I certainly do not think it takes any sort of special genius to point out the US is missing those five things I pointed out and all the other countries in the "Free World" have them.
I do not think the world is ending, I just think the US has exposed it's flaws with Trump's election and it's fair to point out that our failures as a society and our Government's flaws as an institution led to him winning.
When you say that the United States is a "1.5 world or second world country" you lose all credibility, come off as if you are screaming "the sky is falling," and yes, make yourself sound like a whiny, angsty, teenage, misanthrope, with about as much intelligence as one. Especially since the First World classification is not measured by any of the criteria you lay out in your post. You said:
"[The United States is] lacking too many things like Universal Health Care, voting rights, worker's rights, a welfare state, and gun control to be considered a First World country."
Literally none of those things are measurements of First World classification. The term First World is generally used as a measurement of economic and industrial advancement, combined with standard of living, and political stability. So let's break those down, one by one:
Economic and Industrial Advancement - United States has the second highest GDP in the world, second only to China, but greatly outpaces China in terms of GDP per capita. The United States economy represents 24.5 % of the gross world product (making it the largest economic state in the world). While the United States has moved past traditional industry, it is a technology and science leader. The United States is sitting on abundance of natural resources. Finally, it has probably the most stable economic infrastructure on Earth. There is no question that the United States meets First World standards in terms of the economy. In fact, the United States sets the bar.
Political Stability - One may disagree with outcome of the election or the current state of the electorate, but the country's political stability is just fine. We are not a country on the brink of civil war or constantly facing down the possibility of a military coup, which is how First/Second/Third World classification is measured.
Standard of Living - I saved this one for last because it seems to be where most of your (made up) criteria stems from (or can at least be broadly categorized as). According to the most recent OECD (Oganization for Economic Cooperation and Development) he US ranks second in the world in terms of average annual wages. A 2014 OECD study also shows that the United States has the second largest welfare program in the world. As to healthcare, I am guessing you are relying on one of those memes you've read on Facebook (which seems to be the depth of your understanding of nuanced issues) that says how the United States has the worst health care in the developed world." The key portion of that sentence is "in the developed world." The World Health Organization consistently ranks the US in the late teens and early twenties in terms of quality and quantity of healthcare services provided. That ain't bad. Especially for a country with a population of our size and several competing interests stemming from said large population.
I'm sorry but this statement irks me so damn much. There is just something incredibly ignorant and privileged about calling the United States a Second World country. If you want to see what a Second World country looks like go to Kazakhstan or Bosnia. The Second World is used to describe countries that suffered political and economic instability due to Soviet influence (and most of which, but not all of which were part of Soviet Bloc). The Second World is used to describe countries that are still sort of in the tipping point of First World and Third World. They have stable, albeit very fragile economic and political stability and standard of living is relatively fairly low. To compare any of the inadequacies of the United States to that of a country like Kazakhstan is so disrespectful to what real suffering looks like.
Even using your flimsy criteria, that you seem to have pulled out of your ass, the United States is no where close to a second world country.
"Gun control" for example (and I really don't know where you came up with the notion that this is criteria for First World status)...the United States may have liberal gun control policies (as we should, considering it is an enumerated right in our Constitution). But we also have a fairly low per capita gun homicide rate. The United States has a rate of 3.2 homicides per 100,000 guns. Compare that to a higher country like Honduras which has 68.43 gun related homicides per 100,000 guns, despite having only 6.2 firearms per 100 people (conversely, the United States has 88 per 100 people). Gun control is not a reflection of gun violence, which is the true measure of stability (which First/Second/Third World classifications are meant to measure).
Same with worker's rights. To compare the United States to a Second World country in terms of worker's rights is absurd. The United States, due to its foundation in free market capitalism, may lag behind the rest of the DEVELOPED world in terms of worker's rights. But it is still streets ahead of the Second and Third Worlds. A 40 hour work week and a low minimum wage is not the type of worker's rights issues you see in Second World countries. CHILD LABOR AND NO WORKPLACE SAFETY STANDARDS ARE THE TYPE OF VIOLATIONS YOU SEE. To compare the conditions of worker's rights in the United States to countries that employ CHILD LABOR is ****ing asinine and idiotic.
No matter what criteria you use, the United States is no where near a second world country. The United States is not a "1.5 World country." The United States is a privileged country. It remains one of the strongest, most robust and secure economies and political microcosms on Earth. To say anything less is disrespectful to countries that are enduring ACTUAL suffering.
In summation, you really should think before you speak and stop throwing around terms you don't understand. Because as I said, it makes you come off as whiny, misanthropic, and poorly educated.
