>I find that in the US there is more of a thinking that things must be as cheap as possible for something to work. (often also refered to if it does not generate any money it is without value). This is far less so up here. There is a lot more eye for design, estetics and enviroment and the government is willing/obligated to spend money on it.

You wouldn't believe... but having to buy everything to fill a house twice, once on each continent, I have found that (unless you're willing to rob and plunder and then spend it on architects and decorators) it comes down to the same limited arsenal of four or five light switches, outlets and whatnots that are acceptable, a dozen of faucets, half a dozen bathtubs, etc etc... despite the size of the market, and the theory which said that they will have wide assortment just to be competitive - nope, it's equally limited here and now as it was in the 80s and 90s in the then SFRY and FRY. Except that the light switches we had there weren't this ugly at all. Kitsch. And I thought I'm coming to the homeland of industrial design, for which Dušan Makavejev said "has a beautiful decadence - even its garbage is multicolored". Except that it's not (though he wasn't wrong: the garbage, the wrappers and bottles, IS in colors - everything else is desaturated. Observe the gray next time.)

Aesthetics... yes, in some things, when they do compete with it, and when it's important for the sales. Cars. Macs. Cell phones. Some kitchen appliances... sometimes. Car stereos.

Ugly things: computer housing (for the last 20 years, 99% of the boxes are gray, drab boxes; black is a color). Stoves. TVs (can't blame them, though, there are no US made ones anymore). Cars all looking the same, in 50 shades of gray. Furniture. Flatware and stoneware (either plain ugly or a kitsch imitation of whatever the fashion was in richer houses a century or two ago). Advertising (mostly too loud, too glitzy, too fast). Movies (too much Hollywood, too little author, too many cliches). Shoes (try to find something that's not in fashion).