"By and large" leaves out an awful lot of people. In developed countries it is true that "by and large" life condiions are fair enough, or even pretty good for most people. But it makes a great difference how countries deal with the people for whom that is not true. Some societies ensure that asequate help is readily available, while others tolerate a situation in which alongside "by and large" prosperity there is destitution.

The accusation that Ebblie objects to is that the USA is too far over towards that latter end, compared to many other countries.

The thing is, critics from other countries tend to ignore the truth that America isn't really a single country in all kinds of ways. How poverty is responded to in different states is more analogous to the situation across the EU than to that in a single country.

Given that though, there do seem to be some ground rules across the EU which seem lacking in the United States.