I was under the impressions that Americans work hard too. For example, if I'm not mistaking there's no mandated minimum number of vacation days, so you might get only 11 compared to 20 in most European countries.

> Heaven forbid you get sick.

The medical act is (very) good in the US, but is it affordable?

> The children have to compete in complicated exams to even have the sliver of a chance to land themselves in a good university.

Doesn't the same apply to the US as well? You either have lots of money, or good grades or you're good athlete.

The answer is....it depends.

If youre at poverty levels you would qualify for federal-level Medicaid insurance. learning about these benefits takes some digging. Some states(often democrat) provide their omedical benefit coverage for people who are at or below poverty line(which is itself a locale-specific metric).

If youre upper-middle-class or work for the government, you have good medical insurance through your employer or by paying $$$$$ out of pocket.

Anything between these two -- youre probably underserved in terms of medical coverage and you probably only see the inside of hospitals via emergency rooms.

Just as some examples:

Doctors are quite good here, none of that untrained nonsense you mentioned.

You have safety nets.

If you work formally employed (which granted is not a minor detail, since informal employment is a big problem), you have plenty of sick days, and these are mandated by law; so not at the mercy of the company.

Vacations are mandated by law to be paid according to how long you've been at the company. Nobody can fire you for taking vacations; it's about 2 weeks vacation once you've been working for a year. This is by law, the company is of course free to sweeten the deal.

Our best university is public and free.

While life is not easy for somebody without a family to support them or a good job, the reality is nowhere close to what you imagined.

Now, this is one country and I'm aware the "global south" is large and varied. I'm sure other countries have it worse. But it makes me suspect your global description of the south.

Etc, etc.

I'll be honest, as a non-American, I thought you were describing the USA in these sentences. I quite frequently read things online/see videos etc where Americans are shocked that we can take several weeks or a month off for a holiday in Europe, that if we're sick we just take time off, there's no worry about being fired for getting sick, or needing to work in order to qualify for health insurance. Education isn't free everywhere, but in most places people acquire much less debt than it seems you do in the USA.