Speaking of Independence Day: Is America Ripe for Another Revolution?

This article says No; we're only half primed.  In order for a population to be galvanized into violent revolution, two factors must be present:  staggering economic inequality (check), and mass institutional corruption.

In terms of income equality, the United States ranks 93rd out of 155 countries measured by the World Bank. (Who'da guessed there are actually 62 countries with a wider income gap than the U.S.?)  In any case, the U.S. has a huge enough wealth gap to incite millions of angry citizens.

But (it says here) the U.S. government isn't corrupt or dysfunctional (WTF???), so a revolution is unlikely.  Silly me, I would have thought a government that's wholly owned by a few multi-trillion-dollar industries — banks, pharmaceutical companies, Big Ag, fossil fuels, “defense” contractors — would qualify as corrupt and dysfunctional.  But, believe it or not, the U.S. is one of the world's least corrupt countries.  According to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index, the American government is the 17th most transparent in the world.  Uh, OK...

So, a violent revolution becomes likely when both inequality and corruption combine to reach the boiling point.  According to this article, the countries most vulnerable to mass civil unrest are:  Argentina, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Thailand, and Venezuela.

Anyway, it looks like we're off the hook.  Happy Fourth.