I'd argue that some foreign examples would actually match well culturally. Take Switzerland. Highly decentralised (imagine county-sized administrations having about as much sovereignty as US states). Very high salaries. Similarly wealthy (about 20-30% higher than US median per capita PPP). Similarly libertarian (privatization is has been a favourite topic of polititians as well). Similarly conservative. Yet building a tunnel through arguably more difficult terrain (read: risk of death, costly insurance policies) cost 10-20x less per KM in Switzerland compared to the US. It did so again tunneling right through the city of Zurich, extending one of the busiest train stations in Europe with an underground station and a new large new above ground ramp. Both projects stayed on budget.
I really think that looking abroad has a point. As an example, for Swiss railway managers it has been a regular occurance to go abroad and learn from other countries what they do better and what to avoid.
The US is just a nation and Americans are just humans, like everyone else - trying to stop with the "we are special" thinking would give the US quite a boost in certain areas IMO.
Your last point rings especially true. There seems to be a whole class of people in the United States who, despite their professed love for the free market, refuse to consider any sort of marketplace of ideas when it involves public policy from other countries.
Like, its somehow completely incomprehensible to people that the Germans might have devised a better system for running trains (they build better trains, so not so far-fetched) or that the Japanese might have a better grasp on building quality public transportation than we do.
Rather, there's this idea that the American way of doing things must be the absolute best in every possible situation. Its a very damaging idea, and historically has led to stagnation and collapse (Qing dynasty China comes to mind as a great example of this).
Sometimes I feel the US would indeed be better off if the individual states were in competition with each other more. In particular I feel the mobile market in the US would work better for instance if it was carries that only run infrastructure for a handful of states rather than all.
This is what makes infrastructure cheap in Europe. The Swiss rail companies build infrastructure for Switzerland primarily (unless they are contracted out) and not for all of Europe.
Not sure whether there is any one reason, but yes, I think that more competition and more local administration is a good thing. Switzerland even has communes in competition with each other with their tax system, which IMO works well (albeit I'd like some more stringent rules).
My utopia would be an virtualized, decoupled administration system based on the blockchain and decentralized contracts. I can simply choose what org I want to be citizen of and subscribe to them. An org would itself subscribe to a set of infrastructure and get volume rebates. Each piece of infrastructure has a blockchain address - if I want to use it and I'm not subscribed, I just pay as I go. Essentially, free market meets governance. Some exceptions where IMO socialism works best: Schooling, National defense, emergency services and Healthcare. Same high standards and opportunities for everyone.
"we are special" can be a great tool for convincing people to act against their own best interests, and for yours. If you convince yourself that "our way is best" is a tautology, you also have no reason to learn much about other approaches. It's a difficult mindset to shift.
I really think that looking abroad has a point. As an example, for Swiss railway managers it has been a regular occurance to go abroad and learn from other countries what they do better and what to avoid.
The US is just a nation and Americans are just humans, like everyone else - trying to stop with the "we are special" thinking would give the US quite a boost in certain areas IMO.