Your statement, I believe it was "light years ahead of any place else, " gave the clear impression that the United States is the greatest nation on the earth in all categories. This cannot be. Anyone who has had the benefit of being overseas for any amount of time can clearly see that or experience that, if they are objective (and cannot see that if they stayed confined to their military base or foreigner's compound out of fear of a foreign culture and only ventured out the back gate once in 24 months for a coca cola from a vending machine).
That place has the best beer. This place is publicly the cleanest. That place had the fastest trains. This place had the coolest cell phone technology and applications. This place had the lowest prices. That place had the best gasoline prices. This place had the most transparent sky for amateur astronomy. That place had the easiest way to send a wire transfer. This place had the highest interconnection speeds and internet diffusion rates. That place had the lowest suicide rates. This place had the most attentive and polite flight attendants. etc. etc. etc.
The US has been extremely generous around the world. That is to say, its people have been that way as a country and in individual capacity. The fact of the matter is, the United States does not dominate everything, nor is it light years ahead of any place else, precisely as you say, and I am prepared to give specific examples. In fact, I assert that it is in decay, particularly under this Obama now. (I just did on the issue of per capital rapes. Clearly not the worst country, but in the top 10, way ahead in this heinous crime than many many other nations. Is that "light years ahead"?
I measure countries the same way I measure people - by how much good they have done. Using that standard, how much good has Japan done in comparison to the United States?