I wish people would stop saying this:

"After all, we are the richest nation on the planet."

It is deceiving.

The U.S. ranks eighth in GDP per capita. We are the eighth richest nation on the planet by that measure.

If you use real GDP per capita we rank fifteenth.

If you use purchasing power parity GDP then the U.S. ranks second after China. To make the claim that the U.S. is the richest nation on the planet you have to cherry pick your statistics.

The U.S. is the most powerful nation on the planet but there is a huge price for that power. There is a huge price for War, the costs of War are many and huge, human costs and financial costs.

If you look at the list of wealthy countries ranked by GDP per capita, at the top you will see countries that have mostly avoided direct involvement in wars.

By the way some states in the U.S. would rank very low in the world rankings GDP per capita