http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/23/swiss-reign-sup...
This ignores the history of capitalism, which is more important than the factors you mention. And capitalism was a philosophical and legal development.
> But I'm afraid the 'unprecedented human happiness' you cite is only readily available to an elite few.
That's just not true. The American sense of life is a happy one, unlike the British or continental European sense of nausea, dread, anti-semitism, nationalism, requiring one's brother to be one's keeper, and so on. Unfortunately I think the American sense of life is mostly gone in the east coast cities.
What utter nonsense.
Oh, here's another one: Tall poppy syndrome. That unspeakable evil is not present in the U.S. I was horrified to hear about it.
I'm not religious, but given that the context of that quote, being your brother's keeper is not that bad a plan. Better than murdering them.
To be simultaneously jingoistic about the USA while wagging a finger at Europeans for nationalism and bigotry reminds me of another bible quote. First cast out the beam out of thine own eye.