US also is one of the big bastions of freedoms at least on paper.
If you want to know what the biggest issue facing Americans right now, you have just summarized it nicely by this line of thinking. This mythology of the US being a forward-thinking model of how to run a country may have been true in the 18th century (arguable), but since then the rest of the world has caught up. Today, on the world stage the United States is a nation like any other.
In fact, there are many nations where people are just as free, if not more, than in the US. As one example, while the myth of the "American Dream" is about social mobility, especially inter-generational mobility, in reality the US ranks fairly poorly by that measure. It is not enough for everyone to be de jure free, if their parents' race or socioeconomic status strongly determine the choices a person has available to them and their eventual success in life.
The US has deep social, political and economic problems, all of which impinge on an American's practical freedoms. Until Americans recognize these problems facing their country, and cease with this "bastion of freedom" bullshit, those problems cannot be addressed and will continue to fester.
If you want to know what the biggest issue facing Americans right now, you have just summarized it nicely by this line of thinking. This mythology of the US being a forward-thinking model of how to run a country may have been true in the 18th century (arguable), but since then the rest of the world has caught up. Today, on the world stage the United States is a nation like any other.
In fact, there are many nations where people are just as free, if not more, than in the US. As one example, while the myth of the "American Dream" is about social mobility, especially inter-generational mobility, in reality the US ranks fairly poorly by that measure. It is not enough for everyone to be de jure free, if their parents' race or socioeconomic status strongly determine the choices a person has available to them and their eventual success in life.
The US has deep social, political and economic problems, all of which impinge on an American's practical freedoms. Until Americans recognize these problems facing their country, and cease with this "bastion of freedom" bullshit, those problems cannot be addressed and will continue to fester.