About 2 weeks ago I was in a conversation with, among others, two women in their fifties. The topic came to the USA and they both turned out to have applied for the USA's green card lottery in the past year.
When asked if she would really move there, one of them said "definitely" and explained that it would be a dream come true for her.
It was quite a surreal experience, as when I think of the USA I think of its layers upon layers of insane problems and what looks like a gradual erosion of its republic.
Granted, for people who have a comfortable financial situation, I think living in the USA might be quite nice - for the moment, at least.
But it does also seem like a bit of a generational thing, like they have a weirdly idealised view of the country.
Of course, it is also true my media exposure to the USA is mostly focused on its problems and that this leads to a very negative view, but even if I knew one quarter of what I know about the USA, I would really not want to go there.
@trinsec Your story is much more relatable for me, haha...
But apparently there is a certain kind of person for whom the USA has a lot of appeal, even in its current state - or rather, the media they read and watch hasn't tarnished their image of the country.