The more I think about things, and how well stuff works in other countries, i believe it’s due to the sheer size and demographic makeup of the country. I often times wonder if it would be better managed with more of an EU style system where certain standards are core across all states and then leave each country to truly govern themselves.
I’m fairly certain this was the original goal when the country was founded and the idea of states rights, but at some it feels like things got flipped on their heads.
(Note, this is probably more of a rant and I know there are definitely things that would not work as well in that situation, but part of me wonders if it’d be a better solution than what we’re stuck with right now)
There are lots of things that have been accomplished in the USA that would not have been if each of the 50 states operated as separation nations. Besides the obvious of the scientific and medical advancements, the common rules for business across states allows for products and many services to flow mostly uninhibited by each states rules (some exceptions apply).
Having enough resources as a single nation allowed for a common defense which saved the USA a number of times. Apparently this is also one of the reasons some regions of the world fell to colonialism because the various groups that occupied the land were not unified in their goals or defense. It allowed stronger powers to pick of each smaller group separately until the region as a whole was conquered.
I like Europe a lot, but they’ve got some problems directly stemming from the lack of a single nation encompassing all of them. Even to-date there is not a single monetary policy in the EU. This lead to things like the GREXIT crisis. The leadership in Brussels can also get stymied by a single contrarian member halting progress such as Hungary frequently stopping aid to Ukraine.
None of this is to say the USA is perfect or the EU is flawed. There are positives and negatives to both systems. No one has found a perfect system yet.