What Americans look like in everyday life. How it really lives in America
There are two myths among Russians about how ordinary people live in America. Interestingly, they are directly opposite to each other. The first can be described as follows: "The USA is a country of great opportunities, where the shoemaker can become a millionaire." And the second myth looks like this: “America is a state of social contrasts. Only oligarchs live well there, mercilessly exploiting workers and peasants. ” It must be said that both myths are far from the truth. In this article, we will not delve into the history of the United States, discuss the slavery and racial discrimination that took place a hundred years ago. We will not admire the standard of living of the Soros family or focus on the homeless who spend the night at the ventilation grilles of the metro. We just follow how ordinary people live in America now. Let's take an average family: two working parents, three kids. The usual middle class. Incidentally, he makes up the lion's share of all US citizens.
Housing
The USA among all countries of the world can boast one of the highest living standards of the population. But at the same time, quite a few citizens have a house in their full ownership. And even Americans prefer to rent city apartments. But a family that classifies itself as a middle class necessarily settles away from dusty megacities. White-collar workers get to work by train or car, spending an hour and a half on the road. The house of an ordinary American family is a one-story (for high middle-class - two-level) cottage with a green lawn in front and an extension-garage, with a spacious back yard, which houses a playground for children or a pool. The area of \u200b\u200bthe house ranges from 150 to 250 square meters, and its cost is from 500 to 650 thousand dollars. Not everyone can just take it and lay it out. But here are ordinary people: the standard of living in the United States allows you to pay a mortgage. A third of the amount must be paid in advance and take a loan for thirty years at 5-10 percent per annum. But! The loss of one of the parents' work threatens the family with a catastrophe - after all, you need to pay the bank at least two and a half thousand "green" per month for the house.
Communal payments
Now let's look at how ordinary Americans live in America and what they pay for their mansions in addition to credit. The so-called townhouses (cottages) are very expensive. Although ... how to count. Ordinary Americans do not bother with ZhEKami. In the basement of each house has its own mini-boiler, responsible for heating and water heating. The average utility bill (electricity and gas) is about three hundred dollars. Since the water is supplied cold, the fee for it is small - about $ 10. In addition to utility bills, you need to pay property taxes: $ 500 - municipal and another $ 140 - the so-called community charges (for garbage collection and cleaning of the territory adjacent to the house). The lawn in front of the house should be well-groomed - as is customary here. Do not get your hands to cut it yourself? Hire a student and get ready to fork out for $ 60. Mortgages oblige to insure real estate. Usually it is $ 300 per year. Total monthly need to lay out for housing about three thousand dollars.
Food expenses
Here you need to make a reservation. In the US, there is a big difference between the so-called “healthy” foods, labeled “bio,” and conventional ones. Since ordinary people live in America, they tend to save on food. Yes, everyone knows about the dangers of chicken stuffed with growth hormones, as well as unhealthy fast food. But an ordinary couple of middle-class Americans usually shop at a wholesale store, buying groceries with a red “Discount” mark and have lunch at Starbucks Coffee, McDonald's, or a similar fast food establishment. By the way, the prices of some products in America are lower than in Russia (especially in Moscow). But eating in restaurants or self-respecting cafes is very expensive. An average family from the middle class allows themselves this pleasure twice a month. Usually, food costs about four hundred dollars for food - this is if you do not deny yourself anything, and two hundred if you establish austerity regime.
Car and spending on other devices
How do ordinary people live in America outside the city? They start their day with and then get behind the wheel of a car. Living without a car in the American outback is simply suspicious. Every adult must have a car - at least a used one. Leasing helps out. Moreover, in the event of a breakdown in repair expenses, the company takes over. Thus, monthly payments to a leasing company for two cars - from 300 to 600 dollars, and gasoline - 150. Cars must be insured. Usually this is two hundred dollars per month for each car. But you can reduce the cost of insurance by using a package with more. For Internet and cable TV you need to put about eighty-five "green" per month. No one will tell you how ordinary people live in America who do not have a mobile phone, because there are practically none. Even a child attending kindergarten has such a device (with a beacon, just in case). A package with unlimited calls will cost about sixty-five dollars a month.
Insurance
Foreigners who watch how ordinary people live in America, probably notice that they have a lot of income spent on various funds. They are insured against everything: from incapacity for work, from loss of a breadwinner, from weakening visual acuity, in case of problems with teeth and even in that unforeseen situation if the dog damages the property of a neighbor. Sometimes the policy is paid by the employer. But after the dismissal, he ceases to act. Total for the family every month you need to spend about five hundred dollars, enriching various insurance companies. But in the USA there is a practice ... transferring a pension by inheritance. Each working person pays deductions that accumulate on his individual card. Americans can dispose of these accumulated funds as they please. After the death of a person, the money does not burn out, but, as in a conventional deposit, is inherited.
Spending on clothes
Another discovery that foreigners can make by observing how ordinary people live in America is that they don’t wear expensive things. Usually they dress simply and practical. On the street, rarely when you meet a woman in high heels. In winter, a typical American wears jeans and a jacket, and in summer a T-shirt and shorts. But this does not mean that all US citizens do not know how to dress. It's just that it’s not customary to stick out your income here. Casual style reigns here. Brand clothes are worn on occasion. And easily buy it. The fact is that in America, sales never stop. They are timed to coincide with any holidays, but after them the prices fall even more: for a pittance they sell out a collection that did not go away during the sales. Particular excitement reigns during the so-called Black Friday (after Thanksgiving). Then you can buy branded clothing for a price ten times lower than its usual cost. Thus, an ordinary US citizen does not spend too much on clothes: up to a hundred dollars a month.
Education
U.S. high school is free. And this debunkes the myth that in America you need to lay out money for everything, and considerable. By the way, medicine for unsecured segments of the population here is also free. But how does ordinary America live? For kindergarten you need to pay about eight hundred dollars per child. Or baby sitter - $ 10 per hour. The income of an American is directly dependent on his education. Therefore, parents are trying at all costs to make "investments in the future of the child." To study at a college or institute take loans. Particularly highly paid professions in America are lawyers, managerial managers, and doctors. After graduating from a university in this profile, a young man can count on twenty thousand dollars a month. Employees of banks, civil servants, nurses and teachers earn a little less. But studying at an American university is expensive: from three to ten thousand dollars a year. Although flexible and scholarships operate here.
Income
This is how ordinary people actually live abroad. Huge spending every month. Where do they get such money from? The answer is trivial: they do not drink and work hard. They do not go out to smoke every hour. They are paid not for a delay in the workplace, but for a specific result. And the better it will be, the higher the salary will be. This motivation makes Americans work hard. At the same time, the minimum wage is seven and a half dollars per hour. That kind of money is paid to teens or students on vacation just to walk your dog when you are at work. Cleaning by a housekeeper will cost a hundred dollars a day. But for that kind of money you need to not just vacuum the carpet: wash, iron, polish.
How Americans Live in Private Enterprise
Private activities in the USA can provide a good income. the country is so large that, if desired, you can find a niche in any field. The government encourages the opening of its own business and strongly supports it, especially if you create new jobs. There should not be any bureaucratic delays in registering your business. Doing business in America is easy, the main thing is to be honest.
Hello everyone! With you, Alexander Khvastovich, host of the America for Success project. And today, the comment “Tell us about the everyday life of Americans” scored the most likes, so I will talk about it. I want to say right away that everyday life in America and in Russia by and large does not differ much. If you do not take into account scientific development and cultural differences, then people live the same way as in Russia: they fall in love, they quarrel, they give birth to children, they go to work. If in Russia someone is thinking of collecting money to buy a used car, then in America people are thinking of how to collect money for a more modern new car. In fact, the problems are the same, and life is the same, just a different level. If you work in America and you have good friends, you will live a good and dignified life. Maybe it will just be better than it would be at home, due to corruption problems or because it is difficult to find work there, even being a qualified specialist. That is, it might have been worse there than here, but everyday life is the same.
The average person gets up for work in the morning, takes a shower, eats, many people go to the gym before work, then go to work, work, some at a construction site, some in the computer industry, some in the office. After work, he comes home, if one person lives, he spends his evening at his pleasure - he watches TV or goes to bars, if he is with someone, he can go to eat at a restaurant and raise children. Everyday life in America is the same as everyday life in Russia, the level of affluence, the culture around and the introduction of technology into everyday life just change. This is probably the main difference. Because both Russia and America are developed countries. Here is not some third world country where you need to look for food or water, and you live in a tent. Therefore, think about it in such a way that America is Russia, sorry for the pun, just with a slightly more developed level of society and wages. But despite this, there are also enough poor people in America, there are people who have lived for generations from paycheck to paycheck, and they also have to pay for housing. Every month they need to look for money somewhere. There are many rich people here, but a rich man for us - here it is the middle class. He will have several cars in the family, each member will have a car, he has a personal house in which he lives. This is probably the main difference. There is no such thing that mortgages are paid until the end of life, it’s quite possible to buy a house or a car on credit, and you can pay it in 10-20 years, earning by average standards 40-50 thousand dollars a year per family member, not including children.
Therefore, America is America. It’s hard for me to add something on this issue, because it is so comprehensive. If you delve into the details, you can find differences, I can tell you something more specific, but everyday life in America is the same as at home, just with a different level of wealth and culture and, as I said, the introduction of technology in everyday life, which, of course, is important. Many are exactly for this and come here.
I hope I answered this question. As always, put your finger up, tell your friends and wait for more releases. Thank you all, Alexander Khvastovich, host of the America for Success project, was with you. That's all, bye!
It's me again. I have a couple of things that I would like to add. Firstly, I think it's time for me to shave, but that doesn't matter. And the second thing I wanted to say was that the video was uninformative. In fact, I did not know what to tell. I knew, but you can’t say anything special, at least I think so. Therefore, I, as a bonus, if you watch this video on Youtube, you will see in the description of the video links below to my articles, interviews of different emigrants. There are, say, stories about how a girl came here as a student, then went to prison in America, then she went out and is now legalized. There is a story about how a pensioner came to live in America. How different people come, their impressions, how they come and stay on a study visa. In short, I will give a few links to read and you have a little understanding of what it is like to live in America. I hope this compensates for the lack of information. Thanks to all! Till!
Hello everyone! With you, Alexander Khvastovich, host of the America for Success project. And today, the comment “Tell us about the everyday life of Americans” scored the most likes, so I will talk about it. I want to say right away that everyday life in America and in Russia by and large does not differ much. If you do not take into account scientific development and cultural differences, then people live the same way as in Russia: they fall in love, they quarrel, they give birth to children, they go to work. If in Russia someone is thinking of collecting money to buy a used car, then in America people are thinking of how to collect money for a more modern new car. In fact, the problems are the same, and life is the same, just a different level. If you work in America and you have good friends, you will live a good and dignified life. Maybe it will just be better than it would be at home, due to corruption problems or because it is difficult to find work there, even being a qualified specialist. That is, it might have been worse there than here, but everyday life is the same.
The average person gets up for work in the morning, takes a shower, eats, many people go to the gym before work, then go to work, work, some at a construction site, some in the computer industry, some in the office. After work, he comes home, if one person lives, he spends his evening at his pleasure - he watches TV or goes to bars, if he is with someone, he can go to eat at a restaurant and raise children. Everyday life in America is the same as everyday life in Russia, the level of affluence, the culture around and the introduction of technology into everyday life just change. This is probably the main difference. Because both Russia and America are developed countries. Here is not some third world country where you need to look for food or water, and you live in a tent. Therefore, think about it in such a way that America is Russia, sorry for the pun, just with a slightly more developed level of society and wages. But despite this, there are also enough poor people in America, there are people who have lived for generations from paycheck to paycheck, and they also have to pay for housing. Every month they need to look for money somewhere. There are many rich people here, but a rich man for us - here it is the middle class. He will have several cars in the family, each member will have a car, he has a personal house in which he lives. This is probably the main difference. There is no such thing that mortgages are paid until the end of life, it’s quite possible to buy a house or a car on credit, and you can pay it in 10-20 years, earning by average standards 40-50 thousand dollars a year per family member, not including children.
Therefore, America is America. It’s hard for me to add something on this issue, because it is so comprehensive. If you delve into the details, you can find differences, I can tell you something more specific, but everyday life in America is the same as at home, just with a different level of wealth and culture and, as I said, the introduction of technology in everyday life, which, of course, is important. Many are exactly for this and come here.
I hope I answered this question. As always, put your finger up, tell your friends and wait for more releases. Thank you all, Alexander Khvastovich, host of the America for Success project, was with you. That's all, bye!
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It's me again. I have a couple of things that I would like to add. Firstly, I think it's time for me to shave, but that doesn't matter. And the second thing I wanted to say was that the video was uninformative. In fact, I did not know what to tell. I knew, but you can’t say anything special, at least I think so. Therefore, I, as a bonus, if you watch this video on Youtube, you will see in the description of the video links below to my articles, interviews of different emigrants. There are, say, stories about how a girl came here as a student, then went to prison in America, then she went out and is now legalized. There is a story about how a pensioner came to live in America. How different people come, their impressions, how they come and stay on a study visa. In short, I will give a few links to read and you have a little understanding of what it is like to live in America. I hope this compensates for the lack of information. Thanks to all! Till!
America is a huge country with a high economic level and comfortable living conditions. Everything seems so attractive that many migrants dream of staying in the United States. But how do ordinary people really live abroad? It is generally accepted that in America they earn a lot, and life is simple and enjoyable. In order to understand whether everything is so rosy, it is worth considering various aspects of life in the United States.
Character of americans
How do ordinary people live in America? Basically, they are united by national features - ease of communication, openness and friendliness. Americans are very polite, and in order not to offend another person, they can simply remain silent. Inhabitants of America are free in their movements around the country, easily get acquainted and make friends. Although there are certain invisible borders. The houses are separated by small hedges, and friendship does not imply interference in the affairs of a neighbor.
Political, religious or financial issues cannot be discussed in a conversation. Obscene is the reference to social status. Americans love humor and practical jokes very much, but they are quite specific and not always understood by foreigners. With the help of jokes, US residents smooth out conflict situations. Often with the help of humor they express their own opinion.
Everyday life
Is life difficult for people in the USA? The history of all families is about the same. The life of Americans is mainly concentrated around their own home. The lawn in front of him is brought in perfect condition, even if there is not enough time for economic affairs. Americans do not shop every day, but instead stock up on food for long periods of time.
Paid mainly by credit cards and rarely in cash. Once a week, the whole family always gathers for dinner together, discussing the news. On the lawns, parties are arranged to communicate with neighbors. Children are obliged to help parents with the housework - to clean the snow, mow the lawn, vacuum, etc.
For this, parents pay them small fees. American teenagers often earn extra money at car washes, in supermarkets, etc. This experience is considered to be mandatory, since grown up children leave school immediately after school and they need the skills of physical work and making money for a living.
Life style
How do people live in America? The day begins, as in other countries. In the mornings, parents leave for work (mainly in personal cars), and the children go to schools on special buses. Housewives are engaged in housekeeping. Many teenagers drive their own cars, although their insurance costs are much more expensive for adults.
Almost all Americans attend various clubs, golf, bridge and other entertainment. Some US residents are members of public organizations and do charity work. Church parishioners organize dinners. Dishes are prepared for them at home and then put on a common table. Children are busy in different circles: ballroom dancing, tennis, etc.
Americans love to talk on the phone. On refrigerators in almost all families, notes are reminded that remind someone in the family and what exactly needs to be done. Americans are distinguished by their smile, cherish personal and other people's time. They prepare thoroughly for important negotiations; punctuality is greatly appreciated. Almost all US residents follow a strict schedule, many use diaries.
Lifestyle
How do ordinary Americans live in America? Their lifestyle is quite dynamic. All week they are constantly on the move - work, business. Only the weekend remains for the rest. These days, Americans get families to parks, walks, or meet friends. Holidays and holidays in America are much less than in Russia.
The average US residents rest only once a year. During the holidays they prefer family trips to other states, the countryside, the mountains, etc. Wealthy Americans mostly relax in Hawaii or the Bahamas. US residents are very fond of discounted goods, without them purchases are rare.
All services, including medicine, are quite expensive, so a salary of several thousand dollars is considered low. This money can only be lived with great difficulty. In order to support a house, family, pay taxes, for education, etc., an American needs to receive at least $ 20,000 per month. Smoking is prohibited in public places in America.
Alcoholic beverages are consumed in small quantities and mainly in the form of cocktails. Because of the addiction to fast food, most Americans are prone to obesity. Sport is being promoted to lose extra pounds. There are many single elderly people in the United States. They are rarely visited by children and grandchildren. Residents of the United States invite only relatives or close friends to their own home, they prefer to meet with everyone else in neutral territory.
The property
The American way of life requires you to have your own home. But since it is not possible to accumulate on it, then most often houses are purchased on credit or taken on a mortgage. The most popular are small one-story cottages from 150 to 250 square meters. Such a house costs an average of $ 150,000.
The cost of housing may be higher, it depends on its area, location of the quarter and building material. In modern American homes, a spacious living room, children's and dining rooms are required. Americans buy homes on credit (usually at 10 percent per annum) for 30 years. The period, time and amount of payments depend on the level of salary, advance payment and the cost of the cottage.
Job
How do ordinary hard workers live? They have an eight-hour workday and weekly two days off. Employers offer different schedules. Americans can choose to work part-time, at home, etc. For a stable and high standard of living in America, you need to have a higher education. In the USA, it’s not possible to get a job “by pulling.” The standard of living depends on the annual income of the whole family. Salary depends on education and profession. The highest paid specialists:
- television workers;
- managers
- doctors
- lawyers.
Their income can be from 15 to 20 thousand dollars a month. Teachers, nurses, government employees have lower wages. In America, hourly pay. The minimum wage is approximately $ 7.5 per hour.
The level of income also depends on the state. In them the same position can be paid differently. The highest income of Americans is provided by their own business or private activity. Any resident of the United States can become an entrepreneur. The state supports the development of small businesses.
Training
Schools are divided into primary, secondary and senior. Moreover, they are all in different buildings. High school students begin to study from 7 in the morning, and kids from 8:30. Tuition at many schools is paid, the cost depends on the area of \u200b\u200bresidence. Payment is made once a year. The amount is included in the total tax. Then the funds are distributed by the state.
Education can be obtained in both public and private schools. Studying at universities takes place mainly on a paid basis - from 3-10 thousand dollars annually. In colleges, training lasts four years. Part of the payment is borne by the state. Foreign students are allowed to enter US universities. A special visa is opened for this.
Food prices
How do ordinary people live in America? Not all Americans can afford to go to restaurants and cafes. In the United States, it is customary to purchase food in wholesale stores, as it is much cheaper and saves time. Prices in supermarkets can be much lower than, for example, in Russian ones. But the low cost of goods is often associated with poor quality.
Food products may have an expiration date, seemingly good meat bursting with hormones, and fresh and beautiful vegetables from the pesticides contained in them. A lot of quality products are for sale inexpensively. The USA supports farms, the cost of land and taxes is quite acceptable for small businesses. Accordingly, all this is expressed in low food prices.
Social Security and Taxes
How do ordinary people live in America? The standard of living directly depends on the annual income of the family. An important condition for a comfortable existence is insurance. This usually applies to real estate, cars and health. Pensioners after 65 years are entitled to receive health insurance from the state. This category also includes children under 19 years old.
Each company provides its employees with insurance for which payments can be made. Some large organizations issue them not only to their specialists, but also to their families. Small companies that cannot provide workers with insurance often offer discounts on various products.
For poor citizens free medical care is provided. Americans spend 30 to 50 percent of their income on taxes. The largest deductions:
- state taxes;
- federal;
- sales taxes;
- on real estate and property.
Poor citizens, retirees and students are not taxed.
How it lives in America: an inside look. Credit "trap"
Almost all ordinary people get loans. Cards open in childhood and adolescence. Almost all US residents have savings accounts. This is a rainy day safety net. Savings are used in extreme cases (job loss, etc.). Americans have to do financial planning ahead of time.
Kindergartens are paid. For one child, approximately $ 700 is given each month. Sports, dance and other sections are expensive, in which it is customary to give kids and schoolchildren. Amid all payments, even a week of illness and disability can lead middle-class residents to bankruptcy.
Payment of bills
How does the ordinary American middle class live? Almost every second family pays a mortgage or rents a house. A small two-story cottage costs about $ 5,000 a month, excluding utilities. Medical, car insurance, student loans, etc. - all this costs a lot of money.
Cars are most often leased, bought less often. But almost every adult member of the family has cars. Monthly payments for a car range from 200 to 400 dollars per month. If family members do not have a good credit history, then you can only dream about your own home and a cloudless life.
Sales
How do ordinary people live in America? They prefer to shop at sales. Americans dress simply, try not to spend a lot of money on clothes. When things wear out, they are transported to the humanitarian assistance center. In America, there are many stores with discounted branded clothing. That in other countries can cost thousands, in the United States can be purchased at sales for $ 50.
Discounts are made in stores constantly. Many sales are organized in honor of the holidays. After them, the remaining things come true at even lower prices. At large sales, lines begin to line up several hours before the store opens, and some even put up tents on nearby lawns where they spend the night. Most often this happens at supermarkets with household appliances.
Coffee and fast food restaurants
How do ordinary people live in America? They spend a lot of money on coffee. In the morning, long lines form at the coffee shop. Then they are repeated during lunch and after work. Despite the fact that coffee can be made at home and it will cost much less, millions of Americans spend hundreds of dollars annually to buy an invigorating drink. The bistro with fast food and frozen semi-finished products for microwave ovens are in no less demand.
How Americans Live: Interesting Facts
Many Americans consider it their duty to have a gym membership. Even if they don’t go there at all. In America, it is not customary to borrow or lend money. If a person cannot take a loan for his needs, then he will most likely miss a semester, refuse to travel, but never ask for money in debt. This is considered indecent.
All three emergency services always come to calls. Moreover, firefighters are often the first and provide first aid. There are many toll roads and tunnels in the USA. Medicine is very expensive, but it is at a highly professional level. Americans call skyscrapers towers.
I had the opportunity to study and work in the USA from 1992 to 2009. Leaving for a professional conference in America, it just seemed to me, having just graduated from the Aviation Institute in Moscow (MAI), that I would see a country that could in many respects become an example for my Motherland, which at that time was only embarking on the road, as we were proclaimed then, democratic reform. Then I began to discover America for myself, first studying at the university, then - working in my specialty. Gradually, it became clear to me that the American reality is absolutely not the same as the biased media broadcast it to the whole world. Now many understand that America is seriously ill, its economy is undermined, its public debt is growing exponentially, and the country's prospects as a single cultural and national whole are unclear. Having lived there for 17 years, and watching how America has changed, I can say that the gradient of these changes is really negative.
The ashes of the “liberal experiment”
Many commentators explain the current US problems solely in monetary and economic categories. It seems to me very superficial and little reflective of what was happening there in reality.
Financial and economic problems are only the result of a real cultural and philosophical transformation, imposed by liberals on American society over the past decades. The liberal revolution was launched in the United States in the mid-60s of the last century, and since then two generations of people have grown up, whose will is completely paralyzed by liberal ideology, which led America to today's insoluble contradictions. This transformation is already so irreversible that reversing the negative trends that are gaining strength in America is unlikely to be possible. Unfortunately, I see that the liberal reforms now imposed in Russia and the algorithms by which they are carried out are very similar to what I observed in the USA. I would even say that the States serve as a kind of laboratory where you can see what the future holds for Russia in the not so distant future, if the order of things in our country does not change.
I do not want Russia, which has been stuffed with liberalism for 20 years, to be brought into the same state that the United States found itself in after four decades of liberal rule. What allows me to believe that this is possible to prevent? The fact that in Russia, despite 20 years of catastrophic reforms, the processes of deconstructing traditional morality, atomizing society and destroying people's awareness of themselves as part of a people with a common historical destiny have not yet gone as far as it happened in America. This is confirmed by recent events, when protests against the unjust system created in Russia after 1991 resulted in numerous rallies throughout the country. Many people have already realized all the fatalities of the path imposed on Russia. These people, whose consciousness is not distorted by liberal propaganda, will be able to synthesize a new philosophy aimed at the revival of Russia.
An obvious attempt is made by some of the liberals who have now been removed from power by the ruling regime to seize the initiative of popular discontent and use it to regain power again. If the liberals succeed, they will continue the same disastrous course pursued by the current regime, with the only difference being that instead of “national specifics” American patterns of liberalism will be used, in which domestic imitators draw their political inspiration. Both the course of the current regime, which turned Russia into a mixture of the raw materials appendage of the West and the financial oligarchy, and the creation of a "multicultural society with a post-industrial economy" along the American lines, which home-grown pro-Western liberals dream of, are both worse, since these are two sides of the same liberal monetarism .
In this article, I would like, based on my observations of life in the United States, to talk about how liberal monetarism itself changed America, the country's accession to the WTO, the creation of a trade union with Mexico and the ensuing massive migration of cheap labor from the United States to Mexico and other Latin American countries.
Then I would like to examine the reasons why the liberals carried out the transformation of the United States, using free-market principles, globalization, political correctness and tolerance, as tools for this transformation. Its result was that America, which back in the 1970s was based on European and Christian culture, possessed a powerful industry and was the main global lender, is now transformed into a country of a “multicultural society”, a “post-industrial economy”, an impoverished middle class that has become the main world debtor.
If the liberal course in Russia is maintained or continued under a new sign, its result will be the loss of vestiges of Russian sovereignty, the final destruction of domestic industry, the decline in living standards, the gradual replacement of the indigenous peoples of Russia due to mass migration from the outside, followed by large-scale ethnic conflicts, and ultimately, the cessation of Russian statehood.
New York as a hunch
In August 1992, I came to America to attend the Congress of the International Astronautical Federation. At the student session of the congress, where I made a report, which was based on my thesis, the author of these lines met with representatives of the scientific and educational center (MarsMissionResearchCenter), organized by NASA at the University of North Carolina, in order to prepare young professionals for the 1989 Space Research Initiative. I was offered to submit documents for graduate school (GraduateSchool) in this center. I was glad of their proposal, because it gave me a chance to further study in my specialty, and then to participate in the NASA project, the ultimate goal of which was announced in 1989 as a human flight to Mars. My documents were accepted, but it soon became clear that since I am a foreign student, NASA cannot pay for my studies, and if I still want to study at this center, I must pay for my studies myself.
While my entry visa was valid, I applied for a temporary work permit as a student whose documents had already been accepted for study at the university.
I got my first real impressions of life in America in New York, where I lived for two years, earning money. New York is actually a city of contrasts, in which you can see a lot of interesting things - both beautiful and not so. It makes little sense to talk here about things typical of this city, who are interested, they will easily extract the desired information from the Internet, books, stories of their friends who have been there, etc.
What struck me the most in New York was the almost parallel worlds inhabited by immigrants from all over the world. It is only natural that people tend to settle among their own kind in ethnic, linguistic and economic terms. Therefore, different areas are populated by ethnically diverse immigrants who reproduce in New York the culture of the part of the world from which they came. Sometimes the dividing line between these areas can be just one street, such as 96th Street, which separates the fashionable part of Manhattan from the infamous Harlem. What is shown to the whole world in films and magazines as a New York business card is that part of Manhattan between Harlem and China Town, where the headquarters of transnational corporations, the UN and other international organizations are located, and which is populated mainly by wealthy Americans .
In the rest of the city (which is about 80% of its area) you will feel like in some third world country. For example, most of Brooklyn and Queens are populated by people from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. The Bronx is almost entirely populated by migrants from Mexico and Latin America. We can say that New York is a huge likeness of the UN General Assembly, which brings together representatives of the most diverse peoples of the Earth who do not have a common language, a common faith, a common culture, or a common moral code. I remember that I have often been surprised to hear from Americans that New York is not America, if you want to live in real America, you need to go to some small town. Later, the meaning of what they were telling me became clear to me.
New York is a kind of laboratory where the technology for transforming European and Christian (basically) American civilization into an egalitarian society of all races, religions, cultures and tribes that have nothing in common except economic interests has been worked out. However, during this transformation, New York completely lost its American character and identity. Obviously, this did not happen by chance. Time has shown that New York is a prototype of what the liberal elite is gradually turning the entire United States into, and what it would like to turn the rest of the world into.
American outback
Having earned enough money to pay for the first two years of study, I was able to start classes at the graduate school of the University of North Carolina (in early 1995). Its educational campus is located in the state capital, the city of Raleigh. Compared to New York, Raleigh caused a sensation: I finally got into normal, traditional America!
Studying at the university brought a lot of surprises and made many interesting observations, and most importantly, it made it possible to really understand the mentality of Native Americans in many ways, because, despite the many people I recognized in cosmopolitan New York, most of them were either visitors or immigrants in the first generation.
Honestly, the high level of requirements presented at the faculty of aerospace engineering, where I took theoretical training, was a surprise to me. After studying at the Moscow Aviation Institute back in Soviet times, I presumptuously thought that it would be difficult to surprise me with something. But in the first semester I had to literally exert all my strength in order to at least manage to take the term papers on time. Term papers on the theory passed were issued every week, and not once a semester, and they had to be submitted no later than the specified day and no later than the specified hour on that day, otherwise the work would not be read at all. The theoretical level as a whole was quite high and practical work on the material covered was carried out very intensively.
At my faculty, about half of the students were foreigners, mainly from China and India, many of them received funding from their governments, with a guarantee of employment upon returning home. At the computer department, for example, the number of foreign students in general reached 70%. I remember how students from India and China respected Russia and told me that many of the textbooks they studied were published in the Soviet Union, and later were translated in their country.
Americans preferred to study at humanitarian or business-oriented faculties, since they considered studies related to the natural sciences or technical specialties too complex and with very uncertain prospects for further employment. However, those “techies” -Americans with whom I had a chance to study, made the best impression. Engaged in good faith, about some kind of "hack" there was no question. In the American academic world, plagiarism is generally considered a serious crime, and I heard that there have been cases when they expelled from the university for this.
After two years of theoretical preparation, I passed the qualification exams and began work on a dissertation. Along with this, I had the opportunity to teach students studying for a bachelor's degree, and from that time the university began to pay for my tuition.
Naturally, through interaction with people in the educational process, through participation in various activities outside of school, mutual rapprochement occurs and an opportunity arises to speak more frankly on many topics. American students and graduate students could be well versed in their field and in some related fields. We could have an interesting conversation about a hobby or sport, but each of them had little idea of \u200b\u200bwhat was happening in the world around him. It was this narrow, limited worldview that struck me the most. Our conversations never went about politics, crime or the flood of the country by migrants who literally changed the face of everything around us. That is, the problems that Americans face every day and, moreover, the very causes that cause them, have never been discussed in private conversations, nor in companies. These topics are actually taboo in the United States.
Later, I was not very surprised by the presence of some unwritten list of topics that were prohibited for discussion, what is called political correctness in America. I would say that Americans are distinguished by alienated individualism, some apathy for the future of “this” country, as they said. Their thoughts are directed exclusively at their own survival and success. The exception was those Americans who already studied or worked abroad, their worldview after that changed greatly. Apparently, it is not in vain that they say that everything is relative.
Golden State
After defending my dissertation in 2000 and receiving a US Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering, I was offered to continue my research work as a research fellow at the NASA Ames Center, located near San Francisco. The Bush 1980s Space Research Initiative was quietly buried in the mid-90s, and the ISS, the International Space Station, became NASA's top priority. Therefore, in the center of them. Ames, instead of developing a human expedition to Mars, we were engaged in the creation of landing vehicles capable of delivering autonomous rovers to the planet’s surface, significantly larger than the first successful Pathfinder rover, which arrived on Mars in 1997. The result of this work was the successful landing of the Spirit rover in 2004, and the large Martian Science Laboratory (MSL) launched in November of this year, with the Curiosity rover on board, already weighing about a ton and the size of a passenger car.
In California, near Los Angeles, there is another NASA center, although formally it is called the "Jet Propulsion Laboratory" (JPL), there is the assembly, testing and management of all interplanetary probes and landing vehicles. The creation of two NASA centers in California in the 1950s was no coincidence. After World War II, California became the most populated state with the most powerful economy. Until the mid-70s, California was the focus of aviation and space companies, while its school and university education system was considered the best in the country, and the crime rate was very low. At that time, the Americans called California the "golden state."
I did not find that “golden” California, but in many ways I saw a completely different state. In 2001, California was already a little like the rest of the United States in its character and composition of its population. While studying in North Carolina, I heard from the Americans more than once: they say that California is not America anymore, because it is the most liberal state. It seemed to me that after the first two years of life in New York, to see in America something even less American would not be easy. But in the California where I came, I sometimes got the feeling that I was more likely to be in Mexico, and not in America. Because of the huge number of Mexican migrants living wherever I am.
I remember how in 2005 California was declared the first state in the United States, where whites became a minority. More precisely, they made up then 48% of its population, and yet in the mid-70s their number was about 90% of the population. Over the past decades, California has gone through a colossal demographic transformation, due to legal and illegal migration, most of which were Indian peasants from rural Mexico and Central America.
Migrants from Mexico and other Third World countries form their ethnic enclaves wherever they settle and continue to live by the same rules and customs that exist in their homeland. Their receipt of naturalization documents does not necessarily make them Americans. As a rule, these migrants remain loyal to their country of origin and hardly assimilate. In addition, the authorities officially profess the ideology of multiculturalism. Such newly-made "Americans" often do not want to respect American traditions and hostel rules and actively impose their lifestyle and their standards of behavior. It happens that the children of migrants express a more hostile attitude towards America than their parents. For example, many of the Mexican youth who were already born in the United States openly declare that they would like to return to Mexico the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, which became part of the United States under the 1848 treaty.
Not knowing English, not having an education, millions of migrants receive various assistance from the California treasury, which is carefully provided by liberal politicians. To finance the welfare of migrants, in the form of payment for their housing, food, medicine and education, California had to raise taxes on its middle class to the highest level in the country. Since the influx of migrants amounts to millions, there is still not enough money, and this has led to a catastrophic deterioration of the school system and medical services in the state, as well as increased crime. And the middle class, that is, taxpayers, began to leave California to those states where taxes are still lower, schools are better, and crime is less. Thus, there is a gradual replacement of the indigenous population of California with migrants from Mexico and Central America. As a result of the constant influx of millions of tax consumers and the outflow of millions of taxpayers, the once "golden state" declared itself bankrupt in 2010.
Processes similar to those in California are currently underway in Texas, Arizona, and New Mexico. With some lag, they are followed by the states of Denver, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey. With a continuous influx of migrants across the southern border of the United States and their significantly higher birth rates than those of the indigenous population, this is only a matter of not so distant time, when similar trends will begin to appear in other parts of the country. The change of these processes is hardly foreseen, because the Republicans are acting in the interests of business, hungry for the profits from the exploitation of cheap labor of migrants, and the Democrats stimulate the influx of migrants by providing them with generous social assistance in exchange for their electoral votes, after they receive citizenship and can vote .
The scale of this migration has such profound implications that it leads to the cultural and social fragmentation of the country.
The dilemmas that the United States will solve in the foreseeable future can be summarized as follows: how to avoid social anarchy, with continued de-industrialization of the country, a steady decline in the American middle class, and an ever-growing number of migrants incapable of cultural assimilation? And how to maintain the integrity of the country in an ethnically and socially fragmented multicultural society into which the United States has transformed liberal immigration and economic policies?
Liberal Monetarism in Action
After eliminating the Soviet Union as its global competitor, the American liberal elite started talking about globalization and decided to create a free market economy zone throughout North America by concluding a tripartite free trade agreement between Mexico, the United States and Canada (NAFTA) in 1994. As a result, a trade union was formed, the ultimate goal of which was the creation of a single economic space and the removal of customs barriers to the free movement of goods, goods and people. After that, millions of migrants and illegal immigrants rushed to the United States. Who needs America, in which migrants from Mexico poured an avalanche?
The true beneficiary of this is the financial and business community, whose interests are precisely the liberal elite of America. In their cynical understanding and in full accordance with the liberal principles of the free market. Like, to increase profits, in principle, only two things are required: minimizing the cost of labor and maximizing consumption. Migrants from the South provide her with both. Population growth due to poor and illiterate migrants from the South leads, on the one hand, to lower wages. On the other hand, to a higher demand in the housing and services market, and therefore, to an increase in the profits of those who live off this wage labor, the issuance of loans at loan interest rates, and the receipt of dividends from investments.
The liberal elite of America calls itself “progressive”, saying that it was able to rise above such a seemingly hopelessly outdated concept as national patriotism. She claims that she has the best feelings equally for all the inhabitants of the Earth and that the very difference in such concepts as “legal citizen of the country” and “illegal migrant” has lost all meaning for her. In this case, one can only wonder how anyone who does not have a special love for their country and their compatriots can generally love someone or something? It is noteworthy that none of the “progressive" liberals wants to live in areas inhabited by migrants and illegal immigrants, instead they prefer to settle in fashionable neighborhoods that have reliable private security.
The language spoken by migrants and their foreign culture, as well as the gradual decline in living standards in America itself to the level of a third world country, excites the American business community least of all, as its profits grow precisely thanks to this process. The import of unskilled migrants makes it possible to use them in the service sector, while paying them several times less than their own citizens who are accustomed to much higher living standards.
From the point of view of the liberal elite, this is a completely logical approach, since it, in the pursuit of superprofits, since the 1980s, has withdrawn the main industrial production of the USA to the countries of the Pacific basin, limiting the American labor market mainly to the service sector, which does not require highly skilled workers strength. It turns out that since the beginning of the 80s, the middle class has been cut back on the opportunity to have skilled and well-paid jobs in industry. And with the beginning of the 90s, in addition to this, they began to push him out of the service sector with the help of low-paid migrants.
In 1995, the United States joined the WTO. For the American middle class, the cumulative effect of America’s accession to the WTO turned out to be very similar in many respects to the fact that the United States entered into a trade and customs union with Mexico. First of all, this is the loss of millions of jobs, the ruin and closure of tens of thousands of small and medium-sized companies that serve as the main employers in America. These companies basically could not compete with manufacturers of similar products in Southeast Asia or Latin America, where workers have an order of magnitude lower wages. Paradoxically, among the most affected by the WTO were computer and other high-tech small and medium-sized companies. The fact is that after the abolition or reduction of customs duties, manufacturers of computer components from China and Taiwan began to supply their products to the United States at much lower prices than local suppliers who had no choice but to leave the business. And why bring components to distant lands and seven seas to America, if you can collect products from them on the spot? Therefore, now on almost any American high-tech product you will read: “developed in the USA”, and in the same place - “assembled elsewhere”. That is, for the entire production and assembly cycle, the American owner of the company does not pay salaries to his compatriots, but to workers and engineers somewhere in Brazil, India, China or Taiwan.
A similar approach has spread to many other industries.
From personal experience, I can say that if in the mid-90s, probably half of the goods in American trade had the inscription “MadeinUSA”, then in ten years almost everything, with rare exceptions, was made in China, Taiwan or somewhere something else.
With the development of Internet communications, the next step was that now the engineering development of many products or the creation of computer software, American companies began to order in India and China, because there they can do it qualitatively and on time, but many times cheaper. And with the same destructive effect for the American labor market, as is the case with the production of components and finished products from them. Moreover, such a development and production scheme contributes to the continuous transfer of technology to manufacturing countries. This largely explains the fact that during its membership in the WTO, America has lost its former undeniable scientific and technological leadership, while India and China are rapidly closing the technological gap with the United States.
Progressive deindustrialization, the service sector, increasingly relying on the labor of low-paid migrants, the impoverished and declining middle class, formerly the backbone of the United States - such is the American "post-industrial" economy today. I well remember how in the 90s liberals spoke to Americans about the benefits of creating an economic union with Mexico, the benefits of WTO membership and the transfer of industry to Asia and Latin America. In the 2000s, liberals portrayed them as fabulous prospects for a new, globalized economy based on Internet technologies and the transfer of computer and engineering developments to India and China.
Ruin
The implications of liberal economic policies are well reflected in the nature of US public debt growth. The US national debt for the period from 1945 to 1965 did not exceed $ 250 billion. With the beginning of liberal social transformations, public debt began to grow and reached 1 trillion by 1980. But when liberalization of the economy began in the 80s, and then its globalization in the 90s, the public debt has already begun to grow exponentially and has reached an astronomical value of $ 15 trillion to date. With the continuation of the policy of liberal monetarism, the essence of which is the privatization of profits and the socialization of losses, the only question is: when will this financial pyramid collapse? The consequences of its collapse will be truly catastrophic for America and very serious for the rest of the world.
In fact, the real conflict here is between the middle class of America and its liberal elite. This elite is loyal only to the money and interests of banks and transnational corporations that it owns. She is no longer interested in the welfare of the American middle class. It benefits from cheap labor from Mexico and Central America, although American cities are turning into ethnic Bantustans, organized crime is growing, and schools, hospitals and prisons are crowded with migrants who do not speak English and are hostile to the indigenous population. The liberal elite does not care because she lives in closed areas, her children attend expensive private schools, and she completely isolated herself from the multicultural society that she herself spawned by her policy of globalization and the export of cheap labor. For the liberal elite, America has become just a place to make money. She no longer considers the United States her home. The liberal elite is cosmopolitan, it has possessions all over the world, and when a really destructive economic crisis occurs and then ethnic conflicts begin, it will simply move to one of its cozy shelters to ride out the storm. When American leaders speak of “American interests”, this is nothing more than a cover for certain group aspirations of those who have full financial and economic power, and who no longer have anything to do with the American people or their interests.
The fact that the liberalization of the economy, its globalization, joining the NAFTA and the WTO, turned out to be very beneficial for the financial and business elite of America - there is no doubt, because by doing so it radically reduced its economic costs and increased its profits just as radically. But in the process of enrichment, the liberals destroyed the economic base of the middle class of America, almost turned the United States into a third world country, flooding it with tens of millions of non-assimilable migrants, and laid the foundation for future bloody interethnic conflicts.