minibadger

You do realize it's not the 1950s anymore, right? Back then, the USA was #1 in all measurable standards of living and freedom. But... sir, the world changes, and it changes rapidly, as you have likely seen with the growth in urban areas of your country, China. 60 years is a long time.
If you want to talk about freedoms, rights and quality of life, according to various OECD and other independent studies, the US, I hate to break it to you and other Americans, just as I hate it myself as one, the US hasn't been #1 for quite a while. In infant mortality, education, lifespan, quality of life, income for services, press and individual freedoms and liberties, the US is anywhere from #5 to near the bottom of the barrel. And if you want to say that most of Europe has worse rights and experiences.... well, the countries that topped us are almost all European, especially Scandinavian. We still win in business and innovation, but even that's slipping, and it comes at a huge cost.
Life isn't so simplistic that tax rates and incomes are everything. Life is complicated and has different needs, and taxes in different countries come back to the public in different ways. It's not just money that's flown away. And life isn't just about buying something cheapest from Wal Mart or working 60 hours a week. Most people don't work just to work, they work for a goal, to get something back. The most satisfying things to work for, statistically, are not bigscreen TVs, but for a home and food for your family, a vacation and time together, support for your elders and children, and a good health and enjoyment for yourself. Other countries are much better at providing this -- for example, the US is the only industrialized country in the world that provides no maternity leave and also has the least amount of allowed vacation / relaxation days -- than the US, which is set up to be a consumer society above all, where sadly it seems people assume you can only have a good or better family if you spend more time away from home working to give them more money. Money isn't a parent, though, nor is it time.
If we're ever to tackle the problems we have, and raise our quality of life, the first step is to open our eyes and realize we're no longer even close to #1. The first step is to admit the problem. Then we can move on. But with people so blind, ethnocentric and hypocritical of standards of life outside American borders... it will be a hard slog indeed, and you hold us back at everyone's peril including your own.
--Minibadger