American federal government structure and function

¶ … American Myth

One of the major ways in which modern American society has shown the American ideal of freedom and prosperity to be a myth is through our programs -- or lack thereof -- to aid the lower and even middle classes. According to the text, Americans "place more emphasis on personal responsibility than do Europeans" (12). Two large examples of this are the nation's myth of college equaling success and its lack of a national healthcare system.

Most other first-world countries have some form of nationalized healthcare; Canada's programs began as early as 1944 (Irvine et al., 1). These programs are paid for by taxes that are generally much higher than American taxes, and yet the United States, despite having one of the lowest tax rates of the first-world countries, is still eighth on the UN's list of the standard of living amongst various countries -- still high up on a list of 177 countries, but beaten by Canada, Australia, Belgium, Iceland, and others who all have a national healthcare plane (Stanford). Our concept of prosperity is limited by our short-term vision, and the lack of healthcare for the poor keeps them from pursuing their true opportunities.