Allow me to take a short paragraph to gloat. For years I have railed against the “United States is the greatest country in the world” bullshit. First, there is no such thing. Second, the admittted advantage the US gained was built upon the death of previous natives and the slavery of many. Some legacy. But now it is becoming obvious to people who are other than liberal like myself that this greatness is an illusion. We are, in comparison to others, not all that great in many areas. So I am gloating. Woohoo!

Okay, gloating over.

The evidence: our health care sucks compared to others though we spend more than any other country. Our education system is woefully inadequate. Our infrastructure is crumbling. We consume way more energy that we need to, contribute one-third of climate changing gases though our population is less than one-tenths of the world’s. We are highly in debt to other countries with no solution in site. Our murder and incarceration rates are among the top five on the planet. And as of late, our supposed miltary might is looking less capable than advertised. If anyone is keeping score. We ain’t doing so good. And this is a shortlist

So what does it mean for us? My hope is that we get off our high horse and realize that we are just like everyone else. That being the world’s policeman is a lose-lose situation. That we are lucky, not good. That much of our hard work only goes toward making the “man” richer and ourselves poorer on a relative basis. That we cannot depend on politicians to make decisions for us.

Okay, so I am hoping for a lot. But isn’t the first part of solving your problem realizing that you have one?

Of course, the converse is that ‘mericans will stick to their stubborn ways or worse. In a land that worships weapons and killing, the danger is that when things get worse, people will turn on others.

May you live in interesting times!