Re: 'merkin here to explain some things
You raise a couple of good points, but perhaps you need
more information.
Gangs of Thugs
Isolated houses in rural areas tend to be good candidates
for miscreants. The authorities are far off, good
samaritans are far off, witnesses are far off, and there
are excellent chances that the most portable valuables are
in those precise houses. It isn't particularly common, as
much as in, say, South Africa right now, but rural houses
are vulnerable in certain ways. Add some difficulties with
crystal meth (a particular problem right now) or gangsters
who are angry because a farmer came upon their illicit pot
plantation and destroyed it because he wanted to do
something constructive with the land and didn't want his
farm confiscated under insane drug asset forfeiture laws,
and it's a bigger risk factor than you appear to suspect.
Other risks
There are other particular risks than simple gangs of
thugs. The forests of the area are overpopulated with
black bear, for example. This is why they keep making the
news (on slow news days) because they wander into suburbs
in search of food. The fact that it's more than a decade
since the state banned the most sensible ways of hunting
black bear (leaving suicidal lunatics to stalk them on foot
without dogs) means that their population has grown by
leaps and bounds. There are similar problems, though of
lesser scale, with cougar at this point. So yes, I don't
just carry a gun because of the occasional coyote or stray
dog, but also because it gives me a fighting chance when
faced with a 400 pound black bear. Self defence includes
animals, and bear spray isn't as effective as the
manufacturers would have you believe.
Mutual Mistrust
It is true that the national character of the USA does
include a certain degree of independence of spirit, and
that includes a moderately wary eye cast on strangers. You
can scratch your head which is the chicken and which the
egg, but it's not an entirely unreasonable attitude.
However, it is vastly more prevalent in the cities than in
small towns or rural areas. Large parts of the country have
a fairly hostile climate, and it is possible that the
kindness of strangers might amaze you, as people have
learned to support each other for survival. Remember that
idiot writer who was shot in the arm in Montana? Remember
that it turns out that he shot himself, for publicity. And
local people helped him get help, and it was only later
that the authorities realised what a waste of time he was.
Different ways
Now it is true that there are xenophobic elements in the
USA, just as there are everywhere. On the other hand, the
USA has one of the most successful histories of integrating
people from all across the world. My point is that it is
entirely possible to win our trust, and once someone has
learned the language, learned some of the rules, put their
hand on their heart and sworn an oath, they are americans
and live under the stars and stripes like anyone else in
the land. On balance, this country has a very mild history
of sectarian violence compared to much of Europe. Nobody's
perfect, but if you want to look for the sources of
international trouble, reflexive mindless mistrust really
isn't your best candidate, and doesn't reflect the way that
americans really behave to each other either.