Part of this is we don't have a social safety net, like universal health insurance. >you fall and slip in a supermarket? Lawsuit! You fall and slip in a super

Part of this is we don't have a social safety net, like universal health insurance. >you fall and slip in a supermarket? Lawsuit! You fall and slip in a supermarket, due to a careless employee and now you owe hundred of thousands in medical bills. Some executive somewhere realized it was easier to extract that cash from a corporation than putting some person deep in debt. Secondly, I believe America's relationship with race/sex/age discrimination goes a lot deeper than most countries, despite the fact we are younger.