Carl, I think it's a human problem (or probably a "male humans" one, dunno for sure).

It's quite similar to bankers and politicians losing the sense for how valuable money is. 0.5% of a hundred billion don't look to them much different than 0.5% of their latest car purchase any more.
The experience of "unusual" circumstances (such as having power) often leads to the abandonment of "usual" conceptions.


The U.S. is different in many regards from Europe and other places, but the consistently biggest difference is simply size. The U.S. simply has more often the critical mass required to do stuff (good and bad) than other nations do.
Much that's "special" about the US can be traced in part to this difference.