A decade and a half ago, the United States Postal Service decided to issue a stamp commemorating the life of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley. In a bold move (particularly in those pre-American Idol days), the Postal Service also decided to allow the American public to vote on whether the stamp should feature an image of a young Elvis or old Elvis. Here is what happened next:

Pre-addressed ballots were distributed in post offices around the country and in the April 13, 1992, edition of People magazine. America spoke, returning nearly 1.2 million ballots to the Postal Service, and the choice was clear: More than 75 percent of voters preferred young Elvis….

Across the country, reaction to the voting process was boisterous and opinionated. Members of Congress debated the worthiness of Elvis as a stamp subject, newspaper editorialists made lofty pronouncements, and presidential candidate Bill Clinton publicly voiced his support for the younger Elvis. [link]

In retrospect, it is not in the least surprising that the more youthful and vibrant Elvis won out. Given a choice between the brash music revolutionary in his heyday and the bloated though still charismatic singer past his prime, the public predictably embraced the star on the rise over the one in decline. After all, that is how America viewed itself then—and views itself now.

When this nation gazes in the looking glass, we tend to see the reflection of the young country we once were rather than the middle-aged country we now are. We see the larger-than-life faces of great leaders chiseled on Mount Rushmore rather than the small, televised visages of the lesser men who lead us now. We see the shining promise of yesterday rather than the broken promises of today. We see anything but what we have become: a flabby, decadent parody of ourselves, coasting on the glory of days past.

America is old Elvis. We just haven’t come to term with what the years — and our excesses — have wrought. Once upon a time, we were the golden upstart of nations, soaring to unimagined heights and, in so doing, transforming the social and political landscape. With success came tremendous wealth and power and acclaim. We were much admired, even envied, and others sought to follow our lead. And lead we did…

But, somewhere along the way, we seemed to lose our edge and our desire to attain new heights. We became sloppy and vain. Others began to surpass us—economically, politically, morally. Still, we remained convinced of our supremacy, even when we were no longer king.

Like it or not, America is no longer king. In certain key areas, this nation lags surprisingly behind others in the developed world, as the following chart provided by The Financial Times indicates:

World Ranking of United States (2004)

With all its economic and political capital, the United States still manages to do relatively poorly by its citizens, particularly when it comes to ensuring the public health and welfare. In 2000, the World Health Organization published a report that evaluated and compared the health systems of the nations of the world. The United States ranked 37th, just ahead of Slovenia. Given the incredibly skewed policies and priorities of the Bush administration these past 6+ years, it seems reasonable to presume that this nation is even less healthy than before. We’re certainly getting fatter. As reported by Forbes a few months ago, “in a list of the countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people…the U.S. weighs in at No. 9, with 74.1% of those over 15 years old considered overweight.” The U.S. also is overmedicated. As reported previously by the Associated Press, “about 130 million Americans…swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray, and pat on prescribed medication every month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country. The number of prescriptions has swelled by two-thirds over the past decade to 3.5 billion yearly.”

Thus, much like old Elvis, America stands in the spotlight on the world stage, obese, rundown, and with enough pills in its system to choke Slovenia. And all that extra weight and medication seems to make us cranky, given how poorly we fare at peacefulness (96th among nations). It’s not a pleasant sight. However, instead of truly confronting our various failings and fallings, we continue to indulge in the fantasy that we remain in our glory, that we are still king. But many years have passed since that was so. America is no longer top dog. Now, we ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog.