American statues have little to no significance to the world or our people.
I get we are a country heavily endowed with a sense of conformity and dullness, but having a monument of incredible scale would mean we are a country that cares about things more than just the stock market and financial wealth.
In India for example they have the statue of unity:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Unity
Many Buddha statues are just tools to extract tourist dollars but the statues in the Potala Palace and Shigaste were covered in gold and were hollowed out so that a Buddhist monk could rest inside the vessel and have his body preservered.
Religious idolism is not good but caring about things enough to invest significant capital and time that could have otherwised been used to increase national wealth shows a dedication to a country based on more than money.
Most of the humanitarians and political leaders use patriotism to extol America as a beacon of democracy and 'liberalism'. They say America is great because of our dedication to western democracy and internationalism.
Conservatives say America is great because of our wealth and income mobility for new immigrants.
This is all poison; if you love a country then it should be independent of how well that country performs. If you love America you should love it even if it is poor and miserable. If America were to fall from grace would all these 'patriots' abandon their home country? If so that just shows how meaningless this form of patriotism is.
And it reflects itself in the size and scale of our monuments, despite our extreme wealth and labor pool. Osama can be despised but that is meaningless, find something that matters to this country for some reason be it human, beast, or thing. If Afghanistan matters most to Americans then so be it.
DC is quite the exception, but even there most of the statues are relegated to alcoves which while charming make them seem more like a decoration such as a Roman fountain or some public art peace like the Chicago bean. Monuments are more than art, they are a sign of dedication and investment and the level of sacrifice each individual is willing to make for their country.
In the korean war memorial (I think) the soldiers are seen as significant because they allow Americans to sacrifice nothing for the convenience called freedom. Sacrifice is not something to be pitied or mourned, it means people are part of something more. It may be fake or artificial, but what else do we have if we only see our selves as the means and ends of our existence.
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