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by srvmshr 1436 days ago
US definitely has exceptional successes, but there are so many systemic flaws which other countries may or may not have, and where US could vastly improve.

* High medical costs

* Highest maternal mortality among developed countries

* Highest income gaps

* High education cost & the vicious circle of college debt.

* Increasing trends of bankruptcy & paycheck-to-paycheck sustenance.

* Lack of public transportation issues in most places

* Very oil dependent economy.

* Gun violence. So many lives needlessly lost every year.

* Growing mental health & opiod crisis

* Lack of public awareness about current affairs (& to some extent apathy even)

* Waning trust in judiciary & in parallel the rise of the rich oligarchy

* Interference in politics of other countries

* Equality of diversity (in true sense) is still to be achieved given racial profiling persists

* The extent of personal freedom without state agencies keeping track of activities.

It definitely has successes but there is a long road to being a model nation. But US as a nation has demonstrated the capacity to overcome odds in fortitude. There is hope - but a sense of cautious hope

4 comments

I was thinking along these lines as well. It's as if those who believe in American Exceptionalism and add up the metrics like the OP did think this is an addition only process.

Ok, you've created the greatest military power, but your country can rarely go through a day without mass shooting of it's own citizens by it's own citizens. How does your military power help your country if the greatest threat to it's citizens comes from your other citizens?

You created an economic power, but you can't afford to provide medical services to a huge portion of your population. When you do provide medical services, the costs are significantly higher than any in any other country. So what has your economic power purchased you? Another television? More sugary and unhealthy foods?

Ok, now do positives.
Sure. The reasons where US shines & is able to draw talent is probably several of these:

* US is absolutely the leader in innovation. No doubts about it.

* Champion of democracy. The US political system & constitution has inspired a lot of other countries. Its a very immaculately drawn political system built on checks & balances

* High degree of choices to an individual to shape his life

* High degree of demographic diversity.

* Good quality secondary & college/university education.

* A general attitude to question the status quo - which is necessary to bring change.

* Secure nation militarily.

* Peaceful & cooperative neighbors, who engage symbiotically for the better of all stakeholders.

* High social mobility for a lot of people (not all but a big chunk).

* Good quality of life in general.

* Very high natural diversity & plentiful resources.

* Ability to shape the political climate to maintain world order.

How would you measure that the US is the leader in innovation.

US News says Japan: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/innovati....

World Intellectual Property Organization says Switzerland: https://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2021/article_0008...

Bloomberg says South Korea: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-03/south-kor...

If you ask my personal opinion/ experience, I would factor 3 things

1. The presence of top research institutions across a wide spectrum of science & technology.

2. The footprint of this research in reputable publications & conferences.

3. The amount of capital investment to bring ideas to products.

If we consider this practical yardstick - US is ahead by a fair margin to any other country.

Attributing all of this to the US simply because it occurs in the US is wrong and fails to acknowledge the contributions of other countries without which the innovations could not occur. How many top research institutions are staffed from people 100% US educated? My guess is none. How many US innovations occur without the input of other countries through educated individuals, resources or capital? Why isn't their contribution recognized and all credit given to the US?
That unfortunately is the nature of credit assignment. US is a melting pot for different demographics & has conducive environment for attracting global talent with resources, opportunity & salaries. Any research funded & operated by them will be claimed by them - human resources aren't staked in claims. Research & capital resources are.

A better question to ask is why other countries (e.g. India, China Japan) aren't doing better to retain their talented scientists & engineers

> US is absolutely the leader in innovation. No doubts about it.

Inherent to the US, or an accident of them just happening to be the largest economy?

When UK (and/or Germany or France) where large(r) economies, innovations was happening there (e.g., Industrial Revolution). Now that the US is the large(st) economy, it's happening there.

How much are innovation levels 'just' a correlation with a lot of money sloshing around?

> High social mobility for a lot of people (not all but a big chunk).

The high-ish wealth inequality ties into low social mobility in the US:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gatsby_curve

"Champion of democracy" when it suits them. The US was responsible for installing Pinochet, the Mujahedeen, possibly the Taliban, ...
I don't think it was intentional, but given the recent Roe v Wade controversy I find it amusing that your wrote "High degree of choices to an individual to shape _his_ life". Gave me a chuckle.
I didn't factor in Roe vs. Wade. It was not intentional or any veiled sarcasm.

What I meant is that unlike a lot of countries where you are bottlenecked by choices of educational specialization, profession, career & personal development, as a US resident one doesn't face any of these. There is ample scope to pursue your interests or take risks to change your career path, things which are unthinkable in the aforementioned situation.

Roe vs. Wade being overturned means that the policy on abortion reverts back to the states, the way your constitution states things which are not regulated by it are to be decided. Some states will continue to offer late-term abortions, some will move to a model more comparable to that in much of Europe with 1st term elective abortions being legal, others will move to ban elective abortions altogether.

The emphasis on his is not as telling as you make it out to be given that fathers also play a role in the conception (by definition) and raising (hopefully) of children. Some men will see what they considered to be their "right" to skip the consequence of them having intercourse without contraception taken away. Those who consider elective late-term abortion to be an essential part of life may move to those states which continue to provide this - New York and California seem to be poised to become abortion 'free states' - while those who consider abortion to be an abomination/against their religion/... may move to those states where it is limited. As far as I know - and correct me if I'm wrong - there are no states where abortion in case of rape or incest or in those cases where the life of the mother is directly threatened is forbidden.

>High degree of demographic diversity.

Why is it good? and for who?

A very homogeneous country like Japan (I could speak for that only, being a current resident), is generally inure to the culture of people around the world. Foreigners don't stick around long because they are like the thumb sticking out. One feels left out if not thick skinned enough.

In US, I always felt at home. There were people just like me - eating similar food, sharing different festivities, of same socioeconomic strata etc. Eventually inclusivity & diversity retains immigration. US (& UK as well) does better than most other developed countries

Exceptionalism is supposed to be all about positives. So, the list is about failures of exceptionalism. That exceptionalism is taken to forgive all transgressions is itself the problem.
American companies and billionaires are doing great.
This reads like a sudden kick to a friend in the nads and then telling him "you're a pretty good guy". What is the point of a post like this? It's not balanced at all if your last statement is to be considered. If you don't like the country then just come out and own it.
My comment wasn't to wax on further to the original post. There are glaring issues which US faces & can improve vis-a-vis developed countries with similar quality of life. Its a bad idea to push deficiencies under the rug, pretend they don't exist & call it an 'exceptionally exceptional' country
OP didn’t say they don’t like the US, but that there are tons of things to improve.

Thinking US is the best country in the world and rejecting the issues is why it’s considered a shithole by a growing population of the world. As a French, the US seems like at third world country to me regarding social rights and benefits.

Correcting these problems would involve pretty significant tradeoffs. For example, lowering medical costs includes improving public fitness, which will be branded as fat shaming. Improving maternal outcomes includes health education for girls that makes maternity a major focus, at odds with American feminism. Combating drug addiction involves strengthening borders. Reducing gun violence means discouraging fatherlessness and educating boys to maintain self control at all times, aka "toxic masculinity".

Note that I am not saying that these are the only causes of the problems you mentioned, but they are significant. And I agree that you can go to far with these and sometimes being more free / subject to less societal pressure to conform is worth sacrifices in health and safety. Just so long as we understand the tradeoffs and don't blindly look at perceived benefits of other countries without also looking at sacrifices made for these benefits.