The only thing different about the US is the size of the population under one flag. Nearly everything flows from that. Size of markets, economies of scale. That makes it seem like it's somehow "better" and that can be an advantage but it's not everything. So on a totals basis it seems like the USA is better but on a percentage basis on various things it's not always. For example, over here people point out that banks make huge profits. On a totals basis they do! but on a percentage return on investment the dividends are no better than most other companies or worse. You'll get people here saying I'm knocking the USA for pointing that out however as far as I'm concerned, it's just an observation not a put down. Re: 1776 if you wanted to go to war with your own people so be it I suppose. Also, because the constitution is now pretty old some would say it needs to evolve because not everything in it could possibly have been envisaged to be relevant to a modern society. What used to be an advantage is now sometimes an impediment.