i'm not much of a patriot, being almost genetically averse to nationalism in all its various forms, as a godless coastal elite

but its basically impossible to overstate the opportunities the USA has created for me, my family, and many others like us

so, fuck yeah, America 🇺🇸🎇

as Jews escaping the rising tide of antisemitism in the wake of the collapse of the USSR, the US took us in

while we were poor as shit for a while, we had the opportunity to make a living here, dependent on our abilities to leverage our skills to be useful to the market

this sounds trite and obvious to many, but its important to realize just how uncommon this is throughout the world; in many places, your resources and lifestyle are highly predetermined by the lottery of your birth

yes, the US has its own massive issues, but the market provides

the Randian logic of enlightened selfishness truly has made its home in the American economy, where all is subverted to serve the interests of Capital; the playbook for success is pretty straightforward: be smart and useful.

this, being the highest principle, is why the US works

yes, its an incredibly dysfunctional society, yes, there is massive inequity and poverty traps abound, and yes, the rich have massive advantages and the playing field is not even

but if you think this is bad, try living somewhere else, especially in the post-Soviet states

many here take it for granted that those in power will do anything & everything to make the most money possible

this is absolutely untrue in other parts of the world, where old grudges, prejudices, & short-sightedness are the rule

the old world is being replaced for a reason

free markets are not the solution to every problem; hell, they don't even really exist, because they cant

but markets are an excellent solution to a wide variety of complex socioeconomic problems, in a computationally-undeniable way (altho many do)

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RT @pee_zombie
contemporary society is founded on a sort of economic namaste: "the money-lover in me recognizes the money-lover in you"

money is the ultimate intermediary, a translati…
https://twitter.com/pee_zombie/status/1396173113608577026

i'm incredibly grateful that my parents left their entire lives back there to make a new one here; while growing up as a 0th-gen immigrant has its own challenges, they pale in comparison to those of trying to make a living in a poor and corrupt system, as a persecuted minority

honestly, i do find much of American culture deeply abhorrent and repulsive, low-class, unsophisticated, naive, all these other words

but i'd much prefer to live in a country like this, rather than one where people like me are explicitly denied opportunities on genetic grounds