Not to split hairs (I know what your overall message is, and more or less agree.), but being a guitar player as well (albeit only for a few years now), I can say with some accuracy that there IS quite a difference between a Mexican Fender Standard, and a USA built Fender Custom Shop guitar. Electronic and hardware components (pickups, pots, bridge, tuners etc.) being a major quality disparity between the two grades, for example. The price reflects this however, so both are great for the corresponding amount spent.
The Japanese made Fenders are no longer in production, and haven't been for some time. They were terrific quality though, and are much sought after on the used market.
However, going along the lines of your comments, there is the same snob attitude among the asian made guitars offered by Fender, Gibson etc. The Squier, and Epiphone lines are thought of by some as completely unacceptable. Yet, many of these models are quite worthy guitars, and far better than one would imagine for the asking price. There are some other "stencil" axes on the market today that offer similar value vs. cost such as those sold by Guitarfetish, RondoMusic and so forth.
It has never been easier to get a decent quality electric guitar for so little money, again due in large part to Asian manufacturers. In spite of opinions of the afore mentioned budget lines, some of the most in demand, better guitars among the factory made variety are made in Asia, such as ESP, Ibanez, some PRS etc.
I think the main difference between the USA and Europe comes down to
assessment of the quality of Asian made horns, rather that the consumption.
Since Europeans seem to have caught on to the fact that there are some very good, inexpensive models being made there now, they seem to demand the better quality horn lines. The USA consumer apparently still regards the whole lot as only worthy of "Wally-world", knock around instruments.