What is wrong with USA? Koon Yew Yin

Koon Yew Yin

Publish date: Mon, 18 Jul 2022, 10:59 AM

There are countless number of books written about the USA and I also know very few really want to read a book. I did some research and picked up all the most useful information for you.

GDP Growth Rate:

GDP growth rate is one of the most accurate ways, if not the most accurate way, to measure the economic performance of a country. The chart above shows the GDP growth rate of the US in the last 40 years. The US has practically no GDP growth. In fact, in 2020 it was -3.5%.

By comparison China has progressed much faster.

USA is the biggest bully in the world

Since World War 2, the US has bombed 36 countries. Here is the list:

1. China 1945-46

2. Korea 1950-53

3. China 1950-53

4. Guatemala 1954

5. Indonesia 1958

6. Cuba 1959-60

7. Guatemala 1960

8. Belgian Congo 1964

9. Guatemala 1964

10. Dominican Republic 1965-66

11. Peru 1965

12. Laos 1964-73

13. Vietnam 1961-73

14. Cambodia 1969-70

15. Guatemala 1967-69

16. Lebanon 1982-84

17. Grenada 1983-84

18. Libya 1986

19 El Salvador 1981-92

20 Nicaragua 1981-90

21 Iran 1987-88

22 Libya 1989

23 Panama 1989-90

24 Iraq 1991

25 Kuwait 1991

26 Somalia 1992-94

27 Bosnia 1995

28 Iran 1998

29 Sudan 1998

30 Afghanistan 1998

31 Yugoslavia – Serbia 1999

32 Afghanistan 2001

33 Libya 2011

34 Iraq and Syria 2014

35 Somalia 2011

36 Iran 2020

US defence budget:

The United States now spends more on defence than the next 9 countries combined.

Defence spending by the United States increased by $22 billion from 2020 to 2021 according to recently released figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). As a result, that increase was outstripped by growth in spending from other countries.

The United States has recently voted to provide $40 billion in aid to Ukraine illustrates that the US is trapped in the death spiral of unchecked militarism.

Gun ownership in the US

Firearms deaths are a fixture in American life.

There were 1.5 million deaths by firearms between 1968 and 2017 - that's higher than the number of soldiers killed in every US conflict since the American War for Independence in 1775.

In 2020 alone, more than 45,000 Americans died at the end of a barrel of a gun, whether by homicide or suicide, more than any other year on record. The figure represents a 25% increase from five years prior, and a 43% increase from 2010. But the issue is a highly political one, putting gun control advocates against sectors of the population fiercely protective of their constitutionally-enshrined right to bear arms.

How many guns are there in the US?

There are more guns in the US than people. There are about 393 million privately owned firearms in the US, according to an estimate by the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey - or in other words, 120 guns for every 100 Americans. That's the highest rate of any country in the world. However, studies show the majority of those guns are owned by a minority of people.

Our trip from St Francisco to Los Angeles

About 30 years ago, my wife and I flew to St. Francisco from Kuala Lumpur. We hired a car to drive to Yosemite National Park to attend my youngest daughter’s wedding. There were 6 or more roads from St Francisco to Los Angeles. At that time, I thought the US would soon construct a high speed railway to connect the 2 cities. However, it is only in 2020 that construction is under way by the California High-Speed Rail Authority on sections traversing the Central Valley which is planned to open in 2029 and with Phase 1 planned for completion in 2033.

US does not have High Speed Rails but China has a total of 40,000 km of High Speed Rails.

Benefits of High-Speed Rail for the United States

Creates Jobs;

Increases Economic Activity;

Reduces Congestion and Boosts Productivity;

Reduces the Nation's Dependence on Foreign Oil;

Expands Travel Choices and Improves Mobility;

Numbers of homeless people in USA from 2007 - 2021 are shown below:

I just Googled “photos of homeless people in US” This is one of the photos.

USA is a failed state:

In addition to the above, the US is a failed state. In short, it does not have high speed trains. No universal health care. No viable Covid relief program. No respite from 8.3 percent inflation. No infrastructure programs to repair decaying roads and bridges which require $41.8 billion to fix the 43,586 structurally deficient bridges, on average 68 years old. No forgiveness of $1.7 trillion in student debt. No addressing income inequality. No program to feed the 17 million children who go to bed each night hungry. No rational gun control or curbing of the epidemic of nihilistic violence and mass shootings. No help for the 100,000 Americans who die each year of drug overdoses. No minimum wage of $15 an hour to counter 44 years of wage stagnation. No respite from gas prices that are projected to hit $6 a gallon.

The permanent war economy, implanted since the end of World War II, has destroyed the private economy, bankrupted the nation, and squandered trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. The monopolization of capital by the military has driven the US debt to $30 trillion, $6 trillion more than the US GDP of $ 24 trillion. Servicing this debt costs $300 billion a year. US spent more on the military, $813 billion for fiscal year 2023, than the next nine countries, including China and Russia, combined.