> America is a "if you're going to fall, you are going to fall all the way down, and no one is going to save you, no matter what". And somehow, a huge part of the world's entrepreneurs and innovation come from there. I don't know why.
It's not that bad. People do look out for each other. They try to save each other from themselves. America is risky in that if you don't take steps to protect yourself from the broader market, eventually that exposure will over time erode your social position.
There are ways to protect yourself, most of them involve mobility. You get out of crappy markets, crappy jobs, crappy situations. You move towards hot spots, hot markets, hot ideas. So long as you keep moving with capital and wealth, that wealth will protect you because America is a place where there's always a shortage of good people available to do things.
If you don't want to be mobile, then you have to make up for that with planning. There are retirement vehicles that take time and skill and planning to execute on. Insurance products that take the sting out of all kinds of horrible risk. Health plans that will give you a baseline of care that you can then start planning your own health on.
To gain access to this world you need a certain amount of means, but you can generally trade time for capital. For example, you can shop around for insurance, health plans, and such. You can usually find something that will work at a very basic level that's relatively affordable. There's always someone out there that's recognized the market segment you are searching in and has a service tailored for you.
America's social services are also typically pretty good. It's certainly a point of contention, but people aren't starving, your dignity will take a hit if you end up homeless but Americans are compassionate enough so that, for instance, homeless people in San Francisco can find someone to loan them their garage. We don't like to see people suffer, and there are numerous church groups, social services, even the cops will take pity on you if they see you're really struggling.
America really takes its economy seriously, and everybody's expected to contribute to it, so we will not respect someone if they choose not to participate, but we won't let them starve, either. People who stay on the streets long-term are generally people who simply cannot contribute for whatever reason. Plenty of people become homeless for economic reasons, but the economy is fluid enough that they'll find a berth eventually, if they want one.