Finding the Inner Engine Behind America’s Enduring Superpower Status
In February 2019 I spent ten days driving down the U.S. East Coast, starting in Boston—the birthplace of the Freedom Trail and home to elite universities—and ending at Key West, the southern tip of the continental United States. The round trip covered roughly 6,000 kilometers and sampled every season: snowfields, hills, meadows, forests, plains, beaches, and the ocean. I passed through big cities, small towns, farms, orchards, and ranches; toured the Metropolitan Museum of Art; walked Wall Street; visited Harvard and MIT; and soaked up Florida’s Latin flavor. The journey gave me a first-hand feel for the region’s people, landscapes, and economy.
The United States has 9.16 million square kilometers of land—about the same as China—but only 326 million residents (2017), which means genuine wide-open space. Vegetation in the East is lush: highways are lined with forest and grassland, and old, towering trees are everywhere. In Mississippi, Alabama, and other southern states, even small towns are dotted with timber houses tucked into the woods.
Most Americans dress casually, often in athletic wear, yet they suit up for church or business events. The country’s diversity and tolerance mean that any style can appear on the street, with Latin American flair particularly bold.
If Chinese food culture is “profound and broad,” American cuisine is, frankly, just so-so. That stems from the Puritan ethic of “eat to live,” not “live to eat,” so sour beans, sweet chili sauce, or utterly plain tuna are part of the menu. Immigrants from Spain, Italy, France, Thailand, China, and beyond have, of course, widened the choices.
Housing options also run the gamut: a Manhattan penthouse can cost tens of millions of dollars, while a charming house in a picturesque small town might be $100,000. Yet the downtown core of many cities is effectively a haven for the unhoused, with weaker public safety and sporadic violent crime, so most salaried workers commute—downtown for work, suburbs for home.
America moves on wheels. Highways beat railroads, and families usually own a car per person plus a pickup or RV for hauling and road trips. It’s common to see pickups towing campers—or RVs towing compact cars. Parking lots and gas stations are plentiful, so neither fuel nor parking is a worry. Still, much of the highway network is aging. Early in 2018, President Trump floated a $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan; the many construction zones I passed suggest the rollout is underway.
North America’s natural scenery is rich. Miami’s surfers and Jackson’s master anglers left deep impressions with their pro-grade gear and skills. Cultural heritage is thinner, but Americans are working hard to build museums. New York’s Metropolitan Museum ranks among the world’s top four, and local specialty museums and theme parks are everywhere. Atlanta’s World of Coca-Cola lets visitors sample flavors for free; Orlando’s Disney parks remain every child’s dream.
In the post-industrial era, mergers have reshaped entire sectors. Energy, retail, and logistics are now highly concentrated, while TMT resources cluster around giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. These behemoths and their supply chains anchor U.S. employment.
America’s staying power as the only contemporary superpower draws on more than monopolies or elite schooling. Its foundation is the Puritan ethos of simple, practical living; the Mayflower Compact and Declaration of Independence, which enshrined life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and the modern elite’s emphasis on self-reliance, striving, and using wealth for good—the essence of the American spirit.
Published at: Feb 22, 2019 · Modified at: Oct 26, 2025
