American exceptionalism is so deeply rooted in many of us that it takes traveling to get us to understand.

When I left the US as a young man and moved to Germany then traveled all over Europe, I was actually surprised to find countries where people were as happy, well off, and presented with as much or more opportunity than people in the United States.

I had been inculcated with the idea that America was just better in almost every way.

The 22 year-old me probably wouldn’t have said that outright. I might not even have thought I believed it.

But living in Berlin and experiencing young people who were better off than the average American young person did a number on my unconscious assumptions.