Originally Posted by highthief

Or is it enlightened? I was thinking that (in light of the recent California execution) that the US is one of the very few (maybe the only?) Western nation with an active death penalty. It's the only Western nation without universal health care. It's the only Western nation that still seems to have aspirations of some degree of imperialism. It has the largest gap between rich and poor of Western nations.

Is the US therefore behind the times, or is the US ahead of the times (will other nations abandon universal health, restore the death penalty and invest hugely in the military?). Nations have, after all, made such changes before.

This is not a US bashing thread. Take it elsewhere if that's what you want to do. It's a legitimate question that needs to be answered in a dispassionate manner.