I totally get your point in your post and agree with others that it's all about us vs them and isn't productive etc. I just wanna start by saying I don't disagree with you or other people in this thread. Just wanna raise a point.

I would look up some quality of life indexes between, say, Montgomery, Alabama, and Sarajevo, Boznia, as well as what life is like for especially the poor and lower-middle classes as well as foreigners and minorities in those places. I think you'll find that the differences are multifaceted and not super clear, but I think I would rather live in Sarajevo. I say this as an American who once lived in the Southeast and now lives in Europe and I get sick of the bashing of Europe because I hear it all the time but even then... They have a point, even when not cherry picking examples.

Also, it's still not a great comparison as Bosnia is not, at least not yet, in the European Union. It would be like comparing Haiti to the USA. Alabama etc still benefit from being on the US, just as some of the poorer EU counties benefit from being in the EU. But the worst places in the USA (and Montgomery is certainly not THE WORST) can very easily resemble developing countries with even worse living conditions and quality of life because of the cost of living, lack of social safety net, etc. And the fact this happens in a country as rich as the USA is in itself a shame... The contrast is baffling.