The United States of America is the most populous country in the world that embraces immigrants; it has over 50 million immigrants, winning the race by a long distance between it and Germany, which comes in second place by 15.8 million immigrants.[1] Consequently, the U.S. is the most diverse country on the planet, especially in major cities such as New York City in which more than 700 hundred languages are spoken.[2]
The U.S. in the Eyes of the Immigrants and the Rest of the World
Most immigrants and people around the world perceive the U.S. as God's heaven, the land of opportunities, and dreamland. The truth, however, is that people need to work hard to fulfill their dreams and take advantage of the opportunities. The issue is that some or even many immigrants or those who seek immigration to the U.S. don't know this, and they get startled when they arrive in the U.S. and see how difficult life is and how challenging the market is. In fact, we make it more difficult than it should be due to our unreasonable expectations of ease and comfort and that we will live the American dream without any due hardships or burdens.
Life in the U.S. is like a giant machine, and the vast majority of people are the cogs in this machine. People should understand that they are obliged to fulfill their part and their difficult task in the machinery system, or they will be replaced by another cog because the machine could not fail due to an inefficient or malfunctioning cog. But, on the other hand, if they fulfill their duty and function as the Manual states, they will be rewarded and perhaps generously rewarded. And, in the worst-case scenario, they will be able to survive, but not necessarily thrive, unless they work smart and not only hard. Because to thrive, we must also make ourselves unique and be a very important component for the functionality of the machine. Even then, we are still replaceable, but not easily replaceable because we may then cause damage, even if the damage is minor and sometimes with no noticeable consequences, but a risk of a delay in the machine, even the most minor delay could eventually lead to failure in a system that has no mercy for a -Butterfly wing flap- (Butterfly Effect) and ruthless concerning the 4th industrial revolution, and neocolonialism fierce World War.
Earthly Perspective vs Heavenly Perspective
Unlike most of the world, people in the U.S. need to work hard, and they will be likely fairly awarded for the hard work they perform; in most of the world, people either do not work hard and therefore do not earn sufficient money to survive, work hard and still do not earn sufficient money to survive due to unfairness and fragility of the economy, or in the best case scenario, they can barely survive. In the U.S. it is also easier than in most of the world to start a business, nevertheless it is challenging to excel in a business, but at least you can easily, with reasonable effort, keep your business afloat for as long as you wish. Probably, it is because the U.S. economy (GDP) is, by far, the largest economy in the world,[3] and the government helps businesses with financial hardships, especially, small businesses. Once more, do not unreasonably expect to be Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos overnight or even over the years because it takes decades of hard and smart work in addition to much luck to achieve such success unless you inherit a wealthy aunt or get lucky enough to win the lottery, and in the latter assumption, you will perhaps lose the money and get back to your old and miserable life because as they say "easy come easy go"
The Truth and the Solution
The U.S. is not Utopia because Utopia is only in heaven, not on earth, but from an earthly and realistic perspective, the U.S. is, in the totality of circumstances, considered one of the best, if not the best country in the world to live in considering important factors such as the stability of economy; strength of education; efficiency of the health system; technological development, and most importantly, the human rights rules and regulation against discriminatory treatment and governmental, and law enforcement harassment.
Any person who lives in the U.S. even if not a citizen has the same constitutional rights as a non-citizen; more surprisingly, even undocumented immigrants have the same rights as documented immigrants. Meaning that a permanent resident or even an unlawful resident has for instance; a fourth amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures, which gives them reasonable immunity against being detained or even interrogated without a lawful warrant or legitimate probable cause, and that they also have a fifth amendment right to remain silent during an interrogation or law enforcement encounters or even in court –in criminal cases- to not incriminate themselves with answering any incriminatory questions. Nevertheless, this is not the case in most of the world, and some countries do not provide the same protection to their citizens.
Fairness requires mentioning the counter-arguments that, for example, say that the crime rates are increasing in the U.S. more than in any place around the world, therefore, it renders the U.S. an unsafe country to live in, this argument is rebutted because the if we, for instance, consider murder crimes in 2022 which is about 6.6 per every 100,000 people compared to almost 10 murders per every 100,000 people in the early 90s we will conclude that murder crimes have been declined.[4] What makes it sound unsafe is the dissemination of information, especially at the time of globalization and social media, U.S. news spreads all over the world at the same time it spreads inside the U.S. itself; even many people all over the world watch U.S. main media streams and follow U.S. social media accounts more than the Americans themselves. Now, almost every person has a cellphone camera and many crimes such as Subway attacks are being filmed and instantly posted online and spread all over the world because there is no country more than Uncle Sam's that has online traffic and attracts people's attention.
In sum, if we perceive the U.S. from an earthly perspective and that Utopia is only in heaven, we will reach peace and comfort. Then we may achieve the American dream and get the most out of the land of opportunities because it is, in my opinion, and in a neutral and detached point of view, one of the best, and arguably the best place on earth to live in based on many factors which some of them are above-mentioned.