People who say America has no culture have never stood barefoot in the green grass of a suburban backyard, with a speaker blaring some country stars’ lyrics about a bald eagle flying over his Ford F-150.
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And to make an American Saturday night more patriotic, an aroma thick with barbecue fills the yard. This is the American dream.
Recent polling shows that pride in the nation falls along partisan political lines.
But if the U.S. hosting the FIFA World Cup ahead of its 250th anniversary has taught its citizens anything, it’s that America rocks — despite its flaws.
America’s strongest ambassador in 2026: Europeans on vacation
Comedian and political talk show host Bill Maher recently said the U.S. is not a perfect country, “but that’s because the name of our country is America, not Utopia. And the appropriate comparison isn’t to the Eden you might imagine; it’s to every other place on earth.”
And right now, people from every other place on earth are drooling over things Americans don’t bat an eye at.
“Social media (is) flooded with videos of slack-jawed soccer tourists wandering around America positively gushing about everything we take for granted, reminding us what America looks like from the outside, not through the lens of some influencer explaining why watering your lawn is violence. Just regular people looking around and saying, ‘Wow, these people live like rock stars.’”
Rock stars because we have ranch dipping sauce, Texas BBQ and single-serving sizes that could feed five children. Because we have Walmart and Costco — which tourists are comparing to museums — and air conditioning … everywhere.
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One English soccer fan who even met President Donald Trump while here for The World Cup posted on TikTok, “We owe America a huge apology because America is nothing close to like what the media tells us. Everyone is so friendly. Everyone is so accommodating, and I’ve honestly had the best time.”
@oliver.henry.w We owe America a a huge apology, the people of Texas have been the friendliest and most accommodating people I have ever met. I came to watch England in the World Cup to play Croatia and that game was at the AT&T stadium in Dallas. We have had the best time for the entire trip. Part of my heart will forever stay in Texas #texas #dallas #USA #America #worldcup
♬ original sound – Oliver Henry
If you were wondering whether any video shows just how perfectly European tourists have embodied American culture, there’s a video of a packed stadium singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” in thick English accents at a rodeo in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
@cowboy_plus World Cup fans from England enjoyed their trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards rodeo #worldcup #rodeo
♬ original sound – cowboy_plus
Maher argued that, despite America’s flaws, there is still something uniquely attractive about the country that much of the world envies.
“We have more immigrants than the next four countries combined. We have to fight for it, but still have freedom of speech and assembly and trial by jury, and even if you’re found guilty, you can still ask a Kardashian to get you a pardon,” he joked. “Maybe it’s a coincidence, but I think it’s something in the American system and character that we have the highest number of Nobel Prize winners and invented the light bulb, the telephone, the smartphone, the airplane, personal computers and the party-sized bag of extra flaming hot Cheetos.”
If Maher is right, the recent wave of Europeans marveling at everyday American life isn’t just internet content, but a reminder that many of the institutions and freedoms the Founding Fathers fought to establish remain a powerful draw nearly 250 years later.
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