The USA is a big place, encompassing some 9.8 million sq/km with over 333 million people. When Europeans first arrived, America well populated by indigenous peoples. Since the time of the first European settlement, America has become a nation built upon immigrants. Most of the immigrants came voluntarily. Those from Africa did not. Today the descendants of those slaves are a substantial and vital part of American society. The immigrants brought their cultures, languages, religions, races and customs, making America a place of great variety. For many decades, American culture has been shown to the world thru music, film, tv, streaming and so forth. There exists any number of myths, or conventional wisdoms, about Americans and their behaviors and customs. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the reality of American culture today. Hopefully, this will dispel some of the more common myths that are in general circulation outside (even inside!) the United States. The list of American myths is vast, so I have selected a few of my favorites to describe.

ALL AMERICANS OWN GUNS

There are a LOT of guns in the US, about 398 million in a population of 333 million. If you believe the movies or TV, America is a nation of gun toting cowboys. The fact is that there are many more Americans who don’t own guns than people who do own a gun. Approximately 25% of the population, 83 million people, are gun owners. The other 250 million Americans DO NOT own a gun. Not surprisingly, some 21% of Americans own 3 or more guns!

AMERICAN FOOD IS FAST FOOD

The propensity of American fast-food restaurants to “go global” leaves people in many countries with the impression that most of what Americans eat is fried and fast. This is not surprising because the likes of McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell etc. are to be found in a great many countries, including yours most likely. However, the USA is a big country containing many varied regions and an incredible mix of peoples and their cuisines. New England is known for its seafood and hearty chowders. The food type known as barbeque Is found in virtually every region but varies tremendously in taste and preparation from the south to the southwest to the Midwest to the west coast. Ever heard of Tex-Mex? A cuisine that combines the elements of native American, Mexican, and US southwestern foods. There is an incredibly complex cuisine found in Louisiana, among other states, called Cajun. It has its origins in 18th century French cooking combined with the cooking of West Africa and even some native American elements. The variety and quality of seafood from the Pacific Northwest of America is unrivalled in the world. If you look closely at American food, you will no doubt recognize ingredients and preparations that have their origin in your country. The American experience has been to merge tastes, cooking techniques, and textures to create a uniquely American food pantheon. Finally, don’t be conceited about Old World foods. About 60% of the world’s diet today is made up of foods indigenous to the Americas. Where do you think potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize(corn), beans, squash, pumpkin, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers and chilis, wild rice, pineapple, avocado, papaya, peanuts, strawberries, blueberries, cranberries, sunflowers, and chocolate came from? No need to thank us.

ALL AMERICANS ARE RICH

There is no denying that at $59400 a year, the American Median Income is nearly 5 times the global annual median of $12200. However, when accounting for purchasing power parity and for the cost-of-living in different countries, 11.6% of Americans are at or below the poverty level established by the US government. Bear in mind that what may be considered poverty in the US may not be what is considered poverty in many other nations. In America, about 18% of the people make $100,000 or more annually. To crack the top 1% of American wage earners you need to make $787,000 a year.

EVERY AMERICAN OWNS A CAR

Around the world, the top 5 countries for car ownership per 1000 residents are:
New Zealand 869 cars per 1000
United States 860 cars per 1000
Poland 761 cars per 1000
Italy 756 cars per 1000
Australia 737 per 1000
In America 91.7% of the people own at least 1 car. OK, that’s close enough to everyone to be true!

AMERICANS ALL LOOK THE SAME

The US population is composed of these major groups:
White 61.6%
Hispanic 18.3%
African American 12.4%
Asian 6.0%
Native American/Pacific Islander 1.3%
Do you still think everyone looks the same?

AMERICA IS PROFOUNDLY RACIST

Given the United States’ history of slavery and the difficulties faced by the on-going civil rights movement, it is not surprising that this statement is widely held to be true. However, throughout American society there are people of color, women, members of other minority groups in all facets of education, business, law, finance, technology, entertainment, athletics,
and political sectors. This is so prevalent that it is impossible to list all the successful people in all the segments of the economy.
Could a racist nation elect an Obama as it’s president? And there is a good chance that Kamala Harris may become America’s first woman president, in addition to being a minority.

AMERICANS WORK TOO MUCH

Productivity in America is high compared to most of the rest of the developed economies, but it is not because Americans work extra-long hours compared to their peers. Looking at the average working hours per year of 10 developed countries is instructive. The list from highest number of hours worked per year to lowest number of hours worked per year is: India (2480 hours), Mexico, Brazil, Japan, USA (1892 hours), Italy, UK, Germany, Australia, and the lowest is France (1565 hours). No data is available for China. Americans are pretty much in the middle of average annual hours worked.

Gary J. Dellapa
[Former Budget Director of Miami Dade County,Fl
Former Assistant County Manager of Miami-Dade County,Fl
Former Director of Miami International Airport
Former Adjunct Professor of Aeronautics, Kent State Univeristy, Ohio]