The only difference between America and the rest of the world (predominantly in the 20th century) was that our standard of living eclipsed the rest of the world. Why? We weren't, as a nation, any brighter or more creative than those in other nations but in virtually
every aspect of human endeavor we lead.

The reason is there was an environment of free trade and relatively low interference from government in the way of regulation and taxation. Not so the case any more. People entered into contracts of mutually beneficial exchange unhampered by the need to tax them to death in order to pay for unConstitutional programs that are ubiquitous now.

Taking people's money is akin to stealing part of their lives. That which they decide to give or donate is a voluntary, choice based act. That which is stolen, embezzled even, is not the face of a free people in a free society but rather the end of freedom and free markets.

The end result is in sight: look around. How many politicians pander to the masses at the expense of the few? Easy to be generous with other people's money surreptitiously using the force of government, coercion, to steal the fruits of their labor for whatever the 'care' du jour might be. In the end, our freedom suffers individually and the nation we hand to offspring much less palatable than what we received.