Why America is going backward: Being the richest nation in history isn't enough

And pursuit of collecting profit decidedly is not pursuit of anyone's well-being. Workplace safety and food inspection regimes did not come about due to market pressure, for example.

Capitalism is ultimately self defeating? And the alternative?

It's true, but every developed country is also in late stage capitalism. Many appear to be trying to trend away from predictable path of aggregating all of the wealth in a few hands -- or at least, trying to ensure that the poorest aren't desperate enough to google plans for guillotines. They're having mixed success, and it may be that late-stage capitalism will come for them regardless.

But the US appears to be going full steam ahead. It's something about our culture. There are so many factors that it's hard to frame it in a few sentences. It does feel as if we bought into "capitalism" extra hard, which made us super-wealthy, but also a belief that anybody who isn't wealthy (or trying to be) is mentally and morally deficient. And it dovetails with a longstanding xenophobia, that anybody sufficiently different must be oppressed.

All of these properties exist elsewhere. America just seems to do them harder than anybody else, and that's creating a lot of suffering. And we refuse to change anything about it, because we never feel rich enough.

What might be a richer nation? There are no records of one. There are other quite rich ones today, perhaps with higher wealth per citizen averages. Perhaps a wealthier nation existed once and left no trace.