Opinion: The U.S. Is Still the Greatest Country in the World

An Immigrant's Thanksgiving Perspective on America

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On this Thanksgiving, I thought I’d revisit and substantially update a column I have published in various forms in recent years. My inspiration to write it came from a viral New York Times video in 2019 that mocked the “mythology” that America is the greatest country on earth.

The video’s title, “Please stop telling me America is great,” tells much of its story. The opinions it expresses exemplify the rhetoric, often much more extreme and increasingly common, that insists that the US is essentially and irredeemably evil.

Hogwash.

Still, many Americans question American exceptionalism. A 2020 USA Today/Suffolk poll found only 32% of those surveyed called the U.S. “the greatest country in the world,” with another 28% saying it was “one of the greatest.” However, 12% thought the U.S. was just “average,” 24% believed the U.S. had fallen behind other major countries, and 3% said it was “one of the worst” of the world’s nations.

As usual, opinions split down party and racial lines, with Republicans and Whites more strongly supporting the idea of America’s greatness than Democrats and African Americans.

A 2022 USA Today/Suffolk poll was even darker. When it asked Americans to describe the state of the U.S. in one word, the most common response, from 31%, was “awful,” “poor,” or “terrible,” with another 20% saying the country was “chaotic,” “disastrous,” or “messy.”

If you’re inclined to believe that America isn’t great, I doubt I’ll convince you otherwise, but I’ll try.

I should first say that I’m biased. As a journalist I’ve dedicated myself to being as balanced as possible, but I can’t do that here.

I am a Cuban exile. Along with my parents, my toddler brother, and my newborn sister, I came to the U.S. before I turned three, about 18 months after Fidel Castro took power. We left Cuba with little money, and my parents soon had three more kids to feed. But the U.S. welcomed us, as few countries would have. My parents worked hard and the U.S. provided us with opportunities incomparable to those we would have had anywhere else. We are forever grateful.

Still, the argument over America’s greatness shouldn’t be partisan.

Then President Donald J. Trump speaks at the Reading Regional Airport in Bern Township, Penn., on Oct. 31, 2020, surrounded by people wearing "Make America Great Again" hats and banners with the slogan. (Ben Hasty/Getty Images)

On the right, chest-thumping patriotism is de rigueur, but conservatives often contradict themselves.

Former President Trump’s “Make America Great” slogan implied America had somehow stopped being great. His dark inaugural speech was a laundry list of America’s faults. So was his low-energy, falsehood-ridden speech announcing his run for president in 2024. In 2013, years before he became president, Trump went as far as to praise Vladimir Putin’s New York Times op-ed in which the Russian president criticized references to “American exceptionalism” by then President Obama.

Constant complaining from conservatives about everything that’s wrong with the U.S. also belies their facile proclamations about American exceptionalism. And the 1/6 attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters displayed an astonishing lack of respect for the institutions that helped make the U.S. the world’s most powerful and successful country.

It’s worse on the left. A Gallup poll in June of this year found that national pride had fallen to a new low among all Americans, with only 26% of Democrats “extremely proud” to be American. That's down drastically from 56% in 2013, despite having a Democrat in the White House.

Courtesy: Gallup.

The lack of national pride echoes comments made by Michelle Obama during the 2008 campaign when she said she was proud of her country for the first time. Or the infamous speech from the first episode from Aaron Sorkin’s “Newsroom,” where the main character goes on a diatribe saying “There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world.”

That’s the tack taken by the New York Times video. It ridicules the thought of America being the greatest country, proceeding to spin statistics to portray the U.S. in the worst possible light.

Ironically, the freedom to express anti-American sentiment is one of the many things that proves this country is great. Sure, as critics point out, many other countries are free. Some are even freer economically and have greater freedom of the press.

But are they seriously arguing that America is not the beacon that has led to freedom elsewhere? Almost 200 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville called American democracy exceptional. It took another century for democratic ideals to start taking hold around the world.

Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville (1805-1859) was a French political thinker and historian best known for his works "Democracy in America" (appearing in two volumes: 1835 and 1840) and "The Old Regime and the Revolution" (1856). Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States, and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science. (Pictures From History/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

Is the U.S. tops in everything? Of course not. The U.S. struggles to make the top ten on most lists of the world’s best countries. The most recent Social Progress Index, which assesses social and environmental performance of world countries, ranked the United States as No. 25.

Does the U.S. have its faults? Sure, and there are many, rarely more in evidence than over the past few years. Racism, income and wealth inequality, poverty, infant mortality, gun violence, incarceration, abuse of women in the workplace, political polarization, censoring of free speech (from both sides), white supremacy, and homophobia are scandalously prominent among them.

In no way excusing discrimination of any sort, but in what diverse society does racism not exist? In fact, many countries discriminate harshly against some their citizens, just because they are of a different class, race, or caste. Antisemitism and racism are very much a problem in European countries that often rank higher than the U.S. on “best-country” lists.

The “misery loves company” and “whataboutist” argument is odious in discussions about discrimination of any kind and should never be used to diminish crucial efforts to combat racism and all prejudice. But it is relevant when comparing the American reality to that of other countries.

And remember: The U.S. is much more diverse, bigger, and more populous than any country that’s ranked higher in almost any category. Countries that get better ratings are all much more homogeneous and smaller.

Nobody can be proud of the way many migrants have been treated recently. But what other country in the world deals with more than 200,000 crossing its borders illegally every month?

The prevalence of mass shootings is an outrage. The astronomical number of all shootings is a national embarrassment. Wherever you stand on the Second Amendment, no sane person can say American gun policies are working.

Our primary and secondary educational achievements are lagging those of other well-to-do countries.

Prescription drug abuse is killing Americans at an obscene rate.

The divisive U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a horrifically high death rate. But the economy still fared better than most and the vaccine development effort bordered on miraculous.

Critics also point out that we spend far more on healthcare than anybody else, but we are not among the top 30 healthiest countries, according to the Bloomberg Health Index. The critics ignore that the U.S. is much healthier and has a higher life expectancy than any of the top ten most populous countries.

Are we “just OK,” as the New York Times video concludes? Give me a break.

Yes, the list of America’s historical sins is long, but is anyone going to seriously argue that this country has not been the greatest force for good worldwide?

American aid, inventions, and investments have lifted more people out of poverty around the world than all other countries combined.

Yes, the U.S. has supported authoritarian regimes, but the world is more democratic greatly thanks to American influence.

And don’t forget that America gave the world the understanding of electricity, the telephone, the mobile phone, the light bulb, the airplane, mass production of cars, mobile phones, the personal computer, GPS, and the internet.

The U.S. barely squeaks into the top ten richest countries per capita, but it’s the most charitable. In absolute dollar contributions, there’s no comparison: The U.S. is the most generous nation on Earth. Even when looking at charitable intangibles, such as volunteer work, the U.S. is the world leader.

Also, the U.S. is best at medical research, drug development, tech innovation, artificial intelligence, robotics, space, aerospace, the military, media, and entertainment. American universities are the envy of the world. The U.S. dollar is the world’s unofficial currency. The U.S. also has the best amusement parks, the most extensive wildlife preservation, and, by far, the largest road network. And what would people like me have done without fast food? Thank you, McDonald’s.

Bill Clinton said “There’s nothing wrong with America that can’t be cured by what’s right with America.”

We should analyze what’s wrong. We should learn from America’s failures and mistakes. We must insist on high standards. To whom much is given much should be required.

Yes, jingoism is a bad thing, but patriotism is not.

The U.S. is the biggest magnet for people around the world. Millions vote with their feet every year and often risk everything hoping for a shot at the American dream.

How often do Americans leave? They vote by not using their feet.

Soviet-born comedian Yakov Smirnoff spoke for millions of immigrants who have come here seeking a better life with his catch-phrase: “What a country!”

It is easy to take the blessings of the U.S. for granted. So, take it from this immigrant on this Thanksgiving: America is the greatest country in the world.

Cover photo: A bald eagle and U.S.-flag license plate is seen on a car in New York State, on Oct. 25, 2022. (Beata Zawrzel/Getty Images)

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