Not really sure how your experiences could reflect on our country.
It's real easy as a fully developed adult to remember just how far off the mark our minds were just out of high school. Now I feel I was rather ahead of my peers in regards to the big picture and yet there was so still so much to learn. My imagination and schooling could never have prepared me for the culture shock an Olongapo, Phillipines could bring with scores of teenage prostitutes walking the streets throwing themselves at the drunken, obnoxious, and very eager American servicemen willing to risk disease for their moments of pleasure. I had never before seen a young kid shot on the street for pickpocketing or young kids swimming in sewage infested rivers.
How is America responsible for pickpockets being shot in the street or kids swimming in filthy water? Those conditions exist in places like the Phillipinies today, 50 years ago, 100 years ago, and farther back than that. It's part of their culture, and is what seperates the 1st world from the 3rd World. Our own cities weren't so much different 100 years ago. The prostitutes are just trying to make a quick buck from the "rich" Americans.