Let’s start by ignoring statements made by the polarized left-wing and right-wing media about whether America is great or non-great.

To seriously consider whether the USA is a great country, we should employ the methods of the most serious and skilled segments of American media … namely sports reporters and financial reporters. As sports and financial pundits say each day: “LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS”.

When sports reporters argue about who is the GOAT (greatest of all time), the first thing they do is cite (can you imagine?) EVIDENCE, e.g., numbers of championships, wins, hits, runs, touchdowns, etc.

When finance reporters claim a company is “great”, the first thing they do is cite (can you believe it?) EVIDENCE … dollars or revenue, income, cash flow, numbers of customers … something hard and measureable.

Of course, the next thing sports and finance reporters would do is COMPARE the performance of a claimed “great” player or company with COMPETITORS.

When you think about it, this seems very weird, but mainstream political writers (unlike sports and finance reporters) whether making pejorative or superlative claims about countries never cite any evidence or make comparisons. They just blather.

Even with the objective comparisons we advocate, there can still be room for disagreement, but most sports or finance reporters can agree on the top 5 or the top 10 in a field. For example, not everyone agrees as to who is the GOAT in basketball, but most writers would agree that Russell, Jordan, and James are in the TOP 5. Similarly, the financial press is always calling the USA’s fastest growing large companies “the magnificent seven” (Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.).

So, now let’s compare countries of the world in the exact same way that sports writers or financial writers would do, instead of engaging in the moronic palaver of the politicized mainstream news media.

Here are some performance measures that could relate to “greatness” of countries.

Gross National Product: USA is first, followed by China, Japan, Germany, and the U.K

Gross National Product (per person): USA is 6th, behind Leichtenstein, Switzerand, Norway, Luxembourg, and Ireland (all small tax havens for the rich)

No. of Immigrants Received: USA is overwhelmingly the most popular immigrant destination in the world, so much so that its immigrant numbers exceed the combined number received by Germany (2), Saudi Arabia (3), and Russia (4).

No. of Emigrants (leaving the country): Despite being a large country, the USA is 26th in the actual number of people leaving. The top 8 are India, Mexico, China, Russia, Syria, Bengladesh, Pakistan, and the Ukraine.

Emigration Rate (per capita) of Skilled Professionals: USA is 3rd lowest, behind Switzerland and United Arab Emirates.

Oldest Democracy: USA is oldest at 233 years, followed by Switzerland at 174 years, and New Zealand at 165 years.

Here is a more general argument about the USA’s government that, while not quantitative, is compelling. Feel free to check these facts.

Why USA is Known as Leader of the Free World Ancient Romans and Greeks discussed government ‘by the people”, and developed some citizens’ rights, but self-government (as we know it) did not exist until 1789, when the US Constitution was implemented. Citizen rights evolved slowly in England by Magna Carta (1215), and the English Bill of Rights (1689) which limited the power of monarchy without providing civil rights for the average person.

When the USA’s founders issued the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they started a revolution culminating in the US Constitution and George Washington’s presidency, the first popular election of a head of state in history. European and Asian rulers scoffed at the USA predicting failure, and nobody copied the USA for 59 years until Switzerland (1848), then, New Zealand (1857) adopted democratic forms of government. When the United Kingdom (England) became a democracy in 1885 (96 years after Washington’s election) it became only the 5th democratic government in history.

After decades of scoffing, countries of the world only began to notice the USA when it from 12th largest to the largest economy in the world between 1800 and 1900. In 1917, and again in 1941, the USA reluctantly entered two World Wars and used its commercial power to supply decisive victories to the winning side. During the 20th century, more than 100 countries (half of all world governments) converted to democratic forms of government.

Given the EVIDENCE just stated would have to admit that “the USA is a great country”, likely “the greatest of all time”. If someone still would say “the USA is not a great country” (or “was never a great country” as a NY politician recently did), one would have to conclude this person did not possess the EVIDENCE or did not possess any ability to reason.

After admitting that the USA is a “great country”, and likely the GOAT, there is still room to say “maybe it’s not so great as it used to be”. That could be measured using EVIDENCE. For example, some performance measures (like economic well being of average people) have continued to get better, while others (performance of K-12 education) have clearly gotten much worse.

Criticizing the USA for “getting worse” is definitely a legitimate argument, and there is evidence to back it up. What is clearly NOT supported by EVIDENCE is that claim that any other large country (Russia, China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Australia, France, Germany … come on!) is as great as (or even close to) the USA. A few small countries (Finland, Norway, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, etc.) might be “better”. It’s a lot easier for a small country to be good, but it’s pretty hard for a small country to be “great”.

So, there we are. There is a good, evidence-based argument that, as countries go, the USA is the GOAT (greatest of all time). Why is that so hard to grasp? If it’s so obvious, maybe all the politicians and media people who say the USA is not the greatest of all time are not merely mistaken, Maybe they are liars.

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