True that the Americas are lagging. Many major South American countries are borderline corrupt or on the brink of financial collapse, and are being negatively affected by the United States' influence. As a USA native I can confirm we aren't focusing on the right things in this country, let alone making efforts to better the rest of the world. In fact, so far in recent years we've made progress in derailing ourselves as leaders in the new tech era. Its unfortunate, but eventually we'll wake up and join the rest of civilization. Someday.