Well it depends on how you define "best". In terms of military, we are the superpower of the world. In terms of things like freedom, rights, opportunity etc, there are plenty other countries like us. Great Britain, France, Spain, Australia, Germany, Canada, Japan, Belgium, Normandy, Norway, Poland, Sweden. They all have freedom and rights. America is not the only country that has freedom. We have the biggest economy, but that is soon to be surpassed by China. America has created some of the most important and significant inventions of the world. We made the telegraph, the light bulb, the revolver, the atom bomb (although the "greatness" of this can be disputed), the production line, the internet, powered flight, the suspension bridge, digital computer, microwave oven, the integrated circuit, GPS, the list just goes on and on. So in the respect of modern inventions, we are the single greatest country in the world. However, there are some things like corruption, abnormally high murder rate, terrible welfare system, massive debt, obesity, terrible education (we're ranked something like 27th in the world for mathematics) etc that can all arguably make us one of the WORST first world countries in the world. So it all depends on where you look at it. Our legacy is great. Our future is not.