America’s flawed democracy

Though President Trump has exposed the defects in the system, the country’s problems are more structural.

All men are created equal and they have unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness: a variation of these words (that capture its essence) inscribed in the United States’ Declaration of Independence, defined the promise of American democracy. Nearly 240 years after the declaration, much of that promise remains unfulfilled. The continuing discrimination against minorities, particularly Black Americans and the LBGTQ community, belies the proclamation of equality. The ‘right to life’ rhetoric rings hollow on the face of thousands of Americans being killed every year due to gun violence and police brutality. The World Happiness Report, in 2020, ranked America 18 out of 156 countries in happiness ranking. It dropped seven ranks from 2011. Happiness seems to be slipping away in the US.