Is America the Greatest Country in the World?
By: Luke Rebecchi and Jacob Beck.
“It’s not the greatest country in the world.” These words, spoken by WIll McAvoy, a newscaster played by Jeff Daniels on The Newsroom, could not have been more controversial. While Mr. McAvoy was trying to make a point that America has changed over the last few centuries, he took it a step further and essentially said that America sucks.
But is he wrong? Is this fictional big-wig news broadcaster incorrect when he questions the greatness of America? First, let’s start with what makes a country great, let alone the greatest. These factors will change country to country, mainly because people grow up in different places with different beliefs, leading to a different equation. Additionally, there is an inherent affinity to your homeland and for you, as a citizen, to believe that you live in the greatest country. For this task though, we looked at America in 5 different categories, to determine if it is, in fact, the greatest country: Democracy, Social Mobility, Children, Protection and Jobs.
Is America Democratic? Absolutely. Almost too democratic. Americans have an equal say in everything. Our lobbying system is one of the best around. People go to congress, say what they want, and either watch it happen or not, but we have the ABILITY to do that, and that is what matters. In a day and age where social media is the norm, people can start a message or a campaign in Florida and it could be in Oregon the next minute. We can start a movement and end a movement with the press of an “enter” key. Just look at this past election for example. The amount of people influenced by a clever meme or funny gif regarding one of the candidates was insanely high, but that is the day in which we live.
Key to the ‘bootstrap individualism’ that defines America’s ‘exceptionalism’ is the ability for those born in misery to attain great wealth, and those born in great wealth to lose it all. People in America, as it goes, succeed by the virtue and magnitude of their sweat and toil. The folksy ‘American Dream’ codifies the acceptance of and adherence to these principles. But, in light of income inequality reminiscent of the Robber Baron era, has America’s meritocracy been corrupted? In short, yes. Confirming much of the literature our class discussed recently, the work of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce consistently shows the return of a college education far exceeds a high school diploma. Further, amongst the most prestigious American institutions of higher education, only 3% of the student body come from families situated in the bottom income quartile, in contrast to a 74% representation of the top quartile. These elite, Tier-1 institutions pump out high earners that fill positions of power and prestige, but their composition shatters dreams of intergenerational social mobility. Wealthy adults regularly produce successful offspring, and vice versa for the poor. Only those fast asleep would view this as an ‘American Dream’. Furthermore, does the ‘American Dream’ include people struggling to find jobs? Probably not.
While Will McAvoy mentions America is 4th in the labor force, that is not necessarily a good thing. The only thing that says is that America is willing to work. We have people who are actively searching for jobs, awesome. The fact is, though, that many of Americans are unemployed. While we look forward to the day where unemployment will hover around 5%, we don’t know if that day is upon us. Sure, America has made strides since the beginning of the 1900s, now that we allow many more people to enter the labor force and encourage their participation. The desire to succeed has always been a bright spot for America, whether immigrants or not. People have a desire to work hard, keep a business running, and succeed, but right now, working in America sucks. One facet of America that isn’t too bad right now, however, is that of safety.
Though rarely a victim of foreign attacks (9/11 being the first foreign attack on American soil since the War of 1812), the American people pride themselves on their uncontested military power. With a military budget rivalling all other states combined, the U.S. regularly projects its hard power throughout the world, and does so with much enthusiasm from policymakers and (through outright deception?) the general public. In the words of former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, “What’s the point of having this superb military that you’re always talking about if we can’t use it?” Defining a country as great for its ability to project military power internationally is quite contestable. A number of empires throughout history have utilized force to attain strategic objectives, though we would certainly not consider Nazi Germany or the Soviet Russia as great. Greatness rests in utilizing that capacity wisely to protect American citizens domestically, and in accordance with, and for the protection of, basic human rights internationally. That the United States has not seen terror attacks in over 11 years speaks to our ability to protect our own. Quite conversely, the details of our most recent escapades in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Pakistan question very seriously our commitment to international human rights.
Fiscal responsibility, is perhaps the most recurring theme in American politics. Beyond the simple extension of the frugal individual to the government as whole (a composition fallacy I will let slide), fiscal responsibility rests upon a moral argument that our children deserve a livable world. In this past election, both presidential candidates spoke often of sacrificing today for the well-being of our children and grandchildren tomorrow. So, extending the baseline indefinitely, how does the American child’s future appear? For one, he/she will live in a country that owes a bit of money. On first glance, a large debt frightens. More important than the size however, is the price of debt. Interest rates, the price of debt, are at historic lows, so it makes economic sense to purchase more. Hopefully, if and when interest rates rise, our policymakers will have the wisdom to change accordingly.
Beyond just debt, America’s children will have to adjust to a warmer and less inhabitable world, a stupid-expensive health-care system, and the rise of other states that challenge America’s preeminence. Each generation inherits a mess from the former, and only a fraction of it has been mentioned here. America has not quite abandoned its children, but her political intransigence will make their lives more historic.
Categories: Growth
Discussion
Janaki November 26th, 2012 at 15:18
Alyssa November 29th, 2012 at 14:03
I think that this is a very interesting topic and one that I have recently thought a great deal about while I studied abroad for two semesters. As an American traveling through Europe there are many things that I admired about European systems, and even I thought were better than our systems here at home. After speaking with many Europeans though, be it my professors abroad or friends, I realized just how much America is watched and admired across the world and it made me have two, rather different feelings. I felt patriotic, proud to be an American, proud to be from a country that my fellow European friends looked at as the most powerful and most watched nation in the world. Conversely I also felt a little embarrassed in that I could not help feeling how much I felt that Americans take for granted what we have available to us.
In terms of how well informed the American public is, this is one of the things that embarrassed me when speaking to Europeans. While I like to think of myself as well informed, I found that my international friends knew so much more about American politics than the average American. To me, this was so unfortunate to learn that for how much we are admired and watched on a world scale, how little informed our own citizens can be, how they take for granted the opportunities available to us.
I think that the point that Janaki raised regarding America’s obligation to the rest of the world is a very interesting debate. On one hand it is impossible to think that we have an obligation to care for and look after other countries, but on the other hand if we have such great power and if we are such a great nation, then perhaps that is within our own responsibility as a nation? I’m not sure, and I think that it is a very interesting point.
Jonathan Burns December 11th, 2012 at 13:56
I wanted to respond to the third paragraph regarding the democracy of America: “Is America Democratic? Absolutely. Almost too democratic. Americans have an equal say in everything. Our lobbying system is one of the best around. People go to congress, say what they want, and either watch it happen or not, but we have the ABILITY to do that, and that is what matters. In a day and age where social media is the norm, people can start a message or a campaign in Florida and it could be in Oregon the next minute. We can start a movement and end a movement with the press of an “enter” key. Just look at this past election for example. The amount of people influenced by a clever meme or funny gif regarding one of the candidates was insanely high, but that is the day in which we live.”
I am not sure I would go as far as to say Americans have an equal say in everything. We do have a “say”, but I think we have and will continue to see it is not always “equal”. Indeed, movements can begin with the stroke of a key or click of a mouse, yet often this same movements are pushed or restrained from monetary aspects. As seen in recent elections over the years, it often is the case money/funding can be more valuable than a single vote.
In regards to the third paragraph, sometimes (majority of the time) things don’t get done for the better of American society, simply because there are simply too many stakeholders with too many monetary obligations to lobby.
In personal opinion, I think there is one thing that has often doesn’t get brought up – do you feel that the general American public is well-informed; if so, then which Americans and how many of the total who are so greatly trying to sway public opinion are really informed? Also, what about the isolated state of America and Americans who don’t necessarily know of the turmoil that is going on in the remainder of the world? If, in fact, America is the greatest country in the world – do you feel it has an obligatory responsibility to care for and look after other countries and keep its own citizens aware about the problems that are facing others? – Just curious to learn about people’s macro-level opinions on America v. rest of the world.