What life is really like in America. How America Really Lives How Ordinary People Live in America

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The United States of America and Russia - are they really so different from each other or is it just a myth?

Each country has its own laws and customs, which may not always be understandable to other nations. However, for successful interaction and “world peace” we need to respect and, most importantly, understand the mentality of a country that is foreign to us.

Every nation is the fruit of the present mentality, and it has its own goals.

Each nation is the fruit of an established mentality, and it has its own goals.

~Mikhail Reshetnikov

After all, only if you understand another culture, it is easier to find contact with its representatives and establish important business and social connections.

We have already talked about the life of Americans in our article. In this article we will introduce you to some differences between two cultures - the USA and Russia. So, let's go!

Typical American family

In America, the main thing is to make a career and get as much joy and pleasure from life as possible.

Americans are clearly in no hurry to start a family, while in Russia they are willing to give up unmarried twenty-year-old beauties for at least someone, because it is already too late. What's important in America make a career and get as much joy and pleasure from life as possible .

Unlike us Russians, Americans are also in no hurry to reproduce. And the wedding takes place wherever they please, showing the freedom of choice that is so valued in the States.

Did you know that Americans wear wedding rings on their ring fingers just like us, but we wear them on our right hand, and they wear them on their left! So be careful when you want to ask a cute American man or woman on a date.

The only thing a must at an American wedding- presence at the ceremony official who has the right to register a marriage. The attitude towards the rest of the wedding ceremony is very democratic, especially in comparison with Russian traditions, of which we ourselves are already tired.

Attitude to finance

Russians often live by the principle “Here and now!”

It may seem that Americans are greedy, but in fact they are very economical and scrupulous.

Regardless of position and salary, Americans constantly count their expenses down to the last cent., in order to, through analysis and control of funds, try to spend the money earned wisely and most profitably.

For Russians, it's the other way around. They are not very good at saving money and often live according to the principle “Here and now!”, even though the standard of living and income are lower than in America.

Working days of Americans

Russian workers often decide for themselves what to do for them, what their colleagues should do, and what not to do.

Americans work very hard, but they are never in love with their work, like Russians.

For an American, a subordinate is a servant, but for a Russian, it is a close person. Therefore, Russian workers often decide for themselves what to do for them, what their colleagues should do, and what not to do. A conversation with your boss more often resembles an argument than a conversation.

Americans have a clear hierarchy. An American boss cannot call for no reason or just to ask if everything is okay. American workers must know their place, work hard, and be as invisible as possible to their bosses.

Russians will discuss every issue that arises with their superiors.

How Russians and Americans relax

Potato chips are considered a side dish among Americans.

A Russian feast is not only a reason to eat, but also a reason to see all your friends and relatives. Russian people carefully prepare for the feast - they start cooking in the early morning and finish in the evening.

And it doesn’t matter who comes to you - relatives or work colleagues. The first, second, third and dessert will be presented on the table.

Americans on the contrary, don't bother cooking. Most often, alcohol and all kinds of snacks to go with it are presented on the table. In America they don’t understand how you can puff away in the kitchen all day. They would rather order food at a restaurant or cut cheese to go with wine.

“How are you” in American style.

If you ask a Russian person “How are you?”, he will definitely start telling you his news.

In the US the phrase "How are you?" is not a question, it is a greeting that should be answered briefly: I'm fine, I'm good .

Americans are polite, if you are not in a close relationship with a person, then he will not be interested in hearing how your children are and that you were promoted at work. It is a bit tactless to discuss your problems simply with an acquaintance.

English-speaking people use the mnemonic “yellow-blue bus” to successfully master the difficult phrase in Russian “I love you”.

In Russian-speaking culture, the question “How are you?” They answer to the point, most often they begin to talk about their life and what interesting things happened, what problems were solved, and what problems appeared in life.

10 facts about Americans and Russians that you didn't know

The Russian language ranks twelfth among the most commonly spoken languages ​​in the United States. It is spoken by about 100 thousand Americans, and the Russian diaspora in the United States numbers 3,000,000 people.

• There are 1,159 women per 1,000 men in Russia. The statistics are approximately the same in the USA.
• Russian people are extremely superstitious! For example, if you left home, forgetting something, then returning is a bad omen. To learn more about British superstitions you can in .
• Russia boasts the largest number of hackers in the world, and some of them are professionals who are hunted by leading US companies for employment purposes.
• Russian people cannot understand the goals of a foreigner who emigrates to Russia. On the other hand, the USA is one of the most popular countries for Russians in terms of emigration.

Russian language is considered one of the most difficult in the world. For example, nouns in Russian have “animacy”. This means that some "animate" nouns are considered more animate than inanimate ones. For example, in Russian, "Dead" is considered more alive than "corpse".

• In American restaurants you can order meat with any degree of doneness - well done, medium and rare. You will be surprised, but most Americans prefer to order rare steak.
• Even in supermarkets, at the checkout, you will always be given a paper bag or plastic bag, even if you bought one piece of fruit.
• Potato chips among Americans are considered part of a dish - a side dish, like Russians, for example, fried potatoes.
• If you want to open your own business, then the United States will not prevent you from doing so - it is quite simple, you do not need many documents.
• Texas is famous not only for its jeans, but also for its Santa Claus office. Any parent can make their child happy on Christmas Eve by ordering a real letter from Santa there.

Finally

Now you know features of US culture, the American mentality and we hope you have expanded your knowledge about Russian culture and learned something new for yourself. These two countries have a lot in common, so you can easily find a common language with smiling Americans.

America is a huge country with high economic level And comfortable conditions for life. Everything seems so attractive that many migrants dream of staying in the United States. But how do ordinary people actually live abroad? It is generally accepted that in America people earn a lot, and life is simple and pleasant. In order to figure out whether everything is so rosy, it is worth considering different aspects of life in the USA.

American character

How do they live in America? ordinary people? Basically, they are united by national traits - ease of communication, openness and friendliness. Americans are very polite, and in order not to offend another person, they can simply remain silent. Residents of America are free to move around the country and easily make acquaintances and make friends. Although there are certain invisible boundaries. Houses are separated by small hedges, and friendship does not imply interference in the affairs of a neighbor.

The conversation cannot discuss political, religious or financial issues. Mentioning social status is considered indecent. Americans are very fond of humor and pranks, but they are quite specific and not always understandable to foreigners. With the help of jokes, US residents smooth out conflict situations. They often express their own opinions using humor.

Everyday life

Is life difficult for people in the USA? The history of all families is approximately the same. American life largely centers around own home. The lawn in front of him is brought into perfect condition, even if there is not enough time for household chores. Americans do not make daily shopping trips, but stock up on food for a long time.

Paid predominantly credit cards and rarely in cash. Once a week, the whole family always gets together for dinner, discussing the news. Parties are held on the lawns to socialize with neighbors. Children are required to help their parents with housework - clearing snow, mowing the lawn, vacuuming, etc.

For this, their parents pay them small fees. American teenagers often work part-time at car washes, supermarkets, etc. This experience is considered mandatory, since grown children immediately leave their parents’ home after school and they need the skills of physical labor and earning money for a living.

Life style

How do people live in America? The day begins as in other countries. In the mornings, parents go to work (mostly in private cars), and children go to school on special buses. Housewives are engaged in housekeeping. Many teenagers drive their own cars, although their insurance costs much more than adults.

Almost all Americans visit various clubs, golf, bridge and other entertainment. Some US residents are members of public organizations and engage in charity work. Church parishioners organize dinners. Dishes for them are prepared at home and then placed on the common table. Children are involved in various clubs: ballroom dancing, tennis, etc.

Americans love to talk on the phone. Almost all families have notes posted on their refrigerators reminding who is in the family and what exactly needs to be done. Americans are distinguished by their smiling nature, and they take care of their personal and other people’s time. They prepare carefully for important negotiations and highly value punctuality. Almost all US residents follow a strict schedule, many use diaries.

Lifestyle

How do they live in America? ordinary Americans? Their lifestyle is quite dynamic. All week they are constantly on the move - work, errands. There are only weekends left for relaxation. These days, Americans go out with their families to parks, for walks, or to meet with friends. There are much fewer vacations and holidays in America than in Russia.

The average US citizen only takes one vacation a year. During vacation they prefer family trips to other states, to the countryside, to the mountains, etc. Wealthy Americans mostly vacation in Hawaii or the Bahamas. Residents of the United States are very fond of goods with discounts; purchases are rarely made without them.

All services, including medicine, are quite expensive, so a salary of several thousand dollars is considered low. You can only live on this money with great difficulty. To support a home, family, pay taxes, for education, etc., an American needs to receive at least 20 thousand dollars monthly. Smoking in public places is prohibited in America.

Alcoholic drinks are consumed in small quantities and mainly in the form of cocktails. Due to addiction to fast food, most Americans are prone to obesity. Sports are promoted to shed extra pounds. There are many elderly people in the United States who live alone. They are rarely visited by their children and grandchildren. Residents of the United States invite only family or close friends to their home; they prefer to meet with everyone else on neutral territory.

Real estate

The American way of life requires you to have your own home. But since it is not possible to save for it, most often houses are purchased on credit or taken out with 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 block and building material. In modern American homes, a spacious living room, children's and dining rooms are required. Americans buy houses with loans (usually at 10 percent per annum) for 30 years. The period, terms and amount of payments depend on the level of salary, advance payment and cost of the cottage.

Job

How do ordinary working Americans live? They have an eight-hour workday and two days off each week. Employers offer different schedules. Americans can choose to work part-time, at home, etc. For a stable and high standard of living in America, it is necessary to have higher education. In the USA, you can’t get a job “through connections.” The standard of living depends on annual income all family. Salary depends on education and profession acquired. The highest paid specialists:

• television workers;
• managers;
• doctors;
• lawyers.

Their income can be from 15 to 20 thousand dollars monthly. Teachers, junior medical staff, workers government agencies have less wages. In America - hourly payment. Minimum wage- approximately 7.5 dollars per hour.

The level of income largely depends on the state. In them, the same position can be paid differently. Americans' highest income comes from own business or private activity. Any US resident can become an entrepreneur. The state supports the development of small businesses.

Education

Schools are divided into elementary, middle and high schools. Moreover, they are all in different buildings. High school students start studying at 7 a.m., and kids at 8:30 a.m. Tuition in many schools is paid, the cost depends on the area of ​​residence. Payment is made once a year. The amount is included in the general tax. The funds are then distributed by the state.

Education can be obtained in both public and private schools. Studying at universities is carried out mainly on a paid basis - from 3-10 thousand dollars annually. Colleges last four years. Part of the payment is covered by the state. Foreign students are allowed to enroll in US universities. A special visa is issued for this.

Food prices

How do ordinary people live in America? Not all Americans can afford to go to restaurants and cafes. In the USA, it is common 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 be approaching their expiration dates, seemingly good meat may be bursting with hormones, and fresh and beautiful vegetables may be bursting with pesticides. There are a lot of quality products sold inexpensively. The United States 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 over 65 years of age have the right to receive health insurance from the state. This category also includes children under 19 years of age.

Each company provides its employees with insurance, through which payments can be received. 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.

Free medical care is provided for low-income citizens. Americans spend 30 to 50 percent of their income on taxes. The largest deductions:

• state taxes;
• federal;
• sales taxes;
• for real estate and property.

Low-income citizens, pensioners and students are not subject to taxes.

How to live in America: a view from the inside. Credit "trap"

Almost all ordinary people take out loans. Cards are opened in childhood and adolescence. Almost everyone in the US has a savings account. This is insurance for a rainy day. Savings are used in extreme cases (job loss, etc.). Americans have to do financial planning ahead of time.

Kindergartens are paid. Approximately $700 is paid monthly for one child. Sports, dance and other sections in which children and schoolchildren are usually enrolled are expensive. Against the backdrop of all the payments, even a week of illness and disability can lead middle-class residents to bankruptcy.

Payment of bills

How does the average American middle class live? Almost every second family pays off a mortgage or rents a home. A small two-story cottage costs about $5,000 monthly, excluding utilities. Medical insurance, car insurance, student loans, etc. all cost a lot of money.

Cars are most often rented, bought less often. But almost every adult family member has a car. Monthly payments for cars range from 200 to 400 dollars monthly. If family members do not have a good credit history, then own home and a cloudless life can only be dreamed of.

Sales

How do ordinary people live in America? They prefer to shop at sales. Americans dress simply and try not to spend a lot of money on clothes. When things wear out, they are taken to a humanitarian aid center. There are many stores in America with discounted branded clothing. What might cost thousands in other countries can be purchased on sale for $50 in the US.

Discounts are offered in stores all the time. Many sales are organized in honor of holidays. After them, the remaining things come true at even greater rates. low prices. At large sales, queues begin to form several hours before the store opens, and some even set up tents on nearby lawns in which to spend the night. Most often this happens at supermarkets with household appliances.

Coffee mania and fast food restaurants

How do ordinary people live in America? They spend a lot of money on coffee. In the mornings there are long queues outside the coffee shop. Then they repeat during lunch and after work. Even though coffee can be made at home for much less, millions of Americans spend hundreds of dollars every year on the invigorating drink. Bistros with fast food and frozen semi-finished products for microwaves are no less in 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 out a loan for his needs, he will most likely miss a semester, refuse to travel, but will never ask for a loan of money. This is considered indecent.

All three emergency services always respond to calls. Moreover, firefighters are most often the first to respond 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 America for a professional conference, it seemed to me, who had just graduated from the Aviation Institute in Moscow (MAI), that I would see a country that in many ways could become an example for my Motherland, which at that time was just embarking on the path, as we were told then, democratic reforms. Then I began to discover America, first studying at the university, then working in my specialty. Gradually, it became obvious to me that American reality is absolutely not the same as it is broadcast to the whole world by biased media. It is now clear to many that America is seriously ill, its economy is undermined, its national debt is growing exponentially, and the prospects for the country as a single cultural and national whole are unclear. Having lived there for 17 years and watched how America has changed, I can say that the gradient of these changes is truly negative.

Ashes of the “liberal experiment”

Many commentators explain the current problems of the United States solely in monetary and economic terms. This seems to me very superficial and does not reflect much of what happened there in reality.

Financial and economic problems are only a consequence of the real cultural and ideological transformation imposed by liberals on American society over the past decades. The liberal revolution began in the USA back 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 it is unlikely to be possible to reverse the negative trends that are gaining strength in America. Unfortunately, I also see that the liberal reforms currently being imposed in Russia, and the algorithms by which they are carried out, are very similar to what I observed in the United States. I would even say that the States serve as a kind of laboratory in which one can see what future awaits Russia in the not-too-distant future if the order of things in our country does not change.

I don’t 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 makes me believe that this can be prevented? The fact is that in Russia, despite 20 years of catastrophic reforms, the processes of deconstruction of traditional morality, atomization of society and the destruction of 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 protest sentiments against the unjust system created in Russia after 1991 resulted in numerous rallies throughout the country. Many people have already realized the disastrous nature of the path imposed on Russia. These people, whose consciousness has not been distorted by liberal propaganda, will be able to synthesize a new philosophy aimed at the revival of Russia.

There is an obvious attempt by some liberals, removed from power by the current ruling regime, to seize the initiative of popular discontent and use it to return power to themselves. If the liberals succeed, they will continue the same disastrous course that is being pursued by the current regime, with the only difference that instead of “national specificities” they will use American patterns of liberalism, from which domestic imitators draw their political inspiration. Both the course of the current regime, which has turned Russia into a cross between a raw materials appendage of the West and a financial oligarchy, and the creation of a “multicultural society with a post-industrial economy” according to the American model, 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 USA, to talk about how liberal monetarism itself, the country’s entry into the WTO, the creation of a trade union with Mexico and the subsequent mass migration to the USA of cheap labor from Mexico itself changed America. and other Latin American countries.

I would then like to examine the reasons why liberals have transformed the United States using free markets, globalization, political correctness, and tolerance as the tools of that transformation. Its result was that America, which back in the 1970s was based on European and Christian culture, had a powerful industry and was the world's main creditor, has now been turned into a country of a “multicultural society”, a “post-industrial economy”, an impoverished middle class, which has become the world's leading debtor.

If the liberal course in Russia is maintained or continued under a new guise, then its result will be the loss of the remnants of Russian sovereignty, the final destruction of domestic industry, a decline in the living standards of the population, the gradual replacement of the indigenous peoples of Russia due to mass migration from outside, subsequent large-scale interethnic conflicts, and ultimately, the end of Russian statehood.

New York as a premonition

In August 1992, I came to America to participate in the congress of the International Astronautical Federation. At the student session of the congress, where I gave a report based on my graduate work, the author of these lines met with representatives of the research and training center (MarsMissionResearchCenter), organized by NASA at the University of North Carolina, with the aim of training young specialists for the Space Research Initiative proclaimed in 1989. I was offered to apply for graduate school (GraduateSchool) at this center. I was glad to see their offer, 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 to be 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 education, and if I still want to study at this center, then 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 studying 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, where you can see a lot of interesting things - both beautiful and not so beautiful. There is no particular point in talking here about things typical for this city; those who are interested can easily extract the desired information from the Internet, books, stories of their friends who have been there, etc.

What struck me most about New York was the almost parallel existing worlds inhabited by immigrants from all parts of the world. It is quite natural that people tend to settle among those similar to themselves in ethnic, linguistic and economically. Therefore, different areas are inhabited 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 notorious Harlem. What is shown to the whole world in films and magazines, like business card New York is that part of Manhattan between Harlem and Chinatown where the headquarters of transnational corporations, the UN and others are located. international organizations, and which is populated predominantly by wealthy Americans.

In the rest of the city (which is about 80% of its area) you will feel like you are in some third world country. For example, much of Brooklyn and Queens is populated by people of African, Asian, and Caribbean descent. The Bronx is almost entirely populated by migrants from Mexico and Latin America. We can say that New York is a huge resemblance to the UN General Assembly, where representatives of the most diverse peoples of the Earth are brought together, who have neither a common language, nor a common faith, nor a common culture, nor a common moral code. I remember more than once hearing with surprise 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 of transforming European and Christian (at its core) American civilization was developed - into an egalitarian society of all races, religions, cultures and tribes that have nothing in common with each other, except economic interests. However, in the process of 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 school, I was able to begin graduate school at North Carolina State University (in early 1995). Its educational campus is located in the state capital, the city of Raleigh. Compared to New York, Raleigh gave me the feeling: I was finally in normal, traditional America!

Studying at the university brought many surprises and gave many interesting observations, and most importantly, it allowed me to really understand the mentality of Native Americans in many ways, since, despite the many people I got to know in cosmopolitan New York, most of them were either visitors or immigrants in the first generation.

To be honest, the high level of demands placed on me at the Department of Aerospace Engineering, where I received my theoretical training, was a surprise to me. After studying at the Moscow Aviation Institute back in Soviet times, I arrogantly thought that it would be difficult to surprise me with anything. But in the first semester I had to literally strain all my strength in order to at least have time to submit my coursework on time. Coursework according to the theory passed, they 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 accepted at all. The theoretical level was generally quite high and practical work The study on the material covered was carried out very intensively.

In my department, about half the students were foreigners, mostly from China and India, many of them receiving funding from their governments, with a guarantee of employment when they returned home. At the computer department, for example, the number of foreign students generally reached 70%. I remember how students from India and China spoke with respect about Russia and told me that many of the textbooks they studied from were published in the Soviet Union, and later translated in their country.

Americans preferred to study at humanities or business-oriented faculties, since they considered studies related to the natural sciences or technical specialties to be too difficult and with very uncertain prospects for further employment. However, those American “techies” with whom I had the opportunity to study made the best impression. They worked conscientiously, there could be no talk of any kind of “hack work.” In the American academic world, plagiarism is generally considered a serious crime, and I have heard that there have been cases where people were expelled from the university for it.

After two years of theoretical training, I passed the qualifying exams and began work on my dissertation. At the same time, I had the opportunity to teach students studying for a bachelor's degree, and from that time on the university began to pay for my education.

Naturally, through interaction with people in the educational process, through participation in various activities outside of school, mutual rapprochement occurs and the opportunity arises to speak more openly on many topics. American students and graduate students could have an excellent understanding of their field and some related fields. We could have an interesting conversation about some hobby or sport, but each of them had a rather poor idea of ​​what was going on in the world around him. It was this narrow, limited worldview that struck me most of all. Our conversations never turned to politics, crime or the flooding of the country with migrants who were literally changing the face of everything around us before our eyes. That is, the problems that Americans face every day and, moreover, the very reasons that cause them, have never been discussed in one-on-one conversations, or in companies. These topics are actually taboo in the United States.

Later, I was no longer very surprised by the presence of a certain unwritten list of topics forbidden for discussion, what in America is called political correctness. I would say that Americans are distinguished by aloof individualism, a kind of apathy towards the future of “this” country, as they said. Their thoughts are aimed exclusively at their own survival and success. The exception was those Americans who had already studied or worked abroad; their worldview changed greatly after that. Apparently, it’s not in vain that they say that everything is learned by comparison.

"Golden State"

After defending my dissertation in 2000 and receiving a US doctorate (Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering), I was offered to continue research work as research fellow at the NASA Ames Center near San Francisco. Bush's Space Exploration Initiative of the late 1980s was quietly buried in the mid-90s, and NASA's top priority became the International Space Station. Therefore, in the center they. Ames, instead of developing a human expedition to Mars, we were developing landers capable of delivering autonomous rovers to the surface of the planet, 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 launch in November of this year of the large Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), which has on board the Curiosity rover, already with a mass of about a ton and a size of c a car.

In California, near Los Angeles, there is another NASA center, although it is formally called the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where all interplanetary probes and landing vehicles are assembled, tested and controlled. The creation of two NASA centers in California in the 50s was not accidental. After World War II, California became the most populous state with the most powerful economy. Until the mid-1970s, California was a hub for aviation and space companies, while its school and university education system was considered the best in the country and its crime rate was very low. At that time, Americans called California the “golden state.”

I didn’t find that “golden” California, but in many ways I saw a completely different state. In 2001, California no longer resembled the rest of the United States in character or population composition. While still studying in North Carolina, I heard more than once from Americans: they say that California is no longer America, because it is the most liberal state. It seemed to me that after the first two years of living in New York, it would no longer be easy to see anything even less American in America. But in California, where I arrived, sometimes it felt like I was more in Mexico than in America. Because of the huge number of Mexican migrants living wherever I was.

I remember how in 2005 California was declared the first state in the United States where whites became a minority. More precisely, they then made up 48% of its population, but back 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, the majority of which were Indian peasants from rural areas Mexico and Central America.

Migrants from Mexico and other third world countries form their own ethnic enclaves wherever they settle and continue to live by the same rules and customs that exist in their homelands. Their receipt of naturalization papers does not necessarily make them Americans. Typically, these migrants remain loyal to their country of origin and do little to assimilate. In addition, the authorities officially profess the ideology of multiculturalism. Such newly minted “Americans” often do not want to respect American traditions and community rules and actively impose their way of life and their own standards of behavior. It happens that the children of migrants express a more hostile attitude towards America than their parents. For example, many Mexican youth 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.

Without speaking English, without education, millions of migrants receive a variety of assistance from the California treasury, which is carefully provided to them by liberal politicians. To fund social security for migrants in the form of housing, food, health care and education, California had to raise taxes on its middle class to the highest levels in the country. Since the influx of migrants is in the 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 an increase in crime. And the middle class, that is, taxpayers, began to leave California for those states where taxes are still lower, schools are better, and there is less crime. 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 taxpayers and the outflow of millions of taxpayers, the once “golden state” declared itself bankrupt in 2010.

Processes similar to those in California are now underway in the states of Texas, Arizona and New Mexico. Following some behind them are 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 there are significantly more of them high birth rate than among the indigenous population, it is only a matter of not too distant time when similar trends will begin to appear in other parts of the country. A change in these processes is hardly expected, because Republicans act in the interests of business, hungry for profits from the exploitation of cheap migrant labor, and Democrats stimulate the influx of migrants by providing them with generous social assistance in exchange for their electoral votes once they become citizens and can vote.

The scale of this migration has such profound consequences that it leads to cultural and social fragmentation of the country.

The dilemmas that the United States will face for the foreseeable future can be summarized as follows: How to avoid social anarchy, given the ongoing deindustrialization of the country, the steady decline of the American middle class, and the ever-increasing number of migrants incapable of cultural assimilation? And how to preserve the integrity of the country in the context of an ethnically and socially fragmented multicultural society into which the United States has been transformed by liberal immigration and economic policies?

“Liberal monetarism in action”

After elimination Soviet Union as its global competitor, the American liberal elite started talking about globalization and decided to create a free zone throughout North America market economy, concluding the Mexico-US-Canada Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (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 eliminating customs barriers to the free movement of goods, goods and people. After which millions of migrants and illegal immigrants flocked to the United States. Who needs America, into which migrants from Mexico have poured in like an avalanche?

The true beneficiaries of this are the financial and business circles, whose interests are precisely represented by America's liberal elite. In their cynical understanding and in full accordance with the liberal principles of the free market. They say that in order to increase profits, in principle, only two things are required: minimizing labor costs 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 higher demand in the housing and services market, and therefore to an increase in the profits of those who live off this hired labor, issuing loans against loan interest, and receiving dividends from investments.

The liberal elite of America calls itself “progressive,” saying that it has been able to rise above such a supposedly hopelessly outdated concept as national patriotism. She declares that she has the best feelings equally for all 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 his country and his compatriots can love anyone or anything at all? It is noteworthy that none of the “progressive” liberals want to live in areas populated by migrants and illegal immigrants; instead, they prefer to settle in fashionable neighborhoods with 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, are of least concern to the American business community, since its profits are growing 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 standards of living.

From the point of view of the liberal elite, this is a completely logical approach, since it itself, in pursuit of super-profits, since the 1980s, has transferred the main US industrial production 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 off from having qualified and highly 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 in many ways very similar to what the US entry into a trade and customs union with Mexico brought to it. First of all, there is the loss of millions of jobs, the bankruptcy and closure of tens of thousands of small and medium-sized companies that serve as the main employers in America. These companies fundamentally could not compete with manufacturers of similar products in Southeast Asia or Latin America, where workers are paid an order of magnitude lower. Paradoxically, computer and other small and medium-sized high-tech companies were among the hardest hit by the WTO. 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 go out of business. Why transport components across distant lands and seven seas to America if you can assemble products from them on site? Therefore, now on almost any American high-tech product you will read: “developed in the USA”, and in the same place - “assembled somewhere else”. That is, for the entire production and assembly cycle, the American owner of the company pays salaries not to his compatriots, but to workers and engineers somewhere in Brazil, India, China or Taiwan.

A similar approach has spread to many other industries.
By personal experience I can say that if in the mid-90s, probably half of the goods in American commerce were labeled “MadeinUSA,” then within ten years, almost everything, with rare exceptions, was made in China, Taiwan or somewhere 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 from India and China, because they can do it there with high quality and on time, but many times cheaper. And with the same destructive effect for American market labor, as is the case with the production of components and finished products from them. Moreover, such a development and production scheme promotes a constant flow 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 narrowing the technological gap with the United States.

Progressive deindustrialization, a service industry increasingly reliant on low-wage migrant labor, an impoverished and shrinking middle class that was once the backbone of the United States - this is the American “post-industrial” economy today. I remember well how in the 90s liberals told Americans about the benefits of creating an economic union with Mexico, about the benefits of membership in the WTO and the transfer of industry to Asia and Latin America. In the 2000s, liberals painted them with fabulous prospects for a new, globalized economy based on Internet technologies and the transfer of computer and engineering developments to India and China.

Ruin

Consequences of liberal economic policy well reflected by the growth pattern government debt USA. America's national debt for the period from 1945 to 1965 did not exceed $250 billion. With the beginning of liberal social reforms, the national debt began to grow and reached 1 trillion by 1980. But when the liberalization of the economy began in the 80s, and then its globalization in the 90s, public debt already began to grow exponentially and has reached an astronomical value of $15 trillion by now. 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 collapse financial Pyramide? The consequences of its collapse would be truly catastrophic for America and very serious for the rest of the world.

In fact, the real conflict here is between America's middle class and its liberal elite. This elite is loyal only to money, the interests of banks and transnational corporations that it owns. She is no longer interested in the well-being of the American middle class. It benefits from cheap labor from Mexico and Central America, even as it turns American cities into ethnic bantustans, with organized crime rampant, and schools, hospitals and prisons overcrowded with migrants who speak no English and are hostile to the indigenous population. The liberal elite doesn't care because they live in gated communities, their children attend expensive private schools, and they have completely isolated themselves from the multicultural society that they themselves have created through their policies of globalization and the export of cheap labor. For the liberal elite, America has simply become a place to make money. She no longer considers the United States her home. The liberal elite is cosmopolitan, it has holdings all over the world, and when something truly destructive happens economic crisis, and then ethnic strife begins, she will simply move to one of her cozy shelters to wait out the storm. When American leaders talk about “American interests,” it is nothing more than a cover for certain sectional aspirations of those who hold the 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, entry into NAFTA and the WTO turned out to be very beneficial for the financial and business elite of America is beyond any doubt, since thereby it radically reduced its economic costs and just as radically increased its profits. But in the process of getting rich, liberals destroyed the economic base of America's middle class, almost turned the United States into a third world country, flooding it with tens of millions of unassimilable migrants, and laid the groundwork for the bloody ethnic conflicts to come.

I have been in the States for 2 months now, awaiting my own birth, and I believe that it is my turn to talk about the five main differences between Russia and the United States.

The first thing that immediately catches your eye is

- this is cleanliness on the street. I don’t know what they do: they wash, clean, don’t litter... but the condition of the roads and the dirt on them is very different. You can look at any of mineVLOG, and you'll see what I'm talking about. There is a lot of grass, trees, neat streets, everything is very, very beautiful. The same goes for houses. Because there's more here private property, then, of course, people watch what their yard looks like and try to decorate everything around them.

Secondly, of course, I cannot ignore the topic of motherhood. And here in order:
1. In America there is no concept of maternity leave, as in Russia, that is, a woman goes to work until the last minute (of course, if you are not a waiter or something similar, when your stomach is simply in the way). After a woman gives birth, if the employer is good, then she should go to work after three months. At the same time, at work a room will be equipped or allocated for her where she can express milk. But there is no long vacation as such.
2. There are absolutely no payments for children in America! No maternity capital, no payments for the birth of the 1st, 2nd, 10th child, no dairy, no benefits. This does not apply to low-income people and single mothers. Of course I have social programs help in such cases, but they are not related to children, but to the social status of a person.
3. There are no state kindergartens here like ours. The child goes to government agency VPre- schoolat the age of 5 years, and only then you can not pay for it. Before this, someone must be with your child, since you yourself are working. A nanny, for comparison, costs about 8 dollars. at one o'clock. This is about 350 - 400 dollars per week. A half-day kindergarten costs about 300 - 400 dollars. The amounts are not small at all. As the Americans say: “Two small children in a row is very, very expensive.”

The third point is laws, fines and freedom. In America, it may seem that everyone here is nice, kind, everyone smiles at you, but at the same time, it’s customary to call the police if, for example, your neighbor is drunk and rowdy, or someone is smoking weed on the next lot or doing something illegal. In America there are gigantic fines for everything! If you really break the law, then you will pay for it. And the word “you will pay” is not exaggerated, but you will actually end up with a lot of money. And in general, any violations cost a lot of money.

The fourth difference is people. What surprised me? Women and men aged 50 look completely different. A lot of men look athletic, fit, with good hairstyles, fashionable glasses, clothes, and slim. Women, on the contrary, do not look very neat, wearing some stretchy clothes. I understand, of course, that this is a matter of convenience and comfort, they left their cottage, went to the store and they don’t care what they think about them, but still, here in Russia people try to dress beautifully.

Fifth difference. Alcohol and attitude towards it. People drink much less here. There are many other activities! There are no drunk, staggering people on the street who will smell of fumes. There is no such thing, and I haven’t seen anyone drunk here. But there are a lot of people running, and they are all so cheerful and positive.

I'll tell you my other observations.

Attitude to work. For some reason, many Americans work half a day or several hours a day, they are very lazy. They have their own house, which they took out on credit, a car, their parents also have a house, and also cars, so they don’t really strive for anything that much.

A question about old age. Pensioners here are in a different social position than ours. If you have worked well in life, then you will feel good here in retirement. Separately, I would like to say that people check their health throughout their lives, because this is included in their insurance. They constantly go to the hospital, get tested, monitor cholesterol levels, change their diet, etc. And in fact, in all my time I have never seen such a fat American here, the ones they usually show us on TV, ala “they’re all fat in America.” It seemed to me that we have a lot more fat people. In addition, Americans take vitamins and dietary supplements that improve health, and they have salsa courses.

And finally, a little funny. Movies don’t lie) Here Americans constantly walk their dogs, newspapers in plastic paper are thrown at them, there is a yellow bus that takes children to school - that is, life is like in the movies, not invented and without decorations.

There are, of course, a lot of differences, but as with everything, there are downsides and there are upsides.