Self-perception of the Americans I've been living in the states for more than one year. It's been a fun experience when I'm not working my butt off as a grad student. I enjoyed meeting all kinds of people, people from all over the world. Regardless of other people's perception of what Americans are like, Americans themselves differ on where they stand comparing to people from other parts of the world, mostly the Europeans. "This is America, baby!" It's the best country in the world. "No, I'm not from Europe. But thank you!" European countries are better and they have better education and welfare systems. You might think it's inconsistent that I first called out the individuals' perception of themselves, yet later gave the example showing individuals' perception of the nations. The connection between the two is evident when you take into account the concept of national identity. That is, individuals usually identify themselves with where they come from, their nationality. My intention for sharing this trivial observation is for fun, and fun only. No implications intended.