It's both, and not a contradiction? But I'd say the USA is indeed more progressed with this. Like both sides. They got really intelligent people but a lot of dumb people. Compared to other western societies, more, the toll of slowly erroding education and the split between poor and rich is progressing harder. Same with things like obesity which as we know of research is bad for brain development (rather the food that leads to this).

And this is exactly why I don't affiliate with either major party.

I used to consider myself Republican because I was frustrated at the majority party (Democrat) always messing stuff up in my home state. I ended up moving for school to a red state, and the majority party there was always messing stuff up. It was then I realized that the problem isn't with one party, it's with politics in general.

I registered with the largest third party in my state (happens to be Libertarian) and I vote for whatever candidate I think is least bad. In 2016, that was Gary Johnson, in 2020 it was Joe Biden, and in 2024 it was Chase Oliver. It doesn't really matter who I vote for because the R candidate will always win with at least 20% margin, so I vote my conscience.

I'm not saying both sides are the same, I'm saying both sides age liars and massive disappointments.

You think I'm unaware that some Harris voters would say "Conservatism is a mental disorder"? Is that your point?