American Exceptionalism—By The Numbers
Contrary to my preconceived notion that American Exceptionalism was our sense of superiority, Wikipedia says it is more about being inherently different, and thus unique, and “often with the implication that the country is both destined and entitled to play a distinct and positive role on the world stage.” The word “entitled” is troubling.
Let’s review our “uniqueness” shall we?
California has a population of 38.96 million and two United States senators. Alphabetically: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah have a combined population of 38.97 million and twenty-six senators.
· Since 2000, two presidents: Bush and Trump lost the popular vote. Where else does this happen in developed countries?
· It takes sixty votes in the United State Senate to pass nearly all legislation. That is called minority rule.
When it comes to unequal representation, we are unique.
The Second Amendment, ratified in 1791, was not part of the original Constitution, ratified in 1788. It says, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms [muskets], shall not be infringed.” It did not say muskets, but arms in 1791 were muskets. Consider us lucky that the founders did not enact “…bear arms and cannons…” The bullet was not invented until 1847. The first rapid-fire weapon, the machine gun, was not invented until 1884. The AR-15, now the killing fields weapon-of-choice, was first manufactured in 1959.
· “A well-regulated militia” is the National Guard. A well-regulated militia does not kill our children.
· We have 330 million people in the United States, 275 million automobiles and over 400 million guns. The entire rest of the world owns 464 million guns.
· People killed by guns in the United States since John Lennon was killed on December 8, 1980–1,057,000.
· School shootings since Columbine — 244.
When it comes to guns, we are unique.
Overall, National Geographic’s Greendex found that we rank last of 17 countries surveyed in regard to sustainable behavior.
· Sierra Club: “With less than 5 percent of world population, the U.S. uses one-third of the world’s paper, a quarter of the world’s oil, 23 percent of the coal, 27 percent of the aluminum, and 19 percent of the copper,”
· According to Washington State University: “Americans constitute 5% of the world’s population but consume 24% of the world’s energy.
When it comes to consuming dwindling earth’s resources, we are unique.
· Also, from the WSU study, “Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day — that’s roughly 200 billion more than needed — enough to feed 80 million people.”
· The AMA warns us that nearly 40% of us are obese. Any wonder why we have a diabetes epidemic in this country?
When it comes to obesity, we are unique.
Forty-three million of us who attended or graduated from college owe $1.7 trillion in debt. No other country comes even close.
When it comes to student debt, we are unique.
We are a violent country, beginning with the Revolutionary War, genocide of the Indians, conquering Mexicans in Texas and the Southwest, slavery and the lynching of blacks. We have declared war eleven times, and have been in a conflict all but fifteen years of our history. It has been less than a year since we left Afghanistan.
When it comes to wars and conflicts, we are unique.
45,979 of us committed suicide in 2020 (130 everyday), and 1.2 million attempted suicide. No other developed nation is even a close second. Firearms are the method of choice — 53%, and white males account for 70% of suicides.
When comes to suicides, we are unique.
In 2018, Healthcare in the United States was 16.9% of GDP, the highest by far of any country. Per capita spending was $10,207. Next highest was Switzerland at $7,147. Neighboring Canada was $4, 974. These numbers include drug prices. A recent Rand report showed that the prices of brand drugs here are 3.44 times higher than in 32 comparative countries.
Do we get what we pay for? Many claim the United States to be the beacon of healthcare worldwide. Yet according to a study published by JAMA, Journal of the American Health Association, the United States spends twice as much on cancer care as the average high-income country, but gets only middle-of-the-table survival results. Out of 22 high-income countries, the United States spends the most by far on cancer care, roughly $200 billion a year or $600 per person. The other 21 countries average $300 per person. Smoking is the biggest factor, and one reason France is rated high in cancer mortality. Unlike countries with public health systems, US-run insurance called Medicaid cannot negotiate drug prices. Neither can Medicare.
When it comes to healthcare, we are unique.
Worldometer.info tells us this, on a case per million-population basis, 172 countries/territories have fewer cases of COVID-19 than the United States. Regarding deaths per million, 215 countries/territories have fewer deaths. In raw numbers, the United States leads the world with over 1 million deaths. I have no doubt that countries like India and Brazil have been undercounted. The question is — why aren’t we better? The answer has been well documented. The Republicans made the pandemic political. No other pandemic has been this politicized.
When it comes to politicizing pandemics, we are unique.
The Prison Policy Initiative says, “Not only does the U.S. have the highest incarceration rate in the world; every single U.S. state incarcerates more people per capita than virtually any independent democracy on earth.” The United States rate per 100,000 is 664. Compared to NATO countries, the next highest is the United Kingdom at 129. The highest sixteen states are red states, led by Louisiana at 1094, followed closely by Mississippi at 1031.
When it comes to incarceration and imprisonment costs, we are unique.
Opensecrets.org says that the 2020 elections for president, senate and house were the most expensive ever, costing $14.4 billion, more than double the previous record set in 2016. We now have what I call a “Political Economy,” one that runs 24/7, 365 days a year, each and every year and not just even-numbered (national races) years. In other countries the election cycle is much shorter, and often a candidate cannot buy ads. The media gives them free coverage. They call that public service. Our Supreme Court would strike that down as unconstitutional, just as they ruled that money is speech and opened the barn door to unlimited spending by corporations and the ultra-rich. Let’s compare my $1.00 of free speech to the free speech of $1,000,000 from Charles Koch.
When it comes to elections, we are unique.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the top 400 CEOs hit a record of $14.7 million in median pay in 2021.
According to Oxfam, a new billionaire was created every 30 hours during the pandemic. The United States’ 735 billionaires increased their worth 62% over the pandemic to $4.7 trillion. Let me spell that out — $4,700,000,000,000.
When it comes to CEO pay and billionaire creation, we are unique.
In terms of income inequality, the Gini Index put the United States in the middle of the pack, worldwide. The Gini Index is a summary measure of income equality. A zero means everyone is equal. A one means one person owns everything. Worldwide, South Africa is the most unequal with an index of .63. Slovenia is the most equal with an index of .246. The U.S. sits in the middle with an index of .414. But there is this: a study published by Northwestern University tells us that for every dollar of accumulated wealth white families have, black families have just one cent. Latinx families have eight cents. If wealth is a key factor in a child’s future success, there is this: for every dollar of income a white family with children earns, similar black families earn. $.47. Hispanic families earn $.48.
When it comes to race, the United States has seismic income inequality.
The United States spends more on national defense than China, India, Russia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, Japan, and South Korea — combined. That number this year is now $800 billion, which accounts for ten percent of all federal spending and nearly half of discretionary spending. There will never be a number that is too high for defense spending. Its budget is untouchable, as are guns.
When it comes to defense spending, we are unique.
Money spent on lobbying Congress in 2021 reached $3.7 billion, another new record, and up from 1.4 billion in 1998, according to Open Secrets. Toss in lobbying at the state and local level and the spending erupts like Mt. St. Helens. Lobbyists are the fourth branch of government.
When it comes to lobbying and lobbyists, we are unique.
I saved the most consequential for last. According to Pew Research: “The 55.7% VAP (voting age population) turnout in 2016 puts the U.S. behind most of its peers in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, most of whose members are highly developed democratic states. Looking at the most recent nationwide election in each OECD nation, the U.S. places 30th out of 35 nations for which data is available.
While our turnout did increase some in 2020, our ranking is atrocious, and is the only pushback that could make us less unique in all of the above examples. Voting has consequences.
When it comes to voter turnout, we are unique.
(Despite the focus of this blog, I do not trivialize our freedom of speech, freedom of the press, our impressive spirit of entrepreneurship, our inventions, and playing the good guy in two world wars and Korea, to name a few on the plus side.)
Unique is one of the most banal words I could think of to describe our above abrasive and abhorrent behaviors.
Despite what Wikipedia says, I believe that when most of us think of American Exceptionalism, we think in terms of superiority on so many levels. Granted, I have met Chinese French, German, Japanese, and other nationalities who feel similarly about themselves. But they are not unique in the ways I have listed.
There is too much fascination in our country for a leader like Viktor Orban in Hungary — a strong man who would be like Trump promised — “Only I can fix it.” Fox News’ Tucker Carlson is the lead majorette.
History tells us that when people are divided, when people feel despair, when people are economically trapped, when people feel as if they do not matter, when people feel less safe, they can too easily become pawns for the powerful, be it an Orban in Hungary, a Putin in Russia, a Bolsonaro in Brazil, a Erdogen in Turkey or a Trump in the United States.
Let’s not be unique that way.