Let's add some interesting numbers to your JohnD
My information comes from
www.cia.gov (The World Factbook)
Country
-Unemployement
-GDP/capita
-Population below poverty line
-Literacy
USA
-6.2%
-$37,800
-12%
-97%
Austria
-
4.3%
-
$30,000
-
3.9%
-
98%
Belgium
-
8.1%
-
$29,000
-
4%
-
98%
Canada
-
7.7%
-
$29,700
-
NA%
-
97%
Denmark
-
6%
-
$31,200
-
NA%
-
100%
France
-
9.6%
-
$27,500
-
6.5%
-
99%
Greece
-
9.8%
-
$19,900
-
NA%
-
97.5%
Germany
-
10.7%
-
$27,600
-
NA%
-
99%
Ireland
-
5%
-
$29,800
-
10%
-
98%
Italy
-
9.2%
-
$26,800
-
NA%
-
98.6%
Netherlands
-
4.2%
-
$28,600
-
NA%
-
99%
Portugal
-
6%
-
$18,000
-
NA%
-
93.3%
Spain
-
11.7%
-
$22,000
-
NA%
-
97.9%
Sweden
-
4.6%
-
$26,800
-
NA%
-
99%
UK
-
5.1%
-
$27,700
-
17%
-
99%
What I find mind-boggling is that although the US have the second-highest GPD/capita (after Luxembourg) in the whole world most of the other Western countries (in this list only Portugal is lower) have higher Literacy and (when shown) lower Poverty (the UK are the black sheep here).
The US may be an extremely rich country, but the wealth seems to be not very evenly distributed.
And now for a final Marxist PR stunt
USA
-Unemployement: 6.2%
-GDP/capita: $37,800
-Population below poverty line: 12%
-Literacy : 97%
China
-Unemployement:
10% (urban, rural may be substantially higher)
-GDP/capita:
$5000
-Population below poverty line:
10%
-Literacy :
86%
Cuba
-Unemployement:
3.2%
-GDP/capita:
$2,800
-Population below poverty line:
NA%
-Literacy :
97%
Cuba reaches the same Literacy (and lower Unemplyment) as the US although they have only one thirteenth ! of the United States' GDP
China although having substantially higher unemployment and only 1 eighth of the US' GDP has less people below the poverty line.
So just looking at the numbers you see that the US is definitely the economically most powerful country of the world and that you can in fact strike it really big, but if your on the lower end of US society you may have been better off living in Europe (or Cuba for that matter
)