Based on recent political events in the United States, I have the following hypothesis:
The United States is not a functioning civil society, but an engine for the production of compelling personal narratives.
(Pay close attention to the language used by the U.S. media, from cable news to movies of the week, whether they’re covering a presidential campaign or the Olympics: it’s all about the narrative.)
This is a more satisfying explanation for some of the nuttier things the U.S. polity does than, well, systemic and oblivious nuttery.
If you see rampant poverty, uncontrolled gun violence, stratospheric incarceration rates and unobtainable medical coverage as obstacles put in place on purpose so that Americans can rise above them, then there’s a sort of logic to it. You must hurt your protagonists, after all, if your story is going to be at all compelling. There can be no heartwarming tale of triumph over adversity unless there is adversity to triumph over. So let’s make sure there is some.
As someone on the Interwebs pointed out, you don’t get Breaking Bad if Walter White doesn’t have to pay for medical care.
The rest of the world doesn’t get it. Guaranteed health care, a functional social safety net, and schools where small children are seldom machine-gunned to death are boring. A government for which keeping the lights on and paying the bills are routine matters, rather than high drama with a do-or-die cliffhanger at the end of every season, isn’t much fun. The U.S. has decided that it doesn’t want a stable society and good government—it wants to be entertained. It aspires to live in interesting times.