All of this is super true. And straight-forward.
I and many of us have been doing all the things listed here my entire adult life. And this is true of so many others and still we seem to be losing ground.
The biggest reason for this is the corruption of our political system from money flowing freely through it. This is a long and hard fight. The second biggest –or maybe tied for first— is IDEOLOGY and uninformed beliefs. This is a fight we have to do at every opportunity in our interactions with fellow citizens.
The ideologies that Americans have been fed and the Right has been feeding revolve around “American Exceptionalism”. Core to this is the belief in the following:
1. America is better than anywhere else
2. Free markets provide the best outcomes for the most amount of people
3. Free speech is an absolute good
4. Our democracy is democratic
Every one of these is a lie. But how do you convince that Trumper or Libertarian or Joe Manchin?
The answer is two-fold:
1. You tell them all 4 are untrue (note: utterly useless by itself as an argument)
2. You provide them with examples that demonstrate the mediocrity and/or failure of our model (this leaves them sputtering)
Through years of having done this, all the arguments you get as pushback have to have answers. Here are the most common pushbacks you’ll get:
1. America is too big (to do this thing…)
2. America is too ethnically diverse… this is code for too many minorities wrecking our white values
3. America is paying for all of Europe’s defense
4. Socialism is bad, equal to Communism and is equal to Marxism, etc.
The easiest way to undermine any proposition is to provide a counter-example.
Generally, the EU (the original Western European countries) all crush the USA on most metrics of well-being. Everything from life-span to mental health to vacation. However, the shining examples are mostly in the northern tier: France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland.
The example that I use (both because I lived there the longest and it has the best comparison profile) is Germany. It has the largest and 2nd most diverse population (augmented in 2015 by taking in 1.5mm immigrants for the middle east and Afghanistan). It is the size of Montana and has practically no natural resources to speak of and little coastline and is surrounded on all sides by countries it fought and its economy and consumer and industrial products are known around the world. And it crushes the USA on almost all economic, living standards, and other metrics and has the cleanest political system of any western liberal democracy.
In other words, it shows the virtues of a social democracy in the clearest fashion possible to counter American Exceptionalism and cut-throat capitalism.
Attached below is the base set of metrics I work from and some of the many sources of this information. It’s always good to have sources. Of course, some Americans will say the OECD or even the CIA can’t be trusted. But it puts a dent if you ask for their sources and comparable metrics.
An additional argument that has to be countered is the NATO funding issue. The shortest way to counter this is that NATO is a form of subsidy for US weapons systems. Best example is the forced purchase of American fighter aircraft, most recently the boondoggle of the F-35.
Have at it and good luck!
FUN FACTS COMPARING GERMANY TO USA
BUDGETS
- German Federal Budget 2010-2020: 6 surpluses, 1 breakeven, 1 deficit (2020 because of COVID, subsidizing all salaries at 60%)
- US Federal Budget: Last surpluses under B. Clinton 1998-2001, 2002 Bush takes over and....down it goes
TRADE BALANCES
-German Balance of Trade: Never had a deficit
-US Balance of Trade: Last surplus was 1975
-Germany has a near complete balance of trade with China
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY
-W. Germany's absorption of E. Germany was the economic equivalent of the US absorbing Mexico
-Before the absorption of the 1.2mm ME immigrants, in 2014, 1/5 of Germany are immigrants, mostly Turkish, E. European, and S. European
HAPPINESS
-Usually between 2nd and 3rd fewest workweeks in the world: 34.7/year vs. 43 for the US
-6 weeks federally mandated vacation, plus a minimum of 12 public holidays with typically more than that (usually between 2nd and 3rd fewest workweeks in the world: 34.7/year vs. 43 for the US)
-universal means-tested, hybrid public/private HIGHER quality healthcare than US
-fully funded federal retirement
-Education pre-school to graduate/post-graduate degree or professional/practical training and internships FREE and PAID.
-basically, the most unionized country on earth or tied for that honor
INFRASTRUCTURE
-renewable energy federal investment to 2015: $150bb, the equivalent of the US investing $1.9TT, currently invests ~$12b/year
-renewable energy: 51% in 2020, USA: 20%
-comprehensive fast, clean, comfortable, convenient, affordable public transportation
-top quality infrastructure...best roads, bridges, tunnels, etc. in the world by all measures
2020 COMPARATIVE BASE METRICS
German Population: 80.62mm
US Population: 318mm
German Land mass: 137,983 mi² (slightly smaller than Montana)
USA Land mass: 3.797 million mi² (27 times larger than Germany)
German Natural Resources: small amount of coal, tiny amount of oil, otherwise practically none, agricultural "museum"
US Natural Resources: Vast oil, gas, ore and other mining, timber, vast coast line with fisheries, vast agriculture
German GDP: 3.86TT
USA GDP: 21.43TT
German Average Lifespan 80.89 years
USA Average Lifespan 78.54 years
ECONOMY
German net average single worker tax rate: 38.9%
USA net average single worker tax rate: 14.6%
German CEO-to-Worker pay ratio 2020: 136 to 1
USA CEO-to-Worker pay ratio 2020: 265 to 1
German Manufacturing as a percentage of GDP (excluding construction): 19.11%
US Manufacturing as a percentage of GDP including construction): 11.39%
German Manufacturing employment as a percentage of employment: 26.78
US Manufacturing employment as a percentage of employment: 8.5%
German Export Size vs. US: in 2011 and 2013, out-exported the US. Prior to 2009, regularly out-exported the US and China
German Exports 2020: $1.489 trillion
US Exports 2020: $1.665 trillion
German Trade Surplus with China 2020: + $22.2BB
USA Trade Deficit with China 2020: $310BB
USA Total Trade Balance 2020: minus $678.7BB
German Total Trade Balance 2020: plus $261BB
German Top 10 Exports:
Machinery including computers: US$260.7 billion (17.5% of total exports)
Vehicles: $243.7 billion (16.4%)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $158.7 billion (10.7%)
Pharmaceuticals: $90.4 billion (6.1%)
Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $79.3 billion (5.3%)
Plastics, plastic articles: $63.2 billion (4.3%)
Aircraft, spacecraft: $42.3 billion (2.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $34.2 billion (2.3%)
Articles of iron or steel: $31.3 billion (2.1%)
Other chemical goods: $26.3 billion (1.8%)
US Top 6 Exports:
Machinery including computers: US$361.6 billion (15% of total imports)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $343.5 billion (14.3%)
Vehicles: $254.4 billion (10.6%)
Pharmaceuticals: $139.5 billion (5.8%)
Mineral fuels including oil: $130.1 billion (5.4%)
Gems, precious metals: $107 billion (4.4%)
Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $90.9 billion (3.8%)
Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $65.5 billion (2.7%)
Plastics, plastic articles: $62.5 billion (2.6%)
Organic chemicals: $55.9 billion (2.3%)
VARIOUS SOURCES
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/government-budgethttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/https://data.oecd.org/https://data.worldbank.org/imf.org/en/Datahttp://www.worldstopexports.com/https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/balance-of-tradehttps://www.destatis.de/EN/Home/_node.html
etc.
