A bit of both more so on the political side of things

And the USA like all other nations make comparisons in regards to their own standards

An easy example of this for the Western world the cold War began in 1945 but in fact it really began in 1917

Here another podcast episode you may like
https://youtu.be/YcVSgYz5SJ8?si=-3rGg6WtKrOdgSm3