Social security was a good thing, and it happened. Medicare was a good thing and it happened. Even Obamacare had lots of good things, and it happened. So did the child tax credit. And the endangered species act. The establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency. Our air, btw, has a lot less smog and small particles than it did in the 80s.
Cynicism like you expressed may earn likes in some contexts, but it isn't accurate, and it isn't helpful.
Nothing has happened in my lifetime that has made my life better compared to my parents. The ACA mandated I buy private insurance, and that hasn’t really helped me at all. I still got charged almost $1000 for an ambulance ride last year, one that I didn’t really have a choice on.
So no, I don’t think anything good happens in America. Maybe it did at one point, but I’ve never seen it. What I see instead are trillion dollar bailouts for banks, airlines, and auto manufacturers. Student loans, though? Yeah, get fucked. Qualified immunity? Yeah, get murdered.
Every system will offer some disproportionate rewards to the groups that are able to exert some control over it. In our system it seems that large business interests, wealthy individuals and the politicians themselves are the ones able to cash in somewhat on this control. In general, I think most people living in the real world accept this as human nature and we collectively try to minimize this corruption.
I’m aware of many systems where this disproportionate distribution of benefits to certain groups is much worse. But in theory, it would be utopia!
Which countries do you feel operate in a “better” or less corrupt way?
Note that I wouldn’t consider “in theory” responses valid answers to that question.
None. I believe the answer to the Fermi Paradox, at least for humanity, is “capitalism.” There are no governments or international institutions which are capable of responding to climate change. Every organization with political clout is based around growth, and that is the very thing which must be halted if not reversed.