The first step to maturity is through knowing when you've done something and taking responsibility for it. in other words, having a sense of honesty and commitment.
I live in the US as well, but most of the people I've met seemed rather open-minded. Though, it might just be because I haven't gotten to known many people well enough.
Egotism is fine. If it's what keeps people going, then so be it. But if it interferes with self-reflection, one of the means of growing mentally and spiritually, then it is indeed a hazardous thing. From the way I look at it, there is no such thing as an easy way out. If you take the hard road and try to make ends meet, tough. If you want to avoid the issue at hand but are worried of the consequences later on, tough. If you're going to ignore it altogether and have karma bite you back, tough. Of course, this could just be my pessimism doing the talking, but these honestly seems the most realistic outcomes.