The United States is the Greatest Nation in the History of the World

This is a phrase often quoted by Americans, even those as dissimilar as Barack Obama & Dick Cheney. Presumptuous to be sure but is it true? If so, how did America achieve greatness and how do we identify those qualities that make a nation great? If you ask the average American you get the standard answers: freedom & democracy, the U.S. Constitution, the rule of law, the bill of rights, etc. But these cornerstones upon which the U.S. was built did not materialize spontaneously. After all, the founding fathers spent most of their lives as citizens of England. America’s heritage was centuries of British history. In addition to history we cannot discount the importance of geography in the America’s ascent to power and greatness. Let’s take look at geography & history in terms of their importance to the success of America.

GEOGRAPHY

The number one rule in real estate is the mantra location, location, location. I can’t think of a phrase more apt to describe North America in the 17^th century. When the Pilgrims on the Mayflower disembarked on Plymouth Rock back in 1620 little did they know of the immense riches that this land had to offer. (Despite the fact they barely survived the winter, the perseverance of these early settlers insured the future of the United States.) 400 years ago North America was arguably the last and greatest piece of unspoiled real estate left on the planet. A land rich in lumber, minerals, fresh water, wild game of infinite variety, fertile land where the topsoil was measured in feet, not inches, and the climate! To paraphrase Goldilocks; of the three regions of North America, the north (Canada) was too cold, the south (Mexico) was too hot, but the part in between was just right.

Today, Americans are rightly thankful for the wonderful bounty they were blessed with, but don’t rank it very high among the reasons for their perceived greatness.

HISTORY

Before becoming a nation the United States was a colony, a British colony. Most of the inhabitants of the colony were of British ancestry and were influenced in no small part by British history. Many Americans seem to believe that the founding fathers invented democratic government. They discount the extraordinary achievements of the British starting with Magna Carta originally published in 1215, 5½ centuries before the American Declaration of Independence. Magna Carta, including the writ of habeas corpus (allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment), was probably the most significant influence leading to the rule of constitutional law today in most of the English speaking world. The history of the United States did not start with the War of Independence. Despite their hatred of King George III Americans cannot disown their British heritage.

AMERICAN GREATNESS (or not)

Now, let’s get back to the question of greatness. Of course, the U.S. has had their moments. World War II was perhaps their greatest triumph. Despite the fact that it took an act of war by the Japanese to draw them into the conflict, it’s doubtful the war could have been won without the sacrifice & bravery of the Americans (since dubbed the “greatest generation” by journalist Tom Brokaw). It can also be said however that no country profited from the war as much as the United States. While much of Europe and Asia lay in ruins, America was virtually unscathed. Cities, factories and the underlying infrastructure were untouched by the war, Pearl Harbor notwithstanding. To be fair the Marshall Plan initiated by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall helped enormously in rebuilding the countries of Europe.

The United States is unquestionably the richest and most powerful nation on earth. It’s also the world’s greatest polluter and consumer of fossil fuels despite the best efforts of China to catch up. It’s the greatest arms dealer the world has ever known, both legal & illegal. America imports more illegal drugs (cocaine, heroin, and the like) than any other nation. The internal strife & violence that plagues Mexico is directly attributable to America’s unquenchable thirst for illicit drugs.

We all know that people from all over the world have flocked to the U.S. over the years in search of a better life. They are attracted primarily by the immense wealth of the U.S. and the promise of well-paying jobs. One might think that citizens of the ‘greatest nation’ would be happy, well educated, healthy, long lived, etc., etc. We might also assume that America would be the number one nation in the world as to quality of live.

But here are a few statistics that belie these notions:

Denmark is the best nation to live in according to a recent UN index which takes into account things like GDP, literacy, life expectancy, etc. Out of 21 countries polled the U.S. was ranked 13^th.

Life Expectancy in years: Japan is #1 at 82.6. The U.S. is # 36 at 78.3 (Just behind Cuba)

Education – from the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). U.S. Ranking of 15-year olds tested in 30 countries
Science            17^th
Math                24^th
Reading            16^th

Health Care. WHO (World Health Organization) ranked the U.S. health care system 37^th out of 192 developed countries despite spending more per capita than any other nation.

In conclusion, saying that the United States is “the Greatest Nation in the History of the World” is much like saying that “the U.S. Senate is the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body”. (Actually, this too is an oft-repeated refrain among Americans.)