What is wrong with the US?

Living in the UK, this is a question I regularly ask myself. America’s democracy is ultimately flawed; its politics more degenerative and unhelpful than most other developed nations. The Republican Party’s repeated electoral success signifies its hardline social conservative sentiment, and the human rights abuses in prisons and by the intelligence services pose a stark contrast to most countries. Why, then, is this the case — and what can be done to fix it?

The US Constitution is loved and revered by the people — but it causes more problems than it solves

Before really delving into this, I’ll certainly say this:

The US isn’t some sort of fiery hellscape, where war is tearing up the country and discrimination is propagated by the state.

It is, however, considerably far behind the UK, France, Germany, et al. Of course, those countries are also further behind Norway, Sweden, Denmark — but, within reason, the US is a real outlier for its huge GDP per capita.

These lists clearly show that the US has a huge economy: it ranks 7th in the world for GDP per capita. The only major nations above it in the list are Switzerland…