I understand your plight. My wife is British while I am American. I was having a discussion with my mother in law on the magnitude of the US national debt and what a threat it is to the US. She wanted me to put that debt into context with other nations' debts. Sadly, all I could say was it is significantly worse than that of other first world nations.(posted 7262 days ago)It seems that the problem with the numbers is that no one can agree on the actual figures, what they mean, and how they should be related to each other. In other words, no one really knows what is going to happen. Every one can agree on one thing: a significant economic downturn in the US is bad for the entire planet. So to some degree, the numbers might not be so hard to understand but people might not want to understand them because they don't bode well for the future
As for the medical system, anyone who deals with the medical system in the US not covered by a great health care plan can attest to how bad it is. While the treatment is fantastic, the cost is fantastic as well. These costs, in fact, keep most people away from the doctor which in turn leads to greater medical problems later on in life because of untreated disorders. Hence the WHO rating. You could probably liken the US medical system to a bank. Everyone has access to a bank, but not everyone can get something out of it.
Homelessness is strong and prospering in the US. States and local governments are largely responsible for dealing with panhandlers and the homeless. New York City used to bus them out of town but I'm not sure if that still goes on. There is no social welfare net for these people who often suffer from mental disorders preventing them from buying into the American dream. I work in a high crime area near a homeless shelter and it seems to me that the solution has become jail. We trespass the panhandlers, wait for them to come back, then have them arrested and usually never see them again.
As to the French living on a balloon, I would stay right where you are. More than 70% of you power production is nuclear with a good transit system being powered by that electrical grid. Hence you are not tethered to foreign oil like the US and your public is not spoiled by gas prices controlled by huge government subsidies. While your country might be in fiscal difficulty, at least you are confronting it. The US attitude is 'National debt doesn’t matter!' (Yeah, I'm still coming to grips with how they sold that one). Your debt goes to schools, pensions, health care, programs that benefit the future. Ours is going to bombs, subsidies, weapons research and foreign bribes to implement regional planning such as what is going on in Iraq. You are in a much better position for the future than the US can even hope to be.