I've long thought this, but you've articulated it way better than I ever could, so thank you. I'd argue that the "smaller country" explanation is also over-use

I've long thought this, but you've articulated it way better than I ever could, so thank you. I'd argue that the "smaller country" explanation is also over-used. For example, when single-payer healthcare, gun control or effective government comes up, I often hear the excuse "The US is way more populous than $nation_x so it would never work here!". When asked to further explain their reasoning, many (certainly not all) can't seem to. It's like they never think past the nation-size excuse because it's simply accepted as fact.