How is the phenomenon of keeping up with joneses a distinctly american concept?

The terminology "keeping up with the Joneses is a concept of American origin.

It is an idiom in many parts of the English-speaking world referring to the comparison to one's neighbor as a benchmark for social class or the accumulation of material goods. To "keep up with the Joneses" is considered a demonstration of socio-economic or cultural superiority or class.

The phrase was created with the comic strip Keeping Up with the Joneses, which was made by Arthur R. "Pop" Momand in 1913. The strip ran until 1940 in The New York World and various other newspapers. The strip depicts the social climbing McGinis family, who struggle to "keep up" with their neighbors, the Joneses.

Cheers!      

that the mashine was talking hahahaha

the rhetoric device being used to persuade the audience is pathos.