has been more than in all years prior, and cancer research hopes to achieve more in the next decade than it has in the last fifty. While some might argue that this spark in technological growth wasn’t America’s doing but rather an inevitable process, the fact that the US pioneered most significant technologies and controls most of them now indicates otherwise.

Perhaps even more important than the rate of growth of communication is the psychological impact of the US. When mentioned to a foreigner, the US does not invoke the same images of liberty, patriotism, and beauty as it does to a US citizen. Instead, the reaction is generally negative, with comments on how greedy, selfish, extravagant, and egocentric Americans are. Nevertheless, even the greatest critics acknowledge an awe for the legendary power and wealth that appears to stem from capitalist gambles and equal opportunities in America. Europeans have long held their motto “Live to work, not work to live,” but as America does just the opposite with its endless number of stressful office jobs and complaining workers and yet still appears to be happy, people intuitively gravitate towards the American example. The impact is already visible: a general trend towards fewer vacation days in Europe, more impersonal business worldwide, and higher financial aspirations for individuals. Consequently the social life characteristic of Europe is deteriorating as people obsessively focus on their careers and see potential competition in their peers rather than seeing potential friends. As an example, while drive-thrus are common in the US as food here is viewed as a mere necessity and time drain, restaurants and coffeeshops in Europe are an integral part of social life. They provide social environments for friendly discussions. With the increasing influence of American lifestyle, drive-thru restaurants are coming to dominate the world and social life is in a decadence as people are no longer finding the time and purpose to enjoy each others’ company in traditional restaurants.

If the price of the American Dream is so substantial, many wonder why the globe is slowly but surely adapting American lifestyles. With its greater income per capita, superior services, and lavishness, America presents incontrovertible indications of financial success that are tempting to anyone. Through the course of evolution, humans have become naturally geared towards competition as necessary for survival. Since measures of financial success are more concrete than measures of moral success or perceived happiness and ensure better “survival,” people sacrifice other aspects of their lives, such as social and family time, just to obtain these. Furthermore, wealth and power hold the grandest status that allows people wielding them to belittle those who do not, which provides a significant incentive for people to obtain wealth and power. Since the US has both significant wealth and unrivalled power, it’s understandable that foreigners seek to imitate the US in hopes of achieving the same.

The United State’s impact extends beyond the obvious globalisation and unprecedented technological growth to a psychological molding of nations. Inspired by the wealth and status of the US, foreigners pursue the American dream of social mobility through hard work and opportunities, but in the process lose their traditionally social societies and become slaves of their work.