52 factions

What a strange people the Yanks are. Fundamentally rich beyond reason they have this obsession with independence and the fallacious concept that we are all born equal to compete for life's riches. The cult status given to firearms apparently ignorant of the danger of guns in general. There denial of the need in a civilised society to provide basic and fundamental assistance to all members of society such as medical insurance and through it medical care for all family members. Their method of governance set out after the Civil War through a Constitution and the balance of power, Presidential in design but limited by Congress for the purse strings to pay, has resulted in the absurd bartering of power to enable the administration of the country to do its job for the citizens of that country. Ideology and not common sense raises its ugly head, each side digging in refusing to give way, grid lock ensues and everyone is made to look weak and powerless.
I suppose the real issue is that the country is not a united whole but rather a conglomeration of separate states each carrying its own veto. Congress represents those States and the voters who elect their Senators and Governors do so on narrow local issues. The same voters elect their President with a different set of criteria in mind.  The fear of powerful governance from the centre, powerful enough to cancel the self interest of local politics has always been an issue in the USA and we are often confused by this dichotomy. If State politics is most relevant to the voters in that State, the offer of pork today is very persuasive compared to the National issues that might be of value only as a concept.
The very reason for central, national governance is to bind all the citizens together for a common aim or standard right across the country. It also attributes the cost of any scheme to each tax payer and allows all the citizens to feel they have some ownership of the scheme. In the States they are split into 52 factions and there is little collective empathy for people in another part of the country.This much heralded independence, this belief in standing on ones own feet has provided the impetus for the tremendous growth to power but it has left many people behind struggling to live and make ends meet. For every winner a looser !! Should a society not be more compassionate, more civilised, more humanitarian.