I hear you, but I don't know where I fall on this. I think my conclusion is that the US is largely imposing this diet onto itself in a self-sacrificial way, as the price to pay to be the world's leading power, which in turn enables world peace (mostly, so far).
I have the intuition that comfortable countries (European, Canada where I'm from) only manage to have those social services because they follow in the wake of the US. And they're also much less economically dynamic.
Also I do think that the worst of US suffering is really much less worse than the suffering seen in the rest of the world, by miles. As such I think it's hard for me to conclude whether it's all worth it or not. If the US wasn't how it is, another power would rule. Would that other power be as benign and cooperative as the US has been? In current days, the alternative powers would be China, and I don't think a Chinese world power system would be better for everyone.
What improvement could the US do to its system so that it would remain dominant while also being a bit more humane? That would be a worthy goal.