American Exceptionalism - A Myth Exposed
American political leaders and average Americans too take great pride in trumpeting the United States as the greatest country in the world. We are the strongest, the richest; we have the best medical system; we have the best educational system; and the list goes on and on.
But are we the greatest country? While it is incontrovertible that we are the strongest country in the world militarily, and that we are the richest country in the world in terms of the size of our economy, when it comes to the health and welfare of the American people we are far from the greatest, as the data below will show. And I believe it is in the ability of all Americans to pursue the American promise of “equality” and “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” that our greatness is best measured.
You might ask, “Why bother exposing this myth?” Because we have many problems in this country which seem to be intractable, largely because people ... both most leaders and the average American ... refuse to acknowledge the facts, let alone view them as presenting a serious problem that must be addressed. Most people are so caught up in how great we are and how good life in this country is that we have come to believe the illusion and cannot see the gritty reality which is quite different.
Only when our leaders and the public are able to see and admit these significant problems that limit our greatness will the political will exist to do what is necessary to fix them. And they can be fixed. We have the riches and the knowledge to do all that needs to be done.
In the data below, the United States is compared with the rest of the developed world, and at times the entire world. The areas I will examine ... health, education, income inequality, violence/security, social mobility, and equal opportunity ... are essential to the ability of our country to live up to the promises made in the Declaration of Independence and truly be the great nation we aspire to.
... (for the data and analysis, see my blog post)
In summary, the data show that the United States has the worst health system in the developed world, even if it is by far the most expensive. It has a mediocre educational system compared with other developed countries. It has the highest income inequality in the developed world and almost the highest wealth inequality in the entire world. It has the highest rate by far of people dying from firearms in the developed world. The social upward mobility of Americans from generation to generation is now significantly lower than that in other developed countries. And equal opportunity is not available because lower income Americans receive an inferior education.
This data is cause for our political leaders and the public to stop and consider what has caused these problems to develop and what needs to be done to return America to the path of greatness. It is not just a matter of throwing more money at a problem. Each of these problems reflects structural defects in our system that must be corrected. The American people are hurting. Further, the combined impact of these problems will lead, if not addressed, to a steadily weaker America on the world stage.
For more on this and other issues, see my blog, http://PreservingAmericanGreatness.blogspot.com
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into Americans' heads, this brain-washing effectively shuts down the reasoning and questioning process for most of the masses. But just like arms, capitalism is only beneficent in a well-regulated structure. 
