Is America Great?

I got into an argument today with some folks (on Facebook of course) about whether or not the United States is a great country. To my astonishment, many of the people on the feed denied that the United States is great at all and proceeded to compare the U.S. to third world countries and worse. I've traveled to other countries, and from what I have personally seen, the U.S. has a lot going for it.

I absolutely agree that the U.S. has some problems that need to be sorted out. In my opinion, however, the pluses far outweigh the minuses.

The U.S. has a very high standard of living. Real GDP/capita is currently $57,608 [in 2018], which is not the highest, but arguably the highest among large countries. Compare that to China’s $15,395 . Astonishing, right?

It’s the most popular immigration destination. Clearly the US has the largest immigrant population among all the countries in the world. This is is even more impressive when you consider that the US’s immigration policy is very restrictive. According to the U.N.'s 2015 report 46,627,102 people living in the United States were born in other countries. So there must be some compelling reasons for people to want to come.

The U.S. is culturally and racially diverse, and was shaped by large waves of immigration from Europe and beyond. American literature, art and music reflect the rich heritage of the country’s people

It’s a great place to do business. Every year, Swiss business school IMD conducts a ranking on which countries are the most competitive. This is the most reputable competitiveness ranking in the world. In the 2017 ranking, the US is ranked #3.

 The U.S. economy is the world’s largest in terms of gross domestic product, and also the most technologically powerful. The country’s most significant exports are computers and electrical machinery, vehicles, chemical products, food, live animals and military equipment. The U.S. also has the world’s largest coal reserves.

In addition, the U.S. Influences other countries by the export of intangible products like movies, TV shows, music, software, and video games. Essentially, almost all media we consume today in the west is American, and many cultures are strongly influenced by the US’s.

The United States is top-notch for research and education. It has not only the vast majority of the world’s best universities: MIT, Stanford, Harvard, and Caltech. The United States has had the most Nobel Prize winners, with 336 winners overall. It has been most successful in the area of Physiology or Medicine, with 94 laureates since 1901.