I am withholding judgment on whether living in the USA long term is worthwhile until I've lived abroad for a period of time and then returned. To this end I am taking a job in Shanghai next July (moving from NYC), which is by far the craziest thing I've ever done. I don't expect to find China my new home per se, rather I hope the experience will be a stepping stone to living as a citizen in the wider world in my life thereafter.

I am a USA citizen, born and raised here, so it will always be "home," no matter where I am, however in my ideal future I won't feel "trapped" by that. The USA is one of many countries, full of wonderful people and awesome sites, cultural heritage, and so on. In the long term that is how I expect to experience it -- as its own entity, with its own good and bad sides, and not something that traps me in any way.

All that said, I don't think there is any escaping the global economy and the powers that run it, no matter where you go. A lot of those powers are concentrated in the USA, but I truly believe that most of the people who will ultimately reshape the world for the better, at least in the next 50-100 years, are not.