[peterfirefly]

How much of that required a bigger state?

The end of slavery was really due to slavery being uneconomic. That's why the Northern states didn't have slavery. It would have ended in the South as well, even without the Civil War (which was a kind of big state thing, of course).

Children forced to labour without pay -- also an economic issue.

[nuancebydefault]

Even though US is more wealthy than Europe, the average European seems struggling much less than their US counterpart. Just have a look at poverty, homelessness, health figures, even of educated people.

The latest votes, and your comment, only seem to indicate that US people on average find that to be fine enough, the price for a (for me weird) kind of freedom.

[bluGill]

Perception is not reality. People complain all the time. People will always spend the most they can get by with. There are people earning $million/year who have less spending money after paying their monthly bills (to spend on things like food) than others living below the poverty line. This is all about how they spend money, the person making $million/year is clearly rich, but if they are still having trouble making ends meet.