What an American makes in absolute terms is irrelevant unless you're planning to move to the US.

And if you're planning to move to the US, then its still irrelevant, because what matters is how much you make in US compared to the cost of living of the US.

Nobody would trade making 40k net in Italy for making 80k net in US, you're actually poorer (and not just financially).

All measures are relative. Absolute wages have stopped being impressive as the world got richer in the last decades and standards of living improved.