Abstract

The article discusses the synergistic accumulation of significant economic, engineering, and social problems in the US and their connection with the extreme polarization of political struggle. These long-standing US problems, taken and considered TOGETHER, look like evidence of serious problems of American society. The author discusses the US problems such as (in comparison with other high-income countries): poor filled state budget and large national debt; huge trade deficit; moving thousands of manufacturing facilities and millions of jobs overseas (as a result of misunderstood ideas of "free trade"); ultra-expensive services: medical, university, housing, others; poor maternal and child health care and high infant mortality; too many poor families for such a rich country; poor quality school education; extremely high mortality rates from drug overdoses and firearms; dilapidated infrastructure and poor protection from natural disasters; the political competition between the two main political parties in America has escalated into a deep political confrontation. All these problems have led America to a decrease in living standards within the country as well as a partial loss of authority and leadership in the world. However, as four-star general Lloyd Austin, former US Secretary of Defense, said, “The cost of US global leadership is high, but the cost of the US giving up leadership will be much higher.” (Lopez, 2023)

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