United States

{{bronze}}
[[File:USA orthographic.svg|thumb|right|195px|Location in North America.]]
{{countrybox |United States of America
|flag = Flag_of_the_United_States_(Pantone).svg
|pop = 331,142,779
|GDP = 21,439,453
|GDPPC = 65,111
|life = 78.9
|dev = 0.926
|dem = 7.85
|cor = 67
|edu = 0.968
|rel = 69
}}
{{cquote|Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the [[American Dream|American dream]]. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal'. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, 'My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring', and if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.|||[[Martin Luther King, Jr.]]<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s I Have a Dream speech by MLK subtitled]</ref>}}
The '''United States of America''' is also known as ''''Murica!''' or '''Merica!''' by [[jingoist]]s, the '''U.S.''', the '''U.S.A.''', the '''Union''', '''''Unitum Civitas''''', or simply "'''America'''"{{efn|There is some controversy in whether the U.S. should be called America, since many Spanish-speaking countries and several parts of Europe are taught that "America" is one continent when it could also be divided into two, North and South America. For our purposes here, "America" means the United States of America.}}, at times derogatorily refered to as either '''[[KKK|Amerikkka]]''' to highlight social injustice within the nation or the "US/American/Evil Empire" to criticize the country's [[imperialism]]. According to [[Christian fundamentalists]] America is a [[The United States as a Christian nation|Christian nation]], and "a republic, not a democracy".<ref>[https://www.heritage.org/american-founders/report/america-republic-not-democracy America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy] by Bernard Dobski (June 19, 2020) ''The Heritage Foundation''.</ref> According to [[rational]] people, however, America is a [[secular]] [[federalism|federalist]] [[democratic]] [[republic]],<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/11/yes-constitution-democracy/616949/ ‘America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy’ Is a Dangerous—And Wrong—Argument: Enabling sustained minority rule at the national level is not a feature of our constitutional design, but a perversion of it.] by George Thomas (November 2, 2020) ''The Atlantic''.</ref> consisting of [[State|federal state]]s, located between friendly neighbors [[Canada]] and [[Mexico]] (both of whom had to be beaten into submission first: [[War of 1812]] and [[Mexican-American War]]). As of {{CURRENTYEAR}}, there are officially 50 states in the Union, the [[Washington DC|District of Columbia]] (Washington, DC) and unincorporated territories (which are as of yet neither set free nor taken into the Union because of domestic political disputes, mostly because of [[Republicans]]).{{efn|However, [[Puerto Rico]] recently voted to become a full member of the Union in a 2017 referendum, but as of 2023, no action has been taken to formally begin the admissions process of letting PR into the Union.}}

As the first [[country]] to ever successfully win independence against a European [[colonial]] power,{{efn|It is also the first independent, foreign-recognized nation in the Americas and the first European colony to break from its mother country.}} the United States is currently the [[hyperpower|world's only superpower]], though [[China]] is catching up economically. As of 2020, the US ranked 17<sup>th</sup> on the human-development index.<ref name="UNDPHD2020">{{cite book |title=Human Development Report 2020 The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene |date=15 December 2020 |publisher=United Nations Development Programme |isbn=978-92-1-126442-5 |pages=343-350 |url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/hdr2020.pdf |access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref> When adjusted for (wealth) inequality, however, the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave plummets to 27<sup>th</sup> place.<ref>Human Development Reports. [http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/understanding/indices Composite indices — HDI and beyond.] United Nations Development Programme.</ref> 

Alongside the [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Russia]], [[China]], [[India]], [[Pakistan]] and [[North Korea]], the U.S. is an official nuclear power.{{efn|Kazakhstan no longer counts.}}{{efn|Everyone knows that [[Israel]] counts, but there's no official confirmation ''or'' denial by Israel.}} Unlike any of them, however, it so far remains the only one to have [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|used nuclear weapons in war]], to compel the Empire of [[Japan]] to surrender at the end of [[World War II]] in 1945.<ref>Just before a threatened [[Soviet]] invasion of Hokkaido: {{cite book | last1 = Hasegawa | first1 = Tsuyoshi | author-link1 = Tsuyoshi Hasegawa | orig-year = 2005 | title = Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iPju1MrqgU4C | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | publisher = Harvard University Press | publication-date = 2009 | page = 296 | isbn = 9780674038400 | access-date = 3 November 2018 | quote = Without Japan's surrender, it is reasonable to assume that the Soviets would have completed the occupation of Manchuria, southern Sakhalin, the entire Kurils, and possibly half of Korea by the beginning of September. Inevitably, the Soviet invasion of Hokkaido would have been raised as a pressing issue [...]. [...] Japanese leaders were well aware of the danger of allowing Soviet expansion to continue beyond Manchuria, Korea, Sakhalin, and the Kurils. [...] Japan's decision to surrender was above all a political decision, not a military one. Therefore, even without the atomic bombs, the war most likely would have ended shortly after Soviet entry into the war - before November 1. orig 2005}}</ref> In accordance with the {{wpl|Quebec Agreement}} of 1943, however, the U.S. consulted the United Kingdom before using those wonder weapons.

Believe it or not, America is actually a country in its own right and not a confederation of 50 smaller countries, though it feels like that from time to time.

The incumbent (and 47<sup>th</sup>) [[President of the United States]] is [[Donald Trump]].

==States==
<div style="position: relative; float:right">[[File:Usa_edcp_(%2BHI_%2BAK)_relief_location_map.png|800px|right|thumb|link=|The District of Columbia (DC) and the states of the Unites States. Hawaii and Alaska not to scale.]]
<div style="position: absolute; left: 64.75%; top: 60%;">[[File:Flag_of_Alabama.svg|20px|center|link=Alabama]] <small><center>[[Alabama|<span style="color:black">Alabama</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 17%; top: 70%;">[[File:Flag_of_Alaska.svg|20px|center|link=Alaska]] <small><center>[[Alaska|<span style="color:black">Alaska</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 22%; top: 52%;">[[File:Flag_of_Arizona.svg|20px|center|link=Arizona]] <small><center>[[Arizona|<span style="color:black">Arizona</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 54%; top: 53.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Arkansas.svg|20px|center|link=Arkansas]] <small><center>[[Arkansas|<span style="color:black">Arkansas</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 10%; top: 44%;">[[File:Flag_of_California.svg|20px|center|link=California]] <small><center>[[California|<span style="color:black">California</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 33%; top: 41%;">[[File:Flag_of_Colorado.svg|20px|center|link=Colorado]] <small><center>[[Colorado|<span style="color:black">Colorado</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 86.5%; top: 29%;"><small>╲</small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 88%; top: 31%;"><small>[[Connecticut|<span style="color:black">Connecticut</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Connecticut.svg|20px|link=Connecticut]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 84.5%; top: 38%;"><small>╱</small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 86%; top: 37%;"><small>[[Delaware|<span style="color:black">Delaware</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Delaware.svg|20px|link=Delaware]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 76%; top: 73%;">[[File:Flag_of_Florida.svg|20px|center|link=Florida]] <small><center>[[Florida|<span style="color:black">Florida</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 71%; top: 60%;">[[File:Flag_of_Georgia_(U.S._state).svg|20px|center|link=Georgia]] <small><center>[[Georgia|<span style="color:black">Georgia</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 35%; top: 81%;">[[File:Flag_of_Hawaii.svg|20px|center|link=Hawaii]] <small><center>[[Hawaii|<span style="color:black">Hawaii</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 22.5%; top: 22.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Idaho.svg|20px|center|link=Idaho]] <small><center>[[Idaho|<span style="color:black">Idaho</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 60%; top: 37.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Illinois.svg|20px|center|link=Illinois]] <small><center>[[Illinois|<span style="color:black">Illinois</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 65%; top: 37%;">[[File:Flag_of_Indiana.svg|20px|center|link=Indiana]] <small><center>[[Indiana|<span style="color:black">Indiana</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 53.5%; top: 32%;">[[File:Flag_of_Iowa.svg|20px|center|link=Iowa]] <small><center>[[Iowa|<span style="color:black">Iowa</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 45%; top: 43%;">[[File:Flag_of_Kansas.svg|20px|center|link=Kansas]] <small><center>[[Kansas|<span style="color:black">Kansas</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 67%; top: 43.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Kentucky.svg|20px|center|link=Kentucky]] <small><center>[[Kentucky|<span style="color:black">Kentucky</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 54.5%; top: 68%;">[[File:Flag_of_Louisiana.svg|20px|center|link=Louisiana]] <small><center>[[Louisiana|<span style="color:black">Louisiana</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 88.3%; top: 13%;">[[File:Flag_of_Maine.svg|20px|center|link=Maine]] <small><center>[[Maine|<span style="color:black">Maine</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 84.5%; top: 40%;"><small>— [[Maryland|<span style="color:black">Maryland</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Maryland.svg|20px|link=Maryland]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 81.8%; top: 40%;"><big>╲</big></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 83.8%; top: 43%;"><small>[[Washington, D.C.|<span style="color:black">'''DC'''</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_the_District_of_Columbia.svg|20px|link=Washington,_D.C.]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 89%; top: 24.5%;"><small>— [[Massachusetts|<span style="color:black">MA</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Massachusetts.svg|20px|link=Massachusetts]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 65.8%; top: 25%;">[[File:Flag_of_Michigan.svg|20px|center|link=Michigan]] <small><center>[[Michigan|<span style="color:black">Michigan</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 50.5%; top: 18%;">[[File:Flag_of_Minnesota.svg|20px|center|link=Minnesota]] <small><center>[[Minnesota|<span style="color:black">Minnesota</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 58%; top: 58%;">[[File:Flag_of_Mississippi.svg|20px|center|link=Mississippi]] <small><center>[[Mississippi|<span style="color:black">Mississippi</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 54.5%; top: 43%;">[[File:Flag_of_Missouri.svg|20px|center|link=Missouri]] <small><center>[[Missouri|<span style="color:black">Missouri</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 30%; top: 15%;">[[File:Flag_of_Montana.svg|20px|center|link=Montana]] <small><center>[[Montana|<span style="color:black">Montana</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 43%; top: 33.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Nebraska.svg|20px|center|link=Nebraska]] <small><center>[[Nebraska|<span style="color:black">Nebraska</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 15.5%; top: 34%;">[[File:Flag_of_Nevada.svg|20px|center|link=Nevada]] <small><center>[[Nevada|<span style="color:black">Nevada</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 88%; top: 21%;"><small>— [[New Hampshire|<span style="color:black">NH</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_New_Hampshire.svg|20px|link=New Hampshire]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 86%; top: 18%;"><big><nowiki>\</nowiki></big></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 78%; top: 15.5%;"><small>[[Vermont|<span style="color:black">Vermont</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Vermont.svg|20px|link=Vermont]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 85%; top: 34%;"><small>— [[New Jersey|<span style="color:black">New Jersey</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_New_Jersey.svg|20px|link=New Jersey]]</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 30%; top: 54%;">[[File:Flag_of_New_Mexico.svg|20px|center|link=New Mexico]] <small><center>[[New Mexico|<span style="color:black">New Mexico</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 79%; top: 24%;">[[File:Flag_of_New_York.svg|20px|center|link=New York]] <small><center>[[New York|<span style="color:black">New York</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 78%; top: 50%;">[[File:Flag_of_North_Carolina.svg|20px|link=North Carolina]] <small>[[North Carolina|<span style="color:black">North Carolina</span>]]</small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 77%; top: 57%;">[[File:Flag_of_South_Carolina.svg|20px|link=South Carolina]] <small>[[South Carolina|<span style="color:black">South Carolina</span>]]</small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 41%; top: 15%;">[[File:Flag_of_North_Dakota.svg|20px|center|link=North Dakota]] <small><center>[[North Dakota|<span style="color:black">North Dakota</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 41%; top: 24%;">[[File:Flag_of_South_Dakota.svg|20px|center|link=South Dakota]] <small><center>[[South Dakota|<span style="color:black">South Dakota</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 70.5%; top: 35.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_Ohio.svg|20px|center|link=Ohio]] <small><center>[[Ohio|<span style="color:black">Ohio</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 46%; top: 52%;">[[File:Flag_of_Oklahoma.svg|20px|center|link=Oklahoma]] <small><center>[[Oklahoma|<span style="color:black">Oklahoma</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 13%; top: 19%;">[[File:Flag_of_Oregon.svg|20px|center|link=Oregon]] <small><center>[[Oregon|<span style="color:black">Oregon</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 13%; top: 9%;">[[File:Flag_of_Washington.svg|20px|center|link=Washington]] <small><center>[[Washington|<span style="color:black">Washington</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 75.6%; top: 31%;">[[File:Flag_of_Pennsylvania.svg|20px|center|link=Pennsylvania]] <small><center>[[Pennsylvania|<span style="color:black">Pennsylvania</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 88.8%; top: 27.7%;"><small>— [[Rhode Island|<span style="color:black">RI</span>]]</small> [[File:Flag_of_Rhode_Island.svg|20px|link=Rhode Island]] </div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 65%; top: 52%;">[[File:Flag_of_Tennessee.svg|20px|link=Tennessee]] <small>[[Tennessee|<span style="color:black">Tennessee</span>]]</small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 44%; top: 66%;">[[File:Flag_of_Texas.svg|20px|center|link=Texas]] <small><center>[[Texas|<span style="color:black">Texas</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 24.5%; top: 37%;">[[File:Flag_of_Utah.svg|20px|center|link=Utah]] <small><center>[[Utah|<span style="color:black">Utah</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 78.5%; top: 42%;">[[File:Flag_of_Virginia.svg|20px|center|link=Virginia]] <small><center>[[Virginia|<span style="color:black">Virginia</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 71.5%; top: 40.5%;">[[File:Flag_of_West_Virginia.svg|20px|center|link=West Virginia]] <small><center>[[West Virginia|<span style="color:black">West Virginia</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 58%; top: 22.3%;">[[File:Flag_of_Wisconsin.svg|20px|center|link=Wisconsin]] <small><center>[[Wisconsin|<span style="color:black">Wisconsin</span>]]</center></small></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 31%; top: 28%;">[[File:Flag_of_Wyoming.svg|20px|center|link=Wyoming]] <small><center>[[Wyoming|<span style="color:black">Wyoming</span>]]</center></small></div> 

<div style="position: absolute; left: 3.5%; top: 69%;"><center>[[Russia|<span style="color:black; opacity:0.6;">Russia</span>]]</center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 69%; top: 12%;"><center>[[Canada|<span style="color:black; opacity:0.6;">Canada</span>]]</center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 83%; top: 87.4%;"><center><span style="color:black; opacity:0.6;">{{hint|The Bahamas|[[The Bahamas]]|dotted=no}}</span></center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 27%; top: 69%;"><center>[[Mexico|<span style="color:black; opacity:0.6;">Mexico</span>]]</center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 60%; top: 82%;"><center><small><span style="color:steelblue">''{{hint|Gulf of Mexico|Gulf of Mexico|dotted=no}}''</span></small></center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 92%; top: 57%;"><center>''[[Atlantic Ocean|<span style="color:steelblue">Atlantic<br>Ocean</span>]]''</center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 4%; top: 54%;"><center>''[[Pacific Ocean|<span style="color:steelblue">Pacific<br>Ocean</span>]]''</center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 19%; top: 83%;"><center><span style="color:steelblue"><small>''{{hint|Gulf of Alaska|Gulf of<br>Alaska|dotted=no}}''</small></span></center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 5%; top: 80%;"><center><span style="color:steelblue"><small>''{{hint|Bering Sea|Bering Sea|dotted=no}}''</small></span></center></div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 29%; top: 82%;"><center>''[[Pacific Ocean|<span style="color:steelblue">Pacific<br>Ocean</span>]]''</center></div>
</div>
{{collapse|The table of states and territories}}
{|class="wikitable"
! colspan="100"|The fifty united states of the United States of America
|-
! State !! {{hint|Abbreviation|Abbr.}} || Capital !! State !! {{hint|Abbreviation|Abbr.}} !! Capital
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Alaska.svg|30px|link=Alaska]] [[Alaska]] || align=center|AK || Juneau || [[File:Flag_of_Montana.svg|30px|link=Montana]] [[Montana]] || align=center|MT || Helena
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Alabama.svg|30px|link=Alabama]] [[Alabama]] || align=center|AL || Montgomery || [[File:Flag_of_North Carolina.svg|30px|link=North Carolina]] [[North Carolina]] || align=center|NC || Raleigh 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Arkansas.svg|30px|link=Arkansas]] [[Arkansas]] || align=center|AR || [[Little Rock]] || [[File:Flag_of_North Dakota.svg|30px|link=North Dakota]] [[North Dakota]] || align=center|ND || Bismarck
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Arizona.svg|30px|link=Arizona]] [[Arizona]] || align=center|AZ || Phoenix || [[File:Flag_of_Nebraska.svg|30px|link=Nebraska]] [[Nebraska]] || align=center|NE || [[Lincoln]] 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_California.svg|30px|link=California]] [[California]] || align=center|CA || Sacramento || [[File:Flag_of_New Hampshire.svg|30px|link=New Hampshire]] [[New Hampshire]] || align=center|NH || Concord
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Colorado.svg|30px|link=Colorado]] [[Colorado]] || align=center|CO || Denver || [[File:Flag_of_New Jersey.svg|30px|link=New Jersey]] [[New Jersey]] || align=center|NJ || Trenton
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Connecticut.svg|30px|link=Connecticut]] [[Connecticut]] || align=center|CT || Hartford || [[File:Flag_of_New Mexico.svg|30px|link=New Mexico]] [[New Mexico]] || align=center|NM || Santa Fe 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Delaware.svg|30px|link=Delaware]] [[Delaware]] || align=center|DE || Dover || [[File:Flag_of_Nevada.svg|30px|link=Nevada]] [[Nevada]] || align=center|NV || Carson City
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Florida.svg|30px|link=Florida]] [[Florida]] || align=center|FL || Tallahassee || [[File:Flag_of_New York.svg|30px|link=New York]] [[New York]] || align=center|NY || Albany
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Georgia_(U.S._state).svg|30px|link=Georgia]] [[Georgia]] || align=center|GA || Atlanta || [[File:Flag_of_Ohio.svg|30px|link=Ohio]] [[Ohio]] || align=center|OH || Columbus 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Hawaii.svg|30px|link=Hawaii]] [[Hawaii]] || align=center|HI || Honolulu || [[File:Flag_of_Oklahoma.svg|30px|link=Oklahoma]] [[Oklahoma]] || align=center|OK || Oklahoma City
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Iowa.svg|30px|link=Iowa]] [[Iowa]] || align=center|IA || Des Moines || [[File:Flag_of_Oregon.svg|30px|link=Oregon]] [[Oregon]] || align=center|OR || Salem 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Idaho.svg|30px|link=Idaho]] [[Idaho]] || align=center|ID || Boise || [[File:Flag_of_Pennsylvania.svg|30px|link=Pennsylvania]] [[Pennsylvania]] || align=center|PA || Harrisburg
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Illinois.svg|30px|link=Illinois]] [[Illinois]] || align=center|IL || Springfield || [[File:Flag_of_Rhode Island.svg|30px|link=Rhode Island]] [[Rhode Island]] || align=center|RH || Providence 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Indiana.svg|30px|link=Indiana]] [[Indiana]] || align=center|IN || Indianapolis || [[File:Flag_of_South Carolina.svg|30px|link=South Carolina]] [[South Carolina]] || align=center|SC || Columbia
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Kansas.svg|30px|link=Kansas]] [[Kansas]] || align=center|KS || Topeka || [[File:Flag_of_South Dakota.svg|30px|link=South Dakota]] [[South Dakota]] || align=center|SD || Pierre
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Kentucky.svg|30px|link=Kentucky]] [[Kentucky]] || align=center|KY || Frankfort || [[File:Flag_of_Tennessee.svg|30px|link=Tennessee]] [[Tennessee]] || align=center|TN || Nashville
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Louisiana.svg|30px|link=Louisiana]] [[Louisiana]] || align=center|LA || Baton Rouge || [[File:Flag_of_Texas.svg|30px|link=Texas]] [[Texas]] || align=center|TX || Austin 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Massachusetts.svg|30px|link=Massachusetts]] [[Massachusetts]] || align=center|MA || Boston || [[File:Flag_of_Utah.svg|30px|link=Utah]] [[Utah]] || align=center|UT || Salt Lake City
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Maryland.svg|30px|link=Maryland]] [[Maryland]] || align=center|MD || Annapolis || [[File:Flag_of_Virginia.svg|30px|link=Virginia]] [[Virginia]] || align=center|VA || Richmond
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Maine.svg|30px|link=Maine]] [[Maine]] || align=center|ME || Augusta || [[File:Flag_of_Vermont.svg|30px|link=Vermont]] [[Vermont]] || align=center|VT || Montpelier 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Michigan.svg|30px|link=Michigan]] [[Michigan]] || align=center|MI || Lansing || [[File:Flag_of_Washington.svg|30px|link=Washington]] [[Washington]] || align=center|WA || Olympia
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Minnesota.svg|30px|link=Minnesota]] [[Minnesota]] || align=center|MN || [[St. Paul]] || [[File:Flag_of_Wisconsin.svg|30px|link=Wisconsin]] [[Wisconsin]] || align=center|WI || Madison 
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Missouri.svg|30px|link=Missouri]] [[Missouri]] || align=center|MO || Jefferson City || [[File:Flag_of_West Virginia.svg|30px|link=West Virginia]] [[West Virginia]] || align=center|WV || Charleston
|-
| [[File:Flag of Mississippi "New Magnolia Flag".svg|30px|link= Mississippi]] [[ Mississippi]] || align=center|MS || Jackson || [[File:Flag_of_Wyoming.svg|30px|link=Wyoming]] [[Wyoming]] || align=center|WY || Cheyenne
|-
! colspan="100"|The six non-states of the United States of America
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_American_Samoa.svg|30px|link=]] [[American Samoa]] || align=center|AS || Pago Pago || [[File:Flag_of_Northern_Mariana_Islands.svg|30px|link=]] [[Northern Mariana Islands]] || align=center|MP || Saipan
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_the_District_of_Columbia.svg|30px|link=Washington,_D.C.]] [[Washington, D.C.|'''District of Columbia''']] || align=center|'''DC''' || [[Washington,_D.C.|'''Washington''']] || [[File:Flag_of_Puerto_Rico.svg|30px|link=]] [[Puerto Rico]] || align=center|PR || San Juan
|-
| [[File:Flag_of_Guam.svg|30px|link=]] [[Guam]] || align=center|GU || Hagåtña || [[File:Flag_of_the_United_States_Virgin_Islands.svg|30px|link=]] [[U.S. Virgin Islands]] || align=center|VI || Charlotte Amalie 
|}
{{collapse end}}
Residents of the six non-states have no direct representation in the Federal government, though they each have a non-voting member in the [[House of Representatives]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/United_States_congressional_non-voting_members|title=United States congressional non-voting members|publisher=Ballotpedia}}</ref> There is [[birthright citizenship]] for five of the non-states. People born in American Samoa are U.S. 'nationals', and are not US citizens.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/volume-12-part-a-chapter-2|title=Chapter 2: Becoming a U.S. Citizen|publisher=US Citizenship and Immigration Services}}</ref> Additionally, there are the [[United States Minor Outlying Islands]], which don't have a permanent population but are controlled by the U.S. government.{{efn|Interestingly, the only incorporated United States territory,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://asiamattersforamerica.org/the-pacific/what-are-us-territories|title=What are US Territories?|last=Lloyd|first=Whit|publisher=Asia Matters for America}}</ref> {{wpl|Palmyra Atoll||,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.doi.gov/oia/islands/palmyraatoll|title=Palmyra Atoll|publisher=US Department of the Interior}}</ref>}} is a Minor Outlying Island.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aacrao.org/edge/country/u.s.-territories-and-minor-outlying-islands|title=U.S. Territories and Minor Outlying Islands|publisher=American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers}}</ref>}} Finally, there is the {{wpl|Compact of Free Association}}, which includes the {{wpl|Federated States of Micronesia||,}} the {{wpl|Marshall Islands||,}} and {{wpl|Palau||,}} all of which the U.S. took from [[Japan]] after [[World War II]] (which Japan in turn took from [[Imperial Germany|Germany]] after [[World War I]]). While these are nominally independent countries, the U.S. maintains a huge deal of influence over them, including the ability to build military bases wherever they like.<ref>[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/new-compact-of-free-association-agreements-with-micronesia-the-marshall-islands-and-palau-approved-by-congress/6A4AAB012C767D3F6218B3CCB7CD651A New Compact of Free Association Agreements with Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and Palau Approved by Congress], ''American Journal of International Law'' 2024;118(3):544-549. doi:10.1017/ajil.2024.40</ref> These states have the strange tendency of always voting with the U.S. in [[United Nations|UN]] votes.<ref>[https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/11/07/rtqw-n07.html Six Pacific states line up with US-Israel against UN vote for Gaza ceasefire], Patrick O’Connor, ''World Socialist Web Site'' 6 November 2023</ref>

Like many countries, the United States of America is made up of smaller states. Unlike many different countries, the states tend to have much more power than usual. However, each state must be based on republican principles according to the [[U.S. Constitution]].

==History==
===Conquest and colonization===
Following [[Columbus]]'s successful voyage to what was thought to be [[India]] (or thereabouts), across the [[Atlantic Ocean]] in 1492. Europeans began migrating to North America. The continent was named for {{wpl|Amerigo Vespucci|the mapmaker}} who pointed out that he was not quite right, though similar care was not taken when naming the [[Native American|indigenous inhabitants]].

The first permanent [[English]] settlement was founded at Jamestown on the coast of present-day [[Virginia]], in 1607. In a stroke of [[irony]], the [[Puritans]] who fled [[Europe]] in the name of [[freedom of religion]] ended up persecuting other people for their [[religious]] beliefs. The Jamestown colony also became the first [[Slavery|enslavers]] of [[African]]s in British North America in 1619.<ref>[https://time.com/5653369/august-1619-jamestown-history/ The First Africans in Virginia Landed in 1619. It Was a Turning Point for Slavery in American History—But Not the Beginning] by Olivia B. Waxman (August 20, 2019 12:53 PM EDT) ''Time''.</ref>

The [[French]] and [[Spanish]] also founded many colonies in what was to become the United States (and [[Mexico]]) in the 16<sup>th</sup> and 17<sup>th</sup> centuries, most of which were later sold (by France) or lost in wars (by Spain and its successors) to the U.S. (American) English became the ''de facto'' official language of the United States, despite its multilingual origins.

===Founding and expansion===
{{main|American Indian Wars}}
{{cquote|Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,<BR>
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'|||''The Star-Spangled Banner'', second verse (with no [[irony]] intended)<ref>{{wpa|The Star-Spangled Banner}}</ref>}}

A century and a half later the richest East Coast colonists disliked having to pay stamp [[taxes]], while drinking inexpensive East India Company [[tea]]. So they started a [[American Revolution|revolution]], and refused to pay for it. With valuable assistance from France, Spain and the [[Netherlands]], the revolutionaries won a war against one of the greatest empires the world had ever seen then disbanded their army, giving them no pensions or social assistance. Imposing taxes three to four times higher than they had been before the war, and issuing more currency to pay off the loans that they had given to the states' governments, they effectively forced many veterans to sell their land and slave bounties to survive.

After taking the Indian lands immediately to their west&nbsp;— into which London had forbidden them to expand during the colonial period&nbsp;— and [[Articles of Confederation|a failed attempt]] to establish a confederation, the Americans succeeded in 1789 on [[United States Constitution|their second attempt]]. A few years later the U.S. bought "Louisiana"&nbsp;— at that time stretching from the [[Louisiana|current state of that name]] to [[Minnesota]] and [[Montana]] &mdash; from [[Napoleon Bonaparte|Napoleon]], who needed money to fight Britain, thereby doubling the size of new republic. After beating Mexico in the [[Mexican-American War]] over the U.S. annexation of the Republic of [[Texas]], a breakaway territory still claimed by Mexico, the U.S. extended its territory through what had been New Spain to the [[Pacific]]. Thus, with acquisitions and purchases, the Americans fulfilled their "[[manifest destiny]]" of Westward expansion.

Around 1800, as the lands further to the west were opened up to the fledgling United States, the young state saw the land as a way to appease its population and strengthen its power in the world.<ref>Isenberg, Nancy ''White Trash: The 400-year Untold History of Class in America'' p. 210</ref>

Mohawk leader Thayendanegea had formed an alliance of the indigenous nations in the Ohio River valley in the 1780s and received weapons from the British. Secretary of War Henry Knox organized an army of settlers from [[Kentucky]] to invade the territory of the Miami and Shawnee nations. Little Turtle and Blue Jacket ambushed the settler army, who destroyed 300 buildings and looted the two largest Miami towns. Anthony Wayne, who led the settlers from 1792 to 1794, destroyed food supplies and murdered native civilians. After Blue Jacket refused an ultimatum at Fort Defiance, settler forces began an [[Genocide|extermination campaign against civilians]]. They defeated the Shawnee at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794. The USA annexed southern [[Ohio]] in 1795 with the Treaty of Greenville.<ref>Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' p. 81–87</ref>

In 1807, the Shawnee brothers Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa began a movement for indigenous peoples to return to their pre-colonial culture. Tecumseh united the nations of the northwest and presented a program to prevent settlers from buying native land. The governor of [[Indiana]], [[William Henry Harrison]], bribed some Delaware, Miami, and Potawatomi to give up their land in 1809. In 1810, he moved south to bring the Muscogees, Choctaws, and Chickasaws into the alliance. In November 1811, American troops attacked Tenskwatawa at Prophetstown and killed 200 natives. After the attack, Kickapoos, Winnebagos, Potawatomis, and Creeks obtained British weapons from Canada to fight the settlers.<ref>Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' p. 81–87</ref>

The United States declared war on Britain in 1812 because of its connections to Tecumseh's anticolonial movement. Indigenous forces liberated [[Michigan]] and forced thousands of settlers out of [[Illinois]] and Indiana. The USA killed Tecumseh at the Battle of Thames in 1813, destroying the resistance.<ref>Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' p. 81–87</ref>

In the decades after the US Revolution, the United States began a [[genocidal]] policy of "Indian Removal" to clear the land between the Mississippi River and the Appalachians for settlers. In 1790, most of the settler population lived within 50 miles of the Atlantic Ocean. From 1800 to 1830, the number of white settlers west of the Appalachians grew from 700,000 to 4.5 million. Between 1820 and 1844, the number of Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River dropped from 120,000 to under 30,000. President [[Thomas Jefferson]] bought the Louisiana Territory from France in 1803, doubling the size of the United States and extending the frontier to the Rocky Mountains.<ref>Zinn, Howard ''A People's History of the United States'' p. 124–129</ref>

Through a series of treaties from 1814 to 1824, settlers took control of most of [[Alabama]] and [[Florida]] as well as parts of [[Georgia]], Kentucky, [[Mississippi]], [[North Carolina]], and [[Tennessee]]. Future president [[Andrew Jackson]] relied on bribery and threats to make native leaders sign these treaties. In 1818, he began raids into Spanish Florida and destroyed Seminole villages until Spain surrendered the territory to the United States in 1819.<ref>Zinn, Howard ''A People's History of the United States'' p. 124–129</ref>

Presidents [[Andrew Jackson]] and [[Martin Van Buren]] forced 70,000 Native Americans to move west across the Mississippi River. Secretary of War Lewis Cass promised in 1825 that the United States would never try to take indigenous land west of the Mississippi.<ref>Zinn, Howard ''A People's History of the United States'' p. 124–129</ref>

In 1838, as part of the [[Trail of Tears]], the United States forced the Cherokee Nation to march to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Half of the 16,000 Cherokees died during the march. The Muscogees and Seminoles suffered similar death rates and about 15% of the Choctaws and Chickasaws died on the way to Oklahoma.<ref>Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' p. 112–113</ref>

After the Mexican government banned slavery in 1829, US-backed settlers in Texas rebelled to form the Republic of Texas in 1836, which the United States annexed in 1845. The United States invaded Mexico in 1846, beginning in Veracruz. They occupied Mexico City in 1848 and did not leave until Mexico surrendered its northern territories to the USA. After the annexation, U.S. cavalry troops attacked the Apaches led by Mangas Coloradas, destroying crops and villages and murdering civilians.<ref>Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne ''An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States'' p. 112–113</ref>

[[Alaska]] was purchased at a rather low price from [[Russia]] when no one knew it was rich in [[Fossil fuel|oil]] and [[gold]]. [[Hawaii]] was annexed after a group of American planters led by Sanford Dole (yes, {{wpl|Dole Food Company|that Dole}}) overthrew the [[Kingdom of Hawaiʻi|Hawaiian monarchy]] in a [[coup]].

===Civil War===
{{main|American Civil War}}
While some U.S. states wanted to maintain the institution of [[slavery]], others opposed it. For both [[moral]] and [[economic]] reasons, the tension between these two factions continued to grow worse. When a large portion of the Southern states attempted to secede from the Union, they discovered that while they might have had a better army, the North had all the factories and railroads and most of the population. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] managed to preserve the Union, albeit with heavy loss of life on both sides. It is worth noting that there was an international element to the American Civil War. Both Great Britain and Canada (as British North America) sympathized with the Confederacy,<ref>https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/war-plan-red-crimson.htm</ref> as did France, which was invading Mexico at the time. Meanwhile, Russia was a supporter of the Union, and they even sent ships to American waters in case the British or French got involved.<ref>[https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/the-american-civil-war-the-union-told-all-the-european-countries-if-they-recognized-the-confederacys-legitimacy-it-was-equal-to-declaring-war-against-the-union.html?chrome=1&Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1 The American Civil War – the Union told all the European countries if they recognized the Confederacy’s legitimacy, it was equal to declaring war against the Union], Holly Godbey, ''War History Online'' 11 November 2017</ref>

But the fight against systemic racism was not yet over. In the aftermath of the Civil War, laws were introduced in order to [[Jim Crow laws|prevent Blacks from voting]] and many Southern states were [[Segregation|racially segregated]]. Despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, almost a century after the end of the bloodiest conflict in American history, while [[African American|black people]] theoretically enjoy [[equality|all the same liberties]] as whites, they continue to form a socioeconomic underclass in many areas. State-mandated efforts to ameliorate this, [[affirmative action]], are despised by some [[conservative]]s and [[libertarian]]s, who call such measures "[[reverse discrimination]]."

===Oligopoly===
Historian Heather Cox Richardson has argued that The American [[paradox]] has existed since its founding as a conflict between the Declaration of Independence, which focused on human equality and [[civil rights]] but carries no legal weight, whereas the Constitution which focuses on property rights (including slavery) but has overriding legal status. In a sense though the paradox existed before the founding, since the revolution only exchanged one group of oligarchs in Britain with another one in the United States. The paradox has been the overriding story of the United States, pitting oligarchs versus democracy supporters. Oligarchy was written into the original form of the Constitution in the form of giving voting rights only to white male property owners and in the form of unequal representation of the US Senate. The paradox in the form of battling forces at various points in history:
*with the Civil War when wealthy Southern property owners demanded the continued right to own slaves
*when emancipated enslaved men were given the vote during Reconstruction
*when the Republican-controlled Union government thought they could outmaneuver [[the South]] by giving statehood to Western states, they misperceived the political realities that the Western territories were already controlled by wealthy landowners who showed more affinity to wealthy Southern landowners
**The mythology of the yeoman farmer in the antebellum South was replaced by the mythology of the [[rugged individualism]] of Western cowboys, neither of which had significant political capital
*when Southern whites clawed back control of government with the [[KKK]] and [[Jim Crow laws]]
*when women demanded and received the vote in the early 20<sup>th</sup> century
*with the end of official segregation and the passing of the [[Civil Rights Act]] that returned voting rights to African Americans
Still, oligarchic forces have much power in the US with extreme [[GOP]] [[gerrymandering]] giving unequal representation, the continued unequal representation of the Senate, and high levels of [[income inequality]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2dS6uX1RkUw2AWBqq_nEtAj1HpF8U-yw The American Paradox] by Heather Cox Richardson (2021) ''YouTube''. "This nine-part series examines the major themes from my book, ''How the South Won the Civil War''.</ref><ref>''How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America'' by Heather Cox Richardson (2022) Oxford University Press. ISBN 019758179X.</ref>

==Modernization==
[[File:Chicago_sunrise_3.jpg|thumb|center|800px|Panoramic view of the Chicago skyline at dawn.]]
===Social trends and issues===
About two score years after abolishing slavery, [[women]] were granted suffrage. Also around this time, [[alcohol]]ic beverages were [[prohibition|banned]], and then re-legalized.

A historic 1973 decision by the [[United States Supreme Court]] known as ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' effectively legalized [[abortion]] nationwide. According to the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC), abortions in the United States plummeted 26% from 2006 to 2015. Teens aged 15 to 19 had the single biggest drop of any age group, 54%. While the CDC did not suggest any reasons, [[Pro-choice|abortion rights advocates]] and [[anti-abortion]] groups argue whether this trend is due to greater access to [[contraception]] and new laws restricting access to this medical procedure.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-abortion-study/cdc-says-u-s-abortion-rate-plunged-in-decade-ending-2015-idUSKCN1NQ2AZ CDC says U.S. abortion rate plunged in decade ending 2015]. Reuters. November 21, 2018.</ref> Another reason for this is that young Americans are not having [[sexual intercourse]] as frequently as their predecessors, despite more liberal attitudes towards sex, the ability to obtain the birth control pill for free (in most cases) and to purchase the "morning-after" pill without a prescription.<ref>[https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/12/the-sex-recession/573949/ Why Are Young People Having So Little Sex?]. ''The Atlantic''. December 2018.</ref><ref group="note">Nor this is a strictly American development. Similar trends can be found in countries that track the sexual behaviors of their citizens, such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, and Japan. </ref>

In a 2016 poll 25% of Americans identified as having no religion. 58% of those, (14%-15% of Americans) actively reject religion. Young Americans under thirty are much more inclined to be non-religious than older Americans. The proportion of Americans who are not religious is increasing steadily and likely to increase further in future,<ref>[http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2016/09/22/the-six-biggest-takeaways-from-a-new-study-documenting-the-amazing-rise-of-non-religious-americans/ The Six Biggest Takeaways from a New Study Documenting the Amazing Rise of Non-Religious Americans]</ref> as is expected of a developed country. Indeed, statistical projection suggests that by 2030, as many as one in three Americans will become religiously unaffiliated.<ref>[https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-u-s-is-retreating-from-religion/ The US Is Retreating From Religion]. Scientific American Blog. October 20, 2017.</ref>

There is a widespread [[myth]] on the Internet that only 10% of Americans have passports. This has been false for years now. Before 2007, when new rules kicked in, thanks to the [[9/11|9/11 terrorist attack]], Americans did not need a passport to travel various countries in the region, such as Canada and Mexico. A U.S. citizen without a passport can therefore travel further than, say, a British subject without one. Since then, an increasing number have acquired passports as they get bitten by the travel bug.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42586638 Is it true only 10% of Americans have passports?] BBC News. January 9, 2018.</ref> Another reason why the percentage of U.S. citizens holding a passport seem abnormally low is the truly staggering size of the United States and its diverse geography. U.S. citizens (plus permanent residents and legal alien residents) get to enjoy all this without the hassle of international travel.

The 2017 report to the U.N. on poverty within the USA notes that it ranks unusually high for a developed country in infant mortality, healthcare costs, obesity, lack of access to water and electricity, poverty, incarceration, and inequality of income as measured by income tax alone (the Gini coefficient).<ref name="ohchr"/> However, it has not yet taken first place in self-reported income inequality, only taking third place (35th of 37) within the OECD. It is interesting to note that author of this report visited a variety of places in the U.S. at the invitation of the federal government "to look at whether the persistence of extreme poverty in America undermines the enjoyment of human rights by its citizens".<ref group="note">Historian Eric Hobsbawm once noted that Americans are forever self-reflecting. Given that, this invitation is hardly a surprise. It is also one of the traits that gives the Americans, for better or worse, a massive footprint in the international media. If there is a country that one almost always hears about in world news, it is the U.S. But given the nature of journalism &mdash; people mostly report on things that go wrong &mdash; the United States as a whole seems to be a worse place than it actually is. <br /> <br />
Furthermore, (reliable) information about this country is relatively easy to find. So think about this next time you see a self-righteous and clever-sounding American-bashing soundbite on the [[Internet]], where trolls are running amuck and especially in the toxic Age of Memes, in which overly simplistic statements, oftentimes making heavy use of stereotypes, may well be more popular than a thoughtful comment, suggestion, or criticism. But the [[irony]] of spreading ignorant nonsense using an electronic computer with internet access that is powered by billions of transistors integrated in a tiny chip is lost on too many people. </ref> American domestic policy clearly has plenty of room for improvement.<ref name="ohchr">[http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22533&LangID=E Statement on Visit to the USA, by Professor Philip Alston, United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights], Philip Alston</ref>

===Infrastructure===
Much U.S. infrastructure in use today was built all the way back in the 1950s according to what were high standards for the time. In 2018, a report card by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gives the U.S. a grade of D+ on the overall quality of its infrastructure. The nation's international ranking per an analysis by the [[World Economic Forum]] (WEF) recently jumped from 25th to 12th place out of 138 countries. Although U.S. infrastructure is generally quite resilient, it has become out-of-date, with many assets in service beyond their average lifespan. Infrastructure spending in both public and private sectors needs to increase by two billion USD within the next ten years in order to {{strikethrough|improve the overall health of the economy}} make it stop sucking.<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/measuring-up-u-s-infrastructure-against-other-countries Measuring up U.S. infrastructure against other countries]. PBS ''Newshour''. February 18, 2018. </ref><ref group="note">[https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/americas-grades/ Original detailed report] by the ASCE.</ref>

====Public transportation====
<!--{{update section}}-->
[[File:ACELA_Express.JPG|thumb|250px|Amtrak's ''Acela Express''.]]
The fastest train in the United States today (2018) is [[Amtrak]]'s ''Acela Express'', serving the Northeast Corridor<ref group="note">Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Philadelphia; New York City; New Haven; and Boston. </ref> with a top speed of 150 mph (240 km/h). Since passenger trains today are electrically powered, their increased use can be utilized to reduce carbon emissions, as long as most if not all of the power they consume originates from renewable sources. This has been done before; since January 2017, all trains in the Netherlands have been powered by wind turbines, making that country a world leader in environmentally friendly mass transit.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170929-how-wind-can-power-the-worlds-mass-transit How Wind Can Power the World's Mass Transit]. BBC Future. September 29, 2017.</ref> As of 2018, new [[high-speed rail|high-speed railways]] are either already in service ({{wpl|Florida Bright Line}}, under construction ({{wpl|California High-speed Rail}}, {{wpl|Texas Central Railway}}), or have been proposed ({{wpl|Chicago Hub Network}} and {{wpl|XpressWest}}).

While mass transit in the United States was world-class a century ago,<ref name="Englishrail">[https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/08/how-america-killed-transit/568825/ Why Did America Give Up on Mass Transit? (Don't Blame Cars.)] City Lab. August 31, 2018. </ref> it is today severely underfunded with a repair backlog of 90 billion dollars and receives from the American Society of Civil Engineers a grade of D-. A 2013 analysis by the Department of Transportation reveals that some 13% of U.S. public transportation assets are past their useful life. Having poor mass transit can not only delay much needed service expansions but will also inflict serious economic damage due to lost productivity, an estimated 340 billion dollars by 2026. Addressing this problem requires substantial and persistent government investment.<ref>[https://www.curbed.com/2018/5/17/17366688/subway-infrastructure-mass-transit-bus U.S. public transit’s precarious state could cost country billions]. Curbed. May 17, 2018. </ref> The key idea to remember here is that <u>service drives demand</u>. When automobiles became widespread and affordable in the postwar era, more and more Americans chose to drive and live in the sprawling suburbs. In response, transit authorities cut service spending in a vain effort to stay financially healthy. But this led to a vicious cycle of deteriorating services causing falling ridership till eventually, everyone who could drive a car got their own. Suburbs became car-oriented as a result. In order to reverse this trend, improved services have to be provided up front. This increases ridership, which, in turns, justifies expansions and improvements, a virtuous cycle. Good service can make public transportation successful even in low-density suburbs. At present, one can already see urban revival in several major American cities thanks to mass transit booms.<ref name="Englishrail"/>

====Energy policy====
[[File:US_Nuclear_Power_Plant_Status_9-2013.PNG|thumb|350px|Status of U.S. nuclear power plants, September, 2013. 
What about Alaska and Hawaii
]]
Like all other countries, the U.S. stands to benefit significantly by liberating herself from fossil fuels not only because they are not renewable but because they are the driving engine behind anthropogenic [[global warming]]. The road to freedom from fossil fuels involves aggressive investments in not just in green energy, such as [[wind turbine|wind]], [[solar energy|solar]] and [[geothermal energy|geothermal]] energy, but also in nuclear energy. However, many government officials and members of the general public believe that nuclear energy should play no role in a future energy policy of the United States, citing concerns about the operational costs and possible hazards of nuclear power plants and the [[nuclear waste|radioactive wastes]] they create. Investments in civilian nuclear power virtually stopped after the Three Mile Island Incident in 1979. Fears of the consequences of a nuclear meltdown were proven wrong. No deaths or illnesses have ever been linked to the incident. In fact, the staff did a fine job of preventing the worst from happening. A nuclear meltdown does not mean a nuclear explosion (of the plant), unlike some people like to think. Rather, it simply means the fuel rods are sufficiently hot to melt their way through the container, exposing themselves. (Chernobyl employed Soviet rather than American technology.) After recovering somewhat, public opinion on nuclear power took another nose dive after the Fukushima Incident in 2011. Although American technology was in use this time, once again, no deaths or illnesses due to radiation exposure have ever been directly linked to the incident.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0P9S4F4KpQ&t=367s Three Mile Island Documentary: Nuclear Power's Promise and Peril]. Retro Reports. The ''New York Times''. April 29, 2014. </ref>

Now, of course, new reactors are more efficient and safer than their predecessors. What these people do not know is that nuclear recycling and reducing nuclear wastes are real possibilities, actively pursued by multiple countries, including the United States, at the moment. Indeed, the U.S. could power itself for the next thousands of years using just the uranium it has already mined.<ref>[http://www.anl.gov/egs/group/safe-secure-and-sustainable-nuclear-energy Safe, Secure and Sustainable Nuclear Energy]. Energy and Global Security. Argonne National Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMhruDLNwBI Doing the Impossible: Reducing Nuclear Waste]. Argonne National Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science.</ref> Meanwhile, researchers and engineers continue to work on ever safer and more efficient designs for nuclear power plants, sometimes even testing completely new concepts. These could potentially replace the 100 nuclear power plants currently operational in the U.S., but which are scheduled for retirement in the 2030s. Completely replacing them with renewable energy instead may not be a workable strategy.<ref name="next-gen-nuclear">[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/demand-clean-energy-inspires-new-generation-innovate-nuclear-power Demand For Clean Energy Inspires New Generation to Innovate Nuclear Power]. PBS ''Newshour''. January 4, 2017.</ref> Unlike nuclear energy, which is stable and efficient, the most popular forms of [[renewable energy]], wind and solar, are inherently intermittent. The missing ingredient is thus a high-capacity and durable means of storing the electrical energy generated but not used. Unfortunately, the commonly used lithium-ion battery degrades far too quickly to be economically used for such large scales. Something better is in order.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBjHRfc-HMo How Building A New Battery Could Change the Game for Renewable Energy]. PBS ''Newshour''. December 15, 2015. </ref> Until the suitable battery technologies become commercially available and possibly even after that, nuclear energy continues to have an important role to play in the shift away from [[Fossil fuel|fossil fuels]], especially at a time when demand for energy is on the rise. In fact, due to growing awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse emissions and the promise of nuclear power, many young engineers and entrepreneurs nationwide are working on the next generation of nuclear reactors, collectively known as [[Nuclear_power#Generation_IV_reactors|Generation IV reactors]]. Some of these might be able to run on [[depleted uranium]], (low-level radioactive) leftovers from the uranium enrichment process.<ref group="note">In order to build a nuclear explosive device, one needs uranium enriched at 90% or more. Thus, depleted uranium cannot be used that way.</ref> At present, the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, home to the biggest deposit of depleted uranium in the entire United States, has enough of this material to power the entire country for 750 years.<ref name="next-gen-nuclear"/> Nuclear power is thus practically renewable. After decades of a "nuclear winter" for the industry, a nuclear renaissance is just around the corner.<ref name="next-gen-nuclear"/> It is unwise to throw away this opportunity because of [[Anti-nuclear movement|anti-nuclear hysteria]] or because of falling oil prices.

U.S. oil production and exports have been increasing while domestic energy demands have fallen somewhat. If current trends continues, the U.S. will join the ranks of Russia and Saudi Arabia as one of the world's largest oil exporters.<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/us-oil-exports-are-surging-and-showing-no-signs-of-slowing-down-2018-3 U.S. Oil Exports Are Surging and Showing No Signs of Slowing Down]. Business Insider. March, 2018. </ref> Its oil is already on the process of replacing Russia's in Europe.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-europe/trumps-revenge-u-s-oil-floods-europe-hurting-opec-and-russia-idUSKBN1HU1QK Trump's revenge: U.S. oil floods Europe, hurting OPEC and Russia]. Reuters. April 23<sup>rd</sup>, 2018. </ref> While falling domestic energy demands in the midst of economic growth indicates greater efficiency, which is always a good thing, it does not significantly improve the American environmental protection record, and the U.S. is currently the worse polluter in the world, second only to China. It may be desirable to impose a tax on fossil fuels in order to subsidize renewable and nuclear power. Analysts at the International Energy Agency (IEA) found that in 2017, despite a massive boom in the oil and gas industry, the U.S. led the world in reducing carbon emissions, while most other countries saw an increase in emissions. This is due to a combination of considerable growth in the renewable energy sector and the replacement of coal with natural gas in power generation. The United States is also a top investor in the research and development of renewable energy.<ref>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2018/07/04/four-new-ways-america-is-number-one-in-energy/#58119d6d6e15 4 New Ways America Is Number 1 In Energy]. Forbes. July 4<sup>th</sup>, 2018. </ref>

As of 2018, geothermal power production is being stepped up, after being almost forgotten. This is welcome news given that there are large untapped geothermal hot spots throughout the American West. Unlike wind and solar, geothermal is a highly stable source of energy.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2018/02/04/582132168/the-forgotten-renewable-geothermal-energy-production-heats-up The Forgotten Renewable: Geothermal Energy Production Heats Up]. NPR. February 4, 2018.</ref> In the same year, Georgetown, [[Texas]], becomes  the largest American city to be completely powered by renewable energy. The previous record holder was Burlington, [[Vermont]], which reached that benchmark in 2015.<ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/texas-town-future-renewable-energy-180968410/ Is A Texan Town the Future of Renewable Energy?] Smithsonian Magazine. April, 2018. </ref>

===How it looks today===
<gallery widths="300" heights="300">
Valley_View_Yosemite_August_2013_002.jpg|Valley view of the Yosemite National Park, Northern California.
Grand_Prismatic_Spring,_Yellowstone.jpg|Grand Prismatic Spring, [[Yellowstone]], Wyoming.
Grand_Central_Station_Main_Concourse_Jan_2006.jpg|Interior of the Grand Central Terminal, New York.
Buses_queue_in_Missoula,_Montana.jpg|The city of Missoula, Montana, is experimenting with zero-fare public transit.
Seattle_Central_Library_by_architect_Rem_Koolhaas,_view_from_5th_Ave.jpg|Seattle Central Library, Washington State, viewed from 5th Avenue.
Rachel_Carson_Homestead.jpg|[[Rachel Carson]] Homestead, Springdale, Pennsylvania.
1987_Massachusetts_Sample_License_Plate.jpg|A sample license plate from Massachusetts, home of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, and the Boston Tea Party.
Aerial_View_Of_LIGO_Livingston_599x400.jpg|Aerial view of the Livingston gravitational-wave detector site, Louisiana.
Atlanta_Airport_Aerial_Angle_(31435634003)_(2).jpg|Bird's eye view of the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta, Georgia, currently the world's busiest.
</gallery>

==Religious fundamentalism, racism and conspiracy theories==
{{cquote|I have a foreboding of an America in my children's or grandchildren's time... when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, [[crystal healing|clutching our crystals]] and nervously consulting our [[horoscope]]s, our [[critical_thinking|critical faculties]] in decline, [[demarcation problem|unable to distinguish]] between what [[appeal_to_emotion|feels good]] and what's [[sound_science|true]], we slide, almost without noticing, back into [[superstition]] and darkness.|||[[Carl Sagan]], ''[[The Demon-Haunted World]]''}}

===The United States as God’s chosen nation===
A few Americans think they are [[God]]'s own nation or [[The United States as a Christian nation|God’s chosen nation]], and those who hold to that most strongly are [[Bible Belt]] [[Protestant]] [[fundamentalist]]s, grabbing at straws in some effort to feel special. It is very difficult to find any [[Biblical]] support for this view, being that the people who wrote the Bible, living in the Old World of the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and [[classical antiquity]], didn't know the North American continent even existed; the closest such fundamentalists have come so far is by combining the Puritan Pilgrims' mythology with [[British Israelism]]. Under President [[George W. Bush]], all this fitted together nicely for them: a Christian [[fundamentalist]] like themselves was leading God’s chosen nation. A few religions and 
[[cults]]
 [[sect]]s were founded in the US, including [[Eckankar]], [[Mormonism]], [[Satanism]], and [[Scientology]].

Those who are openly white-supremacist carried on much as usual, repeating [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] or [[Nazi]] [[conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] for the millionth time as they stockpile more machine [[gun]]s. But the well-documented latent [[racism]] of the more extreme elements in the [[Republican Party]] manifested itself in different ways; some became [[Birther]]s, for example. But it would be no surprise if they had even more trouble coming to grips with Obama than with [[Bill Clinton]], who to their mind was equally [[left-wing]].

Some religious fundamentalists feel the need to make documentaries on the origins of every single thing found throughout America, and its "[[Babylonian]]/[[Roman Empire|Roman]]/[[Egyptian]]/[[Satanic]] origins", completely forgetting that [[genetic fallacy|meaning for symbols can change]]. For example they throw a fit about how the Statue of Liberty is a Roman goddess, and how cities which are laid out (6 by 6 blocks) are "sun blocks". (Some even say the pattern of city blocks adds up to [[666]], which it does, but it's inevitable when you're working on a 6x6 area on a city.) Some of these videos you can't even figure out what they are talking about.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTj7nD_h0iI&list=UUOKGMQaJ9Gw9qaomGoNjPZw Something about… Land being separated on 36 blocks with D.C. on the "Devil's Block"?</ref> There isn't a single thing on US soil that wasn't accused of being "idol worship" (not even {{wpl|The Apotheosis of Washington|George Washington}} himself<ref>Quote-Mining warning: {{cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syD5f7cIDCc&index=49&list=UUOKGMQaJ9Gw9qaomGoNjPZw |title=Part 1 The REAL Secret America- Great Seal of Lucifer |author=Stephen Schroeder}}</ref>) or "Satanic". Even the US flag is of "Babylonian origin".<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxViD0VOLm0 according to a quote-mine in this video.]</ref> America's even accused of being founded on Islam!<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUzQhpdjQ08&index=44&list=UUOKGMQaJ9Gw9qaomGoNjPZw</ref>

Of course even if all of it were true, and the genetic fallacy weren't a fallacy, then so what? The fact that [[Jesusland]] worships your [[Lucifer|bogeyman]] isn't proof that [[God]] exists. The "masonic origins" of a bunch of things in the US is to be expected as many of the founding fathers were [[Freemasons]].<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7IzWlvDpJg&list=UUOKGMQaJ9Gw9qaomGoNjPZw It doesn't stop people from quote-mining Discovery Channel to pick apart every monument in D.C.]</ref>

===American conspiracy theorists in a nutshell===
Just think of them as the exhaust of a democracy or the side effects of the freedom of speech and expression.
<center>
{{#ev:youtube|Sjypc4UBt8M}}
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A number of conspiracy theories in the United States did not originate from Americans. For example, rumors about the Kennedy assassination in the 1960s and the false statement that the Pentagon created HIV/AIDS in the 1980s were spread by the Soviet Union. Today, Russia continues to use various online assets to spread misinformation and division within American society.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/us/politics/rosenstein-justice-russia.html Russia Campaign ‘Just One Tree in a Growing Forest,’ Rosenstein Says]. ''The New York Times''. July 19<sup>th</sup>, 2018. </ref>

==Political parties==
{{Main|United States Politics}}
<!-- {{cquote|Every political revolution in America consists now of one party just trying to undo all the shit the other political party did. No actual law has been preserved in this country since, like, 1968.|||Drew Magary, ''[http://www.gq.com/blogs/the-feed/2014/11/make-it-stop-midterm-edition.html Make It Stop]''}} -->

==Armed forces==
{{Main|United States Armed Forces}}

Currently the strongest in the world, the U.S. military consists of six branches, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The best way to summarize the branches are as follows: The only "real" branches are the Army and Navy, while the Marine Corps is a warrior cult, the Air Force/Space Force is a corporation, and the Coast Guard is federal police and EMS at sea.{{nofact}}

==Civil rights==
{{main|Civil rights}}
{{cquote|I believe that the United States as a government, if it is going to be true to its own founding documents, does have the job of working toward that time when there is no discrimination made on such inconsequential reason as race, color, or religion.|||President [[Dwight Eisenhower]].<ref name="quotes">[https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/all_about_ike/quotes.html Quotes] Eisenhower Library.</ref>}}

===Indigenous affairs===
In 1997 the American Indian, Inuit and Aleut population was 2.3 million, or 0.9 percent of the total population.<ref>United States Census Bureau. Census facts for Native American Month. October 1997 [http://www.census.gov census.gov]</ref> However to be eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs services, an Indian must be a member of a Tribe recognized by the Federal Government, have one-half or more Indian blood of tribes indigenous to the United States or must, for some purposes, be of one-fourth or more Indian ancestry. In 1993 the Bureau of Indian Affairs estimated that 1.2 million of the Indian population lived on or adjacent to Federal Indian reservations and were eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs services. By legislative and administrative decision, all indigenous people of Alaska are eligible for Bureau of Indian Affairs services and programs.<ref> Who is an Indian? Answers to Frequently asked questions on: [http://www.doi.gov/bia doi.gov] (March 1998).</ref> 

The gap in life expectancy between Native Americans and whites narrowed from 11 years in men and 15 years in women in 1940 to four years and three years respectively in 1980.<ref> Woollard, Keith et al. op.cit., pp. 5-6.</ref>  In 1990, 9% of the Indian population were tertiary graduates compared to 20% of the total population.<ref> United States. Bureau of the Census. We the first Americans. Washington: Dept of Commerce, 1993, p. 4</ref> Labor force participation rates are lower and median family incomes are on average US$14,000 per year below other American families. In 1989, 31% of Native Americans lived below the poverty line.<ref> United States. Bureau of the Census. Statistical abstract of the United States 1996. Washington: Dept of Commerce, 1996, Table 52.</ref> In the 1995 fiscal year US$6 billion (0.08% of GDP) was allocated to 140 programs administered by 40 federal agencies.<ref> Indians in Canada and the United States. Information Sheet published by Dept of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and available on: [http://www.inac.gc.ca inac.gc.ca] (March 1998).</ref>

The 1998 Fiscal Year budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs was US$1.73 billion. Approximately 50 per cent of the operating budget is administered by tribes and is used for tribal courts, law enforcement, housing, social services and education. In 1924 the United States Congress extended American citizenship to all Indians born in the territorial limits of the United States. Indians are also members of their respective Tribes and these are legally regarded as 'sovereign domestic nations'. Indians thus have dual citizenship. Indians have the same right to vote as other United States citizens.<ref> Are Indians U.S. Citizens? Answers to Frequently asked questions on: [http://www.doi.gov/bia doi.gov] (March 1998).</ref> 

Between 1778, when the first treaty was made with the Lenape, and 1871, when Congress ended the treaty-making period, the United States Senate ratified 370 Indian treaties. Since 1871 relations with Indian groups are by Congressional acts, Executive Orders, and Executive Agreements. There are 287 Indian reservations, the largest is the Navajo Reservation of 16m acres (65,000 km<sup>2</sup>) in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. Many of the smaller reservations are less than 1000 acres (400 ha) with the smallest less than 100 acres (40 ha). On each reservation, the local governing authority is the tribal government, but its power in law enforcement, education, taxation and water rights varies from tribe to tribe. Approximately 22.6m ha of land are held in trust by the United States for various Indian Tribes and individuals. Both the Indian tribes in the lower 48 States and the regional corporations in Alaska hold the rights to subsurface minerals and have a veto over mining on their land.<ref> What is a reservation? and Do Indians have the right to own land? Answers to Frequently asked questions on: [http://www.doi.gov/bia doi.gov] (March 1998).</ref>

In 1993 the United States Congress, in a joint Senate and House resolution to mark the centenary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii resolved:

{{quotebox|... it is proper and timely for the Congress on the occasion of the impending one hundredth anniversary of the event, to acknowledge the historic significance of the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, to express its deep regret to the Native Hawaiian people, and to support the reconciliation efforts of the State of Hawaii and the United Church of Christ with Native Hawaiians. ... [Congress] apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii on January 17, 1893 with the participation of agents and citizens of the United States, and the deprivation of the rights of Native Hawaiians to self-determination ... Nothing in this Joint Resolution is intended to serve as a settlement of any claims against the United States.<ref> S.J.Resolution 19, 103rd Congress United States of America, 5 January 1993.</ref>}}

== Mathematics, science and technology ==
[[File:Benjamin_banneker.jpg|thumb|150px|A freed slave, Benjamin Banneker became the first American mathematician of note.]]
[[File:James_Webb_Space_Telescope_Revealed_(26832090085).jpg|thumb|150px|Main mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope being assembled at the Goddard Spaceflight Center, [[Washington, D.C.]]]]

Since the end of World War II, the United States has been the largest powerhouse of mathematics, science, and technology. Although the sudden influx of gray matter from Europe certainly helped propelled the nation to the forefront of intellectual pursuits, its potential  was already manifest early on in its history, limited only by an obsession with practicality. As an example, Benjamin Banneker, an autodidact, mastered geometry not in order to conduct research but to work on survey, astronomy, and almanacs. It was not until the nineteenth century that basic research took off.<ref> Katz, Victor J. “Chapter 19: Algebra and Number Theory in the Eighteenth Century.” ''A History of Mathematics: an Introduction'', 3rd ed., Addison-Wesley, 2009, pp. 680–682. </ref> Today, the U.S. leads the world in the total number of [[Nobel Prize|Nobel laureates]] in all fields, followed by the United Kingdom and Germany. The only field where the U.S. does not lead in the number of Nobel laureate is literature; France has this distinction.<ref>[http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/top-30-countries-with-nobel-prize-winners.html Nobel Prize Winners By Country]. World Atlas. November 1, 2017.</ref>

The Department of Energy's Office of Science oversees national laboratories located across the contiguous United States: the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, [[California|CA]], the Argonne National Laboratory, [[Illinois|IL]], the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, [[Tennessee|TN]], the Los Alamos National Laboratory, [[New Mexico|NM]], the Brookhaven National Laboratory, [[New York|NY]], the [[Idaho]] National Laboratory, among others. These engage in both fundamental and applied research. The ones listed, with the exception of Brookhaven, all participated in the [[Manhattan Project]], though Los Alamos, whose first scientific director was [[J. Robert Oppenheimer]], is the most well known, not least because it saw the very first nuclear weapon test.

Argonne, named after the a forest in France where U.S. troops fought in World War I, was then known as the Metallurgical Laboratory, or Met Lab,<ref group="note">Get your mind out of the gutter!</ref> located on the campus on the University of Chicago. It was here that Enrico Fermi and his team assembled the first artificial nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, in 1942.<ref name="Argonne"/> It then moved to the location just outside Chicago. The Fermi Accelerator National Laboratory (Fermilab), also located just outside the Second City, is named in his honor. As the most powerful particle accelerator in the U.S., it recently found some evidence for the hypothetical fourth flavor of neutrinos, the sterile neutrino, not part of the [[Standard Model]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-44370751 Has US physics lab found a new particle?]. BBC News. June 6<sup>th</sup>, 2018</ref> Argonne designed the Chicago Pile 3, the world's first nuclear power generator, and the reactor that was fitted aboard the USS ''Nautilus'', the world's first nuclear submarine. These reactors were built in Idaho.<ref name="Argonne">[http://www.anl.gov/about-argonne/history History of Argonne] Argonne National Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy. Office of Science.</ref>  Livermore started out as the Radiation Laboratory of Ernst Lawrence, who built the cyclotron, the world's first particle accelerator. Brookhaven is currently home to the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS II).<ref group="note">It replaces the first one, also operated by Brookhaven. </ref><ref group="note">A synchrotron is yet another kind of particle accelerator.</ref> As one of the most powerful X-ray sources in operation, it enables scientists to study in detail the structure of complex molecules, such as those associated with [[life]]. Brookhaven also houses the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), the one of most powerful of its kind.<ref group="note">The most powerful is the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), operated by the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN) headquartered in Switzerland. However, the LHC specializes in smaller particles, such as protons, rather than "heavy ions", such as gold nuclei.</ref> Currently the only operational collider in the country, RHIC recreates conditions that existed shortly after the Big Bang, when matter manifested as a "[[quantum mechanics#Quantum_chromodynamics|quark-gluon plasma]]", before [[protons]] and [[neutrons]] came to be.<ref>[https://www.bnl.gov/science/QCD-matter.php QCD Matter]. Our Science. Brookhaven National Laboratory. U.S. Department of Energy. Office of Science.</ref> Alas, RHIC, like its European counterpart at [[CERN]], receives an abundance of criticism based more on [[pseudoscience]], [[fear, uncertainty, and doubt]] rather than rational thought. As a major example, a 2005 paper claimed that certain phenomena observed at the RHIC resembled a [[black hole]]. This naturally fueled the ill-founded controversy on whether or not the accelerator was some sort of doomsday device. Even if a black hole was really created, the time scales and energies involved were simply too small for it to cause an apocalyptic catastrophe.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4357613.stm Lab "Fireball" May Be Black Hole]. BBC News. March 17, 2005.</ref><ref>[https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/03/0318_050318_pin_blackhole.html Photo in the News: Lab Creates "Black Hole"]. National Geographic. March 18, 2005.</ref>

The National Institutes of Health, headquartered in Bethesda, [[Maryland|MD]],<ref group="note">Get the pun?</ref> has 27 campuses and centers conducting biomedical and healthcare research. Next stop: [[Universal healthcare]]. Please fasten your seat belts.<ref>[http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/376860-sanders-says-new-health-care-plans-shows-dems-moving-toward-medicare-for Sanders says new health-care plan shows Dems moving toward 'Medicare for all']. ''The Hill''. March 5, 2018. </ref> According to a 2018 poll conducted by a nonpartisan think tank, 59% of Americans support [[Bernie Sanders]]' universal healthcare proposal (Medicare for all), and 75% favor a public option or expansion of [[Medicare]].<ref>[http://www.businessinsider.com/poll-medicare-for-all-public-option-bernie-sanders-plan-support-2018-3 A new poll found that a majority of Americans support a radical change to the US healthcare system]. ''Business Insider''. March 28, 2018. </ref> Americans are not mistaken in their support for major healthcare reforms. A recent study reveals that the American healthcare system ranks among the lowest in the developed world, while the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Netherlands are the top contenders.<ref>[http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-17/australian-healthcare-ranked-second-best-in-developed-world/8716326 Healthcare study ranks Australia second best in developed world, while US comes in last]. ABC News (Australia). July 17, 2017. </ref>

Americans were also the first to detect gravitational waves, predicted by [[Albert Einstein]] using his [[gravity|general theory of relativity]] in the early twentieth century. After numerous ingenious attempts since the 1960s, they finally succeeded in 2015 and publicly announced the breakthrough in 2016. This project, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Observatory (aLIGO), has two L-shaped arms, one in Livingston, [[Louisiana]], and another at Hanford Site, [[Washington State]]. Three physicists who were instrumental to this project earned the Nobel Prize in [[Physics]] in 2017.<ref>[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-41476648 Einstein's waves win Nobel Prize in physics]. BBC News. October 3, 2017.</ref>

In the 1950s, President Eisenhower created the National Aeronautics and Space Agency ([[NASA]]), which, at the instigation of President [[John F. Kennedy]], landed the first people on the Moon in 1969. NASA owns multiple facilities and centers throughout the country, such as the Kennedy Space Center in [[Florida]] and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory managed by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Despite popular misconception, there is much more to NASA than space exploration. For instance, it also monitors global levels of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas driving anthropogenic climate change. Since NASA's mandate, which has not changed since its creation, is to "reach for new heights and reveal the unknown for the benefit of humankind,"<ref>[https://www.nasa.gov/about/index.html About NASA]</ref> helping the Environmental Protection Agency ([[EPA]]) do its job is totally appropriate.

Like the City of Paris, France, the town of Princeton, [[New Jersey]],<ref group="note">Home to many beautiful minds.</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc0Kthyo0hU What's So Sexy About Math?]. TED Talk. Cedric Villani.</ref> has one of the largest population of mathematicians in the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, the U.S. is home to the greatest number of Fields Medalists,<ref group="note"> Shall we call this their "manifold destiny"? Credits goes to Sylvia Nasar for coining this phrase.</ref> followed by France and the USSR/Russia.<ref>[http://stats.areppim.com/stats/stats_fieldsxcapita.htm areppim AG]</ref><ref>[http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FieldsMedal.html Fields Medal]. Wolfram Math World.</ref>

The U.S. is, without a doubt, one of the most technologically advanced countries and Silicon Valley is one of the world's leading innovation hubs. Such a remarkable status brings its own challenges, however, as Russia and China have both been engaging various means of espionage to steal American intellectual properties. Spies do not always attempt to gain access to national secrets anymore. Other countries, such as France and Israel, also deploy spies to Silicon Valley, but their efforts pale in comparison to what the Russians and Chinese have been doing.<ref>[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071 How Silicon Valley Became a Den of Spies]. POLITICO Magazine. July 27, 2018.</ref>

Despite all these impressive achievements, a poll of 2,455 U.S. adults taken from Nov 7 to 13, 2007, found that 62 percent believed in a literal Hell. Only 42 percent of those surveyed said that they accepted Darwin's [[theory of evolution]],<ref>[http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKN2922875820071129?sp=true Poll Finds More Americans Believe in Devil Than Darwin]. Reuters. November 29, 2007.</ref> which is lower than expected in a developed country. It is clear that the Department of Education has some work to do. In addition, despite educating numerous potential immigrants in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), U.S. immigration laws do not make it easy for them to stay.<ref>[http://money.cnn.com/2013/01/31/smallbusiness/stem-immigrants/index.html America's brain drain dilemma: immigrant students who leave]. CNN Money. February 1, 2013. </ref> It is worth pointing out that this is the single most desirable immigrant pool of all. Being U.S.-educated, they are familiar with American culture and in many cases are willing and able to give back to the United States.

==See also==
*{{cat|United States states|States of the Union}}
*[[Jesusland]]
*[[American Dream]]
*[[Howard Zinn]]
*[[Obesity]]
*[[Trans-Pacific Partnership]]
*[[NAFTA|North American Free Trade Agreement]]
*[[Ameriphobia]]

==External links==
*[http://www.theonion.com/video/obama-drastically-scales-back-goals-for-america-af,14343/ Obama Drastically Scales Back Goals For America After Visiting Denny's]
*[http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0514-26.htm Common Dreams: God's Own Party]
*[http://books.google.com/books?id=UomKHSVss24C&pg=PA54&lpg=PA54&dq=united+States%2Bgod's+chosen+nation&source=bl&ots=H8aKETdNPF&sig=PKzsOidn57e572tufJo4_Kbq6HE&hl=en&ei=Hjj3ScqoB6STjAeKtoTADA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA54,M1 ''The Community of the Word: Toward an Evangelical Ecclesiology''] by Mark Husbands, Daniel J. Treier
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzRhFH5OyHo ''Yankee Doodle''] was written by the British to mock the Patriots, except the latter won and [[Irony|the joke reversed itself]].
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ_okAgAUGE ''The Americans, A Canadian's Opinion''] by Gordon Sinclair, originally broadcasted in Toronto, Ontario, in 1973.
*[https://youtu.be/mTPiTJ2bKS0 "Chicago Pile-1, A Brick History"], a video from the Argonne National Laboratory commemorating the 75<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the successful construction of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor.
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzCixXm83aM Building A Nation's Capital, Washington, D.C.] The B1M.

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|2|80%}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}
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Categories: United States, United States history, United States politics, Authoritarian regimes, Crimes against humanity, Empires, Genocide, Imperialism, NATO member states, North American countries, Racism, Slavery