I agree Jay, a player's nationality, their personal financial situation, etc. should not be how they are judged, let's look at individual character. Having a lot of money does not mean someone does not have a burning competitive spirit - many times it is just the opposite - often you have to compete successfully to get rich!
I think an issue for many of the American players here; not the very top ones, but the ones you see with 700+ Fargo rates who mostly compete locally/regionally - especially in the last few years - is that they do not get enough top elite competition to stay sharp under the highest stress levels of competition.
Many, many years ago Mike Zuglan talked about how practice is fine and necessary to an extent; but one had to compete at very high levels continuously to stay really sharp for the main arena of battle.