Society: The Crossroads Nation

If you are passionate about fashion, maybe you will go to Paris. If it's engineering, maybe it'll be Germany. But if you are passionate about many other spheres, I suspect you'll want to be in America.

You'll want to be in the U.S. because English has become the global language. You'll want to come because American universities lead the world in research and draw many of the best minds from all corners of the earth.

You'll want to be there because American institutions are relatively free from corruption. Intellectual property is protected. Huge venture capital funds already exist.

Moreover, the United States is a universal nation. There are already people there with connections all over the world. A nation of immigrants is more permeable than say, Chinese society.

You also observe that America hosts the right kind of networks — ones that are flexible and intense. Study after study suggests that America is one of those societies with high social trust. Americans build large, efficient organizations that are not bound by the circles of kinship and clan. Study after study finds that Americans are not hierarchical. American children are raised to challenge their parents. American underlings are relatively free to challenge their bosses. In this country you're less likely to have to submit to authority.

For more, see The Crossroads Nation by David Brooks, November 8, 2010 at The New York Times.