As a Slav, I actually really enjoy giving and receiving smiles (from strangers and friends). Also, I find Americans (especially in the service sector) a lot more smiley and cheery than Canadians, so it's more than US vs Europe, I think it's a uniquely US trait (I lived in all three)

I found this bit interesting: "Admittedly, the dynamism of Western capitalism depends upon people who work with missionary zeal, who refuse to accept that a job is merely a job. It must be something more — a vocation, an adventure, a journey to higher heights."

He has something there. Easiest way to make people your slaves (this is a metaphor, in case it's not obvious) it's to convince them that pushing papers in some dreary cubicle for peanuts is somehow a mission, a source of pride.