[courseofaction]

Not as corrupt as other countries is true. My rhetoric gets a little passionate, but is rooted in fact. Relative to their extreme wealth and political messaging, will 'very' corrupt do? 'Increasingly' corrupt, certainly. It's not tied to the authoritarianism, the health care system has been an international punchline for decades. The everyday systemic corruption (plus the 2008 bailouts) is in my opinion the cause of authoritarianism, the people were pushed to a populist.

Getting sicker: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6221922/

Getting stupider: https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ltt/?age=9

Obamacare is straight up porkbarrelling: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2010/apr/01/barack-oba...

The DoE's policy is to stop educating people unless it's profitable: https://www.propublica.org/article/education-department-publ...

I think we're going to see a substantial continual decline in both health and education outcomes as the system continues to be sabotaged, for money.

The most shocking part is qualitative though. As a non-American, having a conversation with an American about their politics is often stepping into a minefield of cognitive dissonance, patriotism, and blindness, from people who are otherwise wealthy and well-intentioned. Truly the most propagandized people. Such is the course of empire.