Is the claim that innovation only happens in the USA? That the only good companies are US companies? What are the specific benefits, other than merely indulging the startup fantasies of a relatively small number of founders, that come from this "high risk, high reward" environment?
World hegemony: mostly a function of the post-WWII situation, combined with our willingness to spend absolutely insane amounts on our military and use it to impose or at minimum encourage US interests globally.
Very high standard of living: the US has one of the highest GINI coefficients world wide, so only a median comparison (which is quite hard to develop) really conveys the differences accurately. Large swaths of the USA (notably Appalachia and also the desert southwest) have a substantially lower median standard of living than most of Europe.
Anyway, even if your claims about the USA were true, that by itself doesn't connect them to the VC risk/reward culture under discussion.
Such as? Name three examples, please. "smartphones and cars" doesn't cut it, those are pretty common even for low income citizens here in Germany at least, and we don't really need air conditioners on account of being located in higher latitudes – everyone has heating, though.
You're 100% wrong about not needing air conditioning in Germany. Many of the last 45 days here have been above 24C. You're just used to being sweaty and uncomfortable.
A doctor who worked at Charite in Berlin told me last month that the whole summer he worked there he struggled to not drip sweat directly into patients as he leaned over them to work.
And yet the quality of life doesn’t even begin to compare.
We get Tesla, SpaceX, Google, Facebook, AirBnB, Stripe, etc...
It’s the test and staging servers for global capitalism
SpaceX creates aspiration for the poor
Google allows the poor to advertise their product to anyone in the world cheaply
Facebook allows the poor to market their product to anyone in the world cheaply
AirBnB allows the poor to live in an expensive city, cheaply
Stripe allows the poor to sell their product to anyone in the world cheaply
Why can't this be the claim and be the end of it?
"I have a startup idea"
"Do you live in the USA?"
"No"
"Well it's going to stay as a idea"
" :( "
