u/shantytown_by_sea

•They use their own language in everything

•Refuses to use english unless it's necessary

•Avoid foreign goods for patriotic reasons

•Treat their surrounding like own space and don't litter

•Goverments actively try to replace dependence on foreign goods by incentivsing local industry to create imitation.

•head of state uses locally made cars for symbolism

•their imitations become better than the original

•people do not want to escape and settle in west to become 3rd class citizen doing their dirty work that local population refuses to do.

•citizens are encouraged to go South America and Africa instead to create business opportunities for homeland.

where does the money go? does it really need that much just to maintain? are they including the serving staff salaries?

we are at a nation building stage,roads,frieghts, waterways are just now started taking shape in 2010s ,the countries you are comparing ourselves to built these back in 1920s-1940s,all their infra was already built, their 100 year old House and buildings estates are still lived in, during that time period all our infrastructure was for the sole purpose of exploitation and revenue to feed the empire machine churning out fabrics,tea,grains,soldiers,trophy hunting. cars were unthinkable for common people when in those countries they were affordable,even in the 2000s cars only belonged to ultra wealthy and rural lords had jeeps that could run on country roads.modern cars are way different than those metal boxes although some will argue less electronic is better.

the quality of life is improving i don't think people will be living in slums, people in western cities didn't all lived in proper settlements as well,they had tenements and dirty open sewage until they had to improve city planning and sewage because of the deaths.

you may argue how singapore,taiwan sk managed to leave us behind but keep in mind these countries are tiny and adopted childrens of US empire. they never had a anti industrial phase like we did. not to mention any conflict after koreanwar, defence was supported by usa they just spent on themselves, meanwhile we had to have a proper military and paramilitary of millions, spend so much on developing icbms and buying jets which we still do.

China is another side of this story where its literally what it is because of America private sector, and we also have a small share of that pie which is not insignificant.

Automotive sector and oil are huge/major part of these trade figures and GDP stats, it's going to turn upside down as solar and EVs are becoming next revolution,all the panic is actually because of this US+arab world watching the oil economy slowly go away because of advancements,a lot of which are happening in china.