I've never lived in the USA, and I can tell you that 90% of what you've listed in your first post can be easily applied and seen everyday in my local culture, and I don't really remember anything being different 10 years ago. Sure, I believe some of these traits are particularly overblown in the US (ex. materialism leading to extreme workaholism, politically connected lobbies leading to skyrocketing healthcare and college tuition costs), but they're in no way exclusive.