You hear it all the time. “America is number one” or “USA, USA, USA” being chanted loudly as anything is accomplished — it may not even relate to the U.S.
Patriotism is a beautiful thing. Better yet, patriotism is beautiful when the statistics back your belief.
But before you start reciting any of the many Olympic wins, or the fact that the U.S. never really lost a war, let’s discuss where does the U.S. really does stack up.
It is no doubt the U.S. is a powerhouse of a country and arguably the world superpower. With a strong military, a booming economy and a foothold in nearly all regions of the world, how could the U.S. not be the best?
With $611 billion spent on military expenditures contributing 36 percent of the global expenditures, it is safe to say the U.S. has the strongest military. China who ranks second in terms of expenditures only invested a third of the financial resources the U.S. did. In addition, the U.S. has the most aircraft carriers (10), submarines (72) and the world’s second-largest nuclear force (approximately 6,550). After all this, the U.S. only spends 3.2 percent of its GDP on military expenditures where Russia is almost at 5.3 percent.
Speaking of GDP, the U.S. has been known for a behemoth of an economy. At one point, it was easily the strongest. In 1985 the U.S. made up 22.5 percent of the world’s GDP. Yet, in recent years that is not the case. Since 1985 the U.S. has declined roughly 7.5 percent. Meanwhile, China has grown over 15 percent in GDP surpassing the U.S. by 3 percent (when the Purchasing Power Parity is applied). The bad news doesn’t stop there. GDP growth for the U.S. is at 2.9 percent while the world’s is a whole percentage point higher. Even so, the U.S. remains a steady economy with several positives such as the unemployment rate decreasing by 2.5 percent since 2014.
With our GDP being tested against other countries and slipping, it can always be argued that the U.S. supports countries like no one else. An example of support would be a country like South Korea and Japan, the Asia-Pacific. Around 2016, The U.S. had 82,500 troops in the region and would spend $20 billion to provide regional security from North Korea and to monitor China. Beyond specific country examples, the United States contributes the largest amount to the United Nation’s budget at 22 percent. Yet after helping abroad what are we left with domestically — in our home?
In 2016, 12.3 percent of households in the United States were food-insecure which equates to 41.2 million people and 6.5 million children. Yet, in 2015 when the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the results for global rankings on student performance the U.S. again faltered. With the U.S. slipping from 28th to 35th in Math. It stayed relatively constant in Science and Reading which were both above average.
So, what do all these statistics and figures mean? It shows us that while we were once the superhero of countries we may not hold the title currently. As a country, we must improve where we lack. Improvement can happen in a variety of ways with both political parties. The improvement can be increased funding for education, increase the output of our economy, or lower the number of people that are food insecure. We cannot deny these facts anymore.
All this isn’t to say the great United States is a bad country or anything like that notion. However, it is a startling wake-up call that we must do more as a country.
Austin O’Neill can be reached at [email protected]