It looks like we've reached a firm impasse on this topic. Most folks are above 40, so convincing them otherwise is like jamming Coupe Decale to mountain Billy goats. I think my experience of 20 years in the US gives me the latitude to provide the best opinion based on my experiences. The West's classic liberalism, economic freedom, Ironclad institutions, and fair democracy cannot be compared with tyrant countries ruled by 'strong men.' As a rule of thumb, as evidence shows, with such exceptionality, the US has been the world's leader on all fronts for the last 100 years. Thanks, we agree on that gate somewhat! The fact that we are debating that another country is about to overtake the US means the US is still the King!
The US is the leading World economy. It has been so since the World Wars which saw the decline of the European colonial powers. No one is denying that. Would that not be a very silly thing to do? That we are now in the era of its toppling from that spot is also fast becoming similarly undebatable. It's now only $ 5 trillion removed from the D-Date. https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GDP.pdf It was $ 8 trillion removed just a blink ago. Think back to pre-Covid numbers. My friend, that's a breathtaking speed! And it's because while the US economy has hardly grown, basically plateauing, China's is still ballooning. Denialism in the face of this is odd to me. In the next three/four years, this will be over. After that, China will begin to run away with the race. 20/30 years from now, it will be overlaps and what not. Iyo ndio ukweli.
As to living stds and whatnot, as a person who was resident in Europe for a while, I know for a fact they beat you guys in that department several times over. Yet they are far less powerful than you. So that 'metric' is not relevant to this discussion, which is about global dominance. Migrants will always move to better conditions as they are advertised and exist realistically. But don't assume the Chinese are not absorbing huge numbers of migrants in their own right; Migrants also move for opportunity. So that would be a wrong assumption as well.
Another thing I noticed in Continental Europe that is hardly ever brought up in these discussions is the signficance of language barriers in immigrant choices. Look for Kenyans in Belgium and surrounding countries. They are there . . . but they're not popping up under every rock. Instead, West Africans are all over France/Belgium etc. But move over to the UK (and US, Canada, Aussi etc) and there are mini colonies of Kenyans there. Vast communities. Big enough to even be ethnically defined! I went to a 'Gusii' area in the US that reminded me of Kisii town, not even Nai! The thick accents, yawa. Exactly like my older relatives in shags. To be fair, it was an SDA church. Still! An SDA church with what seemed like 90% Gusii congregants is a really surreal experience to bump into in the Big US of A. That's because Kenyans will move in huge numbers to the anglosphere but not so to other places: I think that's a reasonable conclusion to make.
Lol, you have gone to the gutter with your holloipolloi; that leads to an uninformed conclusion. Freedom, religious or economic, in the USA makes this a wonderful country great. Kenyans here are living like they are in Kenya. They can build their churches and live within their communities or choose to integrate/associate. There is nothing wrong with Kissii and their SDA churches in the US. The free market economy here is so robust any immigrant can work hard in a year or two and be as wealthy as Americans that have been here for generations. All it takes is the brain, hard work, and respecting the country's laws. Standard of living? Kenyans here, especially those who came ten or more years ago, are living extraordinary lives. I may have my biases because I keep it to myself and my small family, but the few Kenyans I know are living large, so I don't know anyone who would criticize the US, especially on living standards, work, justice, freedom, etc. According to my experiences, the US is a perfect country; in my opinion, especially if you don't drink, you want to commit to raising a family and thriving economically.
Did you read this on US and China?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-05-20/us-growth-seen-outpacing-china-s-for-first-time-since-1976. US economy is booming and growing as usual. The figures from tyrant countries are not available publicly to be interrogated. We are suppose to believe what they spew and use it for debate. I have two cousins in China. They want to come to America like yesterday because small-town china and villages are worse than Nyaribari Chache or Chebarbar! The thing is, according to my cousin, you land on a gleaming city and get on the bus, or train. An hour later, peeping through the window, you think you are in Laini Saba Kibra! 20/30 years? That was what was exactly said in 1980s. 90s came and passed. Now there is another 20 to 30 years to go?. I think 100 years or so is a good timeline.
The thing about the US is that it is a country of long-time immigrants and new arrivals from all over the globe. You get to hear opinions from a diverse group of people. My Neighbors are Kisiis, Iraqis, Chinese, Arabs, Whites from England, African Americans, Taiwanese, Old Wazungus, Mexicans, etc. What keeps all these people in common are the love for the United States, order, the rule of law, and the opportunity to make serious money and live in peace. The US is a country you can leave your door unlocked and go to Kenya for two months and come home to find everything the way you left. My Saudi Arabian neighbors who have lived in the US for 40 years love the US more than regular wazungus, mainly because of religious freedom. They can wear their clothing, bike in the neighborhood, and never get bullied or feel unwelcomed their entire decades in the US. This, not the superficial things, is what makes the place great. Folks that criticize or find flaws in the US most of the time have made bad choices, messed up their lives, or are incompetent folks who cannot see opportunities to thrive.