I thought the speech in the opening scene of episode 1 was spot on for what's wrong with our country today.
People who took this speech as a literal portrayal of modern American society must of forgot their history lessons. It was simply a speech to create the character in the show. How can you possibly quanitfy anymore who's the greatest county in the world ? You can't, it's all subjective.
Sweat shops in the 1930's, American Riots during the Vietnam war and the great depression and the character said we're living in the worst of times? If that isn't showcasing ignorance I do not know what is. Since when did being the 1st in science or math in some scholastic empirical survery ever got us to the god damn moon, become the biggest country in GDP or foster civil liberties unheard of in the most cultural diverse nation in the world?
That was just all useless banter and rhetoric. America was (or is) great because people had the opportunity to act on their dreams. The only thing standing in our way now is ourselves.