5 Myths About the USA I no longer believe after moving overseas

Introduction

0:01 Hey YouTube, Alex here. In today's video, I want to talk about five myths that many people believe about the United States. The United States is my home country; I grew up in the US, spent most of my life there until I decided to start traveling.

Myth 1: Everyone Makes Six Figures

0:15 The first myth is that everybody makes six figures or more. For some reason, this one seems to be super common. This idea that everybody is an NBA basketball player, a medical doctor, a lawyer, or a professional streamer, and that's just not true.

0:33 Eighteen percent of Americans make $100,000 per year or more. Forty-five percent of those people live paycheck to paycheck. So, of that 18%, roughly half are feeling like they're getting ahead financially and making strong strides too, not just saving a couple hundred bucks a month, but putting away several thousand per month.

0:57 I remember making six figures in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I lived a very modest lifestyle. I lived in a shoe box apartment, worked a lot of hours. This idea that you're going to make six figures and then have all this free time to enjoy it, most people earning these high incomes work a lot of hours to earn that kind of income.

1:19 They're not just earning this kind of salary and hanging out. Most of these people earning six figures in tech, medicine, or law have high demands placed on them by their employers to turn a profit on their wages. For many people to get a job with these high salaries, they're going to need to be in an expensive big city like Chicago, New York, or LA.

1:43 They're typically not making these kinds of salaries in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Most companies are based around industry hubs, and those industry hubs form in certain cities because of a network effect. It's easier to have those industries based in a certain city.

1:59 You see this with tech in the Bay Area and in Seattle. You see this with oil and gas in Texas. Most industries have a certain city that's the hub for that industry, and the cost of living is higher as a result because things are priced based on the higher incomes.

2:18 I'm sure a lot of people would like to make these high salaries, these high incomes, but not everybody produces that much value. It's important to keep that in mind before throwing out there, 'I mean, I've had several people in the comments section telling me, 'Oh yeah, my life's amazing, I make six figures.''

2:35 I don't have a problem with that in and of itself. What I have an issue with is when they imply everybody makes that kind of income. Additionally, if you want to make that kind of six-figure income, you probably need to be an entrepreneur, if not have a very high value-added skill set.

2:50 So maybe you're in healthcare, maybe you're a lawyer, maybe you have some technical skills like you're a programmer. You've got these niche specialty skill sets that are not able to be cultivated overnight, may have a license required in that profession, maybe gatekept by you needing to have some family connections or have gone to a certain university.

3:17 It's by no means a walk into a six-figure job fresh out of high school, stay in that job for 30 years, and then collect a pension of $100,000 a year for the rest of your life. These jobs also tend to be volatile.

3:32 Now, I think healthcare could be a little bit more stable, but when it comes to tech, for example, layoffs are very prevalent. You heard about this in the dot-com bubble, you heard about this in the post-COVID recession. Many people's jobs in technology, unless they work for the state or a government agency, are not that stable.

3:49 They're constantly trying to go above and beyond to prevent getting laid off. If they get laid off, it could take them a while to find another tech job. The days of finding an employer and staying with them for life are long gone in the US for most people.

Myth 2: Everyone Lives a Life of Luxury

4:02 The next myth about the US is that everyone lives a life of luxury and everyone can afford a big house and a fancy car. Now, I know some of you are already saying, 'Well, everybody in my neighborhood lives in a nice house, everyone in my neighborhood drives a fancy car.'

4:19 I'm not saying that they have or don't have those possessions. I'm saying, can they afford them? There are millions of people out there that are one layoff away and one missed mortgage payment or one missed car payment away from losing it all.

4:36 Many Americans are pushed to pursue status symbols. They want a fancy car, they want a big house, even when they can't afford them. I've talked to tons of expats over here in the Philippines, and all of them talk about trying to keep up with the Joneses back in the US, which is part of what caused their financial struggle.

5:02 That is one of the reasons that landed them over here in the first place. I would be in that basket too if I didn't have more experienced people to learn from. I'm certainly not above it; that's not what I'm saying at all here.

5:12 My grandparents were definitely house poor. They lived in a much nicer house than what they could afford and chose to forgo many other options to have a house beyond their means. Now, they didn't lose it to foreclosure, but eventually, the property taxes became too high.

5:31 My Grandma had to sell. Plenty of Americans that live in too much house, they want to show off. They want to show people, 'Look, I've made it, I have such a nice place.' They think differently from the wealthy, who look at homes as assets to leverage to build wealth.

5:46 And they may own several homes, but they only live in those homes a month out of the year, two weeks a year. The rest of the year, they're rented out on Airbnb, or they may have some long-term tenants that they buy the house, and then the tenant pays the mortgage.

6:03 This is very common for people to build wealth in the US. I have a friend that he owns several homes and he rents an apartment. The rent for these homes far exceeds his monthly rental fee. So, he one, pays down the mortgage, two, pays his apartment rent, and three, is basically building up assets that will produce income for him for the rest of his life.

6:29 He's not going around saying, 'Oh, look at my fancy homes.' He's just collecting the rental fee and paying down the mortgage. And eventually, he'll have some wonderful paid-off assets that will generate income for him for the rest of his life.

6:45 Wealthy people may own lots of homes, but these homes work for them. They're not working for their homes. But plenty of people know the phrase 'float or fly,' rent it. And this situation is part of that where there are people that would like to rent one of his homes for a day or a weekend.

7:04 They don't want to live in that city. They don't have any reason to stay in that city long-term, but they want a nice place to stay. And he's able to provide that service. So yeah, wealthy people may own these assets, doesn't mean they're living in them.

7:14 And if they do, it may be for a temporary basis. There are plenty of people in San Francisco that own homes that don't rent them out because of the laws. It's very risky to rent their property out, but the year-over-year price increase in the property means that they're still building wealth.

7:32 The asset basically increases with inflation or exceeds inflation. And so even if they're not living in the home, even if nobody's living in the home, they're still building wealth.

Myth 3: Everyone is Friendly and Happy

7:45 The next myth that I often hear about the US is that everybody is friendly, happy, and nice. Maybe that was true in the 1950s, but in 2025, I think a lot of Americans are stressed out. A lot of them are in a hurry. There's this rat race culture or mentality that has extended beyond the boundaries of the major cities and exists all over the country.

8:07 I found people are in a hurry anywhere I've lived in the US. I've lived in small towns in the Mountain West, I've lived in big cities on the West Coast, and I found that regardless of where I live in the US, the cost of living has gone up a lot. There's no cheap secret place in the US anymore.

8:26 The housing is often a reflection of the local industry. You could live in small-town Ohio in the middle of the Rust Belt and buy a cheap house, but what are you going to do for work there? It's not so easy to make a good living in the Rust Belt.

8:45 Now, I'm sure somebody in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 will tell me about how cheap their small town is and how everybody's friendly and there's a 'Leave it to Beaver' atmosphere. What are the housing prices like in your small town, and what jobs in your small town pay enough that you can buy a house?

9:06 I think this will only get worse as more and more foreign investment pours into the US. More and more investors in other countries look for economic safe havens for them to park their capital, and what better place than a small town where they're not building much new housing and the existing stock is already underbuilt?

9:28 Aside from that, plenty of people in small towns have complained about the COVID influx where people from the big cities moved into their small towns, driving up the cost of everything. And from my experience, out-of-towners are not always warmly received in small towns.

9:44 In fact, in many small towns that I've lived in in the US, the outsiders hung out with other outsiders, and the locals hung out with the locals, and people didn't really mix too much. People were a bit suspicious of each other, often didn't really have a lot in common.

9:59 Maybe they had different values, like the people from the country were more traditional or more self-reliant, and the people from the city were expecting more conveniences and didn't really want to mix with people that they felt were beneath them.

10:18 Not saying it's always the case, but these are just some of the themes that I've noticed. Some places you go, certainly people are friendly. You also get the sense here, people are welcome to visit, but please don't stay.

10:28 You're welcome for a long weekend, but please don't buy a house here. So yeah, this idea that everybody is happy, friendly, and nice in the US, maybe a long time ago that was the case. I think in more recent years, especially post-COVID, that's not the case.

10:40 I think Americans...

Myth 4: Hollywood Represents Real Life

10:45 That's not the case. I think Americans are far too diverse in mindset, attitudes, opinions, and backgrounds to all be regarded as happy, friendly, or nice. I think Americans are far too divided for us to be able to say everybody's happy, nice, and friendly. I think there are plenty of Americans out there that do fit the bill. I meet a lot of nice Americans here in Dagate, and I meet a lot of nice Americans back home in the States. But to say that everybody is friendly, I don't think that's the case. I've had enough experiences in the US to tell me and convince me otherwise.

11:26 How friendly, nice, or happy someone is is very circumstantial, very individualized. It depends on if they feel like they can solve their problems, if their life is turning out the way they thought it would turn out. So many factors are at play as to whether or not somebody's going to be happy, nice, or friendly.

11:48 The next point here is that Hollywood represents real life. A lot of people I meet overseas say, 'Well, I saw this Hollywood movie, it looks like in America everybody lives in mansions, drives big cars, relaxes all day.' I use 'Friends' as a solid example where you've got these five people that are like part-time baristas, and okay, you've got Chandler who's an accountant, but they work pretty basic jobs and yet they live in a Manhattan penthouse. That's totally unrealistic.

12:18 Anybody living in a Manhattan penthouse probably works in finance or tech, is probably a CEO or on the board of directors, probably pretty far along in their career, not a young or middle-aged person. There are so many things that Hollywood gets wrong about the US for entertainment value, to be exciting, to be fun, to be trendy. I don't know if that'll change, or if that has changed. I don't watch popular entertainment; I watch a lot of YouTube.

12:49 So let me know what you think down in the comments below if Hollywood is getting more accurate these days, but in my experience, they just totally portray the US inaccurately and in such a way that does not reflect reality for most Americans. Even in Hollywood itself, people don't live the way that they are portrayed to live in Hollywood movies.

13:08 Now, I get it, life's not perfect, but I just don't think it's helpful to deceive people and to sell them a bill of goods, to give them the false impression that life is perfect in the US. Hollywood, similar to the internet, shows an exaggerated example of reality.

13:28 There are a lot of exaggerations out there that show things in a certain light to fulfill a certain narrative. Special effects can sell people that things are not really the way they are in reality, that they're better than what they are, that everybody lives in big houses and everybody drives fancy cars and nobody ever has to work. Then most people live these leisurely lifestyles, which couldn't be further from the truth.

13:54 Most Americans I know work very, very hard for what they have, and they often sacrifice their health and well-being to earn money, to get ahead, to pay for the things that they need. Money does not grow on trees, even in the United States. It's also important to me to acknowledge the sacrifices a lot of Americans make to ensure that we have such a high standard of living in the US.

Myth 5: Freedom of Speech

14:23 The fifth and final myth is that us Americans, we have freedom of speech in the United States. A lot of people love to brag, 'We've got free speech, we could say whatever we want and nobody can stop us.' I found that what you have in the US is freedom of speech, but you don't have freedom from consequences.

14:40 Let's set aside the obvious ones where you're talking about speech that is directly considered illegal. I'm not going to talk about that in this video, but rather instances where you're part of a certain group or you're in a group setting and you think, 'Oh, I'll just be honest, I have a differing opinion,' and you share it. And then all of a sudden, you get a bunch of angry looks and, 'Oh, I can't believe you just said that.' No, that's not true at all.

15:09 And well, actually, and this differs by location. So in my hometown, I grew up in a city, people feel a certain way. If I drive an hour outside of that city, people feel totally differently. And so my speech is limited based on my audience. I can't just open up and share my opinion because it may strongly differ with the group of people I'm around.

15:33 And I've witnessed people, especially in the working world, moderate their opinions to get along. And with the increase in cost of living, there's more and more consequences toward not keeping your job. You lose your really good job, you may struggle to find another good job. And so I found that people modify what they're willing to voice in terms of opinions based on where they're located, based on who they're around, based on the feelings of their company.

16:02 And this differs by state and whether you're in the city or you're in a rural area. And so you often can't really figure out how people feel. You often struggle to figure out, do they really mean that, or are they just saying that because it advances their interests?

16:21 I think the US used to be more intellectually open in some ways at one time, but in recent years, it seems like you really have to just pander to your audience and cater to a certain set of beliefs based on who you're talking to, based on where you're at. I consider myself to be politically homeless. My beliefs don't neatly fit into one group or the other.

16:47 At this point, I just go along to get along. If I hear someone express a strongly held belief, then I just agree, I nod, I go along with it. It doesn't matter to me if I agree with their belief or not. The consequences and the stress of an argument is not worth reinforcing somebody else's opinion.

17:09 It seems like these days, people are less open to changing their minds and trying to tell them something they don't want to hear. People tend to get upset and really worked up over it, and you might lose a friend or damage a relationship, or maybe even get fired if it's at work.

17:27 I've been accused of, 'Oh, you don't really have much of a personality at work,' and I explained, 'Well, yeah,' and just kind of dismiss it and change the subject because I've learned the hard way that if I express what's on my mind, best-case scenario, I get a neutral response. But more often than not, it's not exactly in line with what other people believe or want to hear. They get upset, they get stressed out.

17:57 If it's a key decision-maker, like a manager or a leader or a boss's boss, then them being offended could make the difference in you keeping your job, getting a promotion, getting a bonus, getting your vacation approved. All these different factors. Most of us just want to do our job and go home and enjoy our free time.

18:21 So I don't really believe in free speech anymore. I don't believe that people can just speak freely. I think there are too many consequences to saying the wrong thing for most people. Sure, if you're Joe Rogan or you're Elon Musk and you're super wealthy, yeah, you could say just about whatever you want with very limited consequences.

18:45 They're so wealthy that they're going to be wealthy and their kids' kids' kids are going to be wealthy, that it doesn't really matter at this point. For the average person, you don't have the luxury of wealth to that extreme. You can't just say whatever you want.

Conclusion

18:59 So anyway, this has been five myths about the United States that I used to believe before moving to Southeast Asia. Let me know of some myths that come to mind for you down in the comment section below. It always helps to generate an interesting discussion. Next, give us a thumbs up, it helps with the YouTube algorithm. And finally, subscribe to the channel down below if you want to see more content like this, and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.