And that's going fabulously. Our government is efficient and functional and totally manages to put aside regional differences to address pressing national issues.

You're still #1 in terms of total GDP and have the highest GDP per capita of any country with a population over 50 million. Don't sell your government short...

I'd wager that is more to do with its geography and wealth of natural resources in a land that was more or less ripe for the taking from the natives.

Think of it like starting a game of Civilization at renaissance/industrial age tech with democratic government on an island with abundant resources and no real enemies.

It actually is going pretty well. We elected a demagogue and he's as checked and balanced as he can be, given that he has the House and Senate.

I'd give it a solid B+ for the last 240 years. It's only had a single civil war which compared to the last 240 years of Europe is downright amazing!

Keep in mind how small USA was 240 years ago. In 1910 it was 90m comparing to Germany 62m.