It is entirely possible that as an American I am just getting oversensitive to this. But all I ever seem to hear on HN (and Reddit) is everything bad about the US. To someone who has never lived here, I suppose it must seem pretty dystopian.

I do think you should visit :). Every time I visit a new country I am struck by just how different it is in real life compared to everything I've ever heard about it. It's the primary reason I like to travel at all. I'm not really into the tourist stuff, I love to get off the beaten path and see how people actually live.

At least go visit Canada. Might be surprising, or not, but it shares a lot of cultural similarities with the US.