American Samoa
Trott Bailey Family Abundance · Country Profile
American Samoa
Tracking baselineHistorical tracking baselineMoney Gate 20 · Overall Gate 0.7.0 Money Gate 20 Food, Housing / Land, Healthcare, Transportation and Water / Energy are four points each. All five must reach 4/4 before the country can cross zero. Money may still exist as an exchange tool; it cannot remain the permission slip for these five basics. Read Money Is a Weak Civilization Engine
Five basics stand between this country and zero
This profile has a direct five-part Money Gate audit. Any category below 4/4 keeps the whole country below zero.
9% weightHuman Time & Burden Return
+35.4
Whether productivity, infrastructure and institutions return usable lifetime to people and families.
TBFC target: Necessary contribution should not require people to sell most of their waking life merely to retain access to food, shelter, care and ordinary family life.
Access-gate research question: How much paid work or income-producing activity is required before an ordinary household can keep access to basic life, and what usable family time remains afterward?
Abundance Gap: +10.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Communal/family structures and government programmes reduce some burden, but imported food, utilities, transport and limited wages keep households dependent on cash and remittances.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
8% weightHousing, Shelter & Housing Reach
+35.7
Whether adequate shelter physically exists and actually reaches people without excessive cost, exclusion or vacancy mismatch.
TBFC target: Adequate family shelter should remain reachable without lifetime dependence on rent, mortgage debt or ability to pay.
Access-gate research question: What share of ordinary shelter access depends on rent, mortgage debt, purchase price or other recurring payment, and what dependable non-market routes exist at national scale?
Abundance Gap: +16.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Communal land tenure can reduce speculative land purchase pressure for Samoan families, while housing construction, utilities and eligibility still impose money and status barriers.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
9% weightFood, Nourishment & Free Food Abundance
+42.2
Physical food and nutrient capacity, nourishment reach, waste/loss, public edible landscapes and free food access.
TBFC target: Nutritious food should exist in multiplying abundance and remain reachable even when a household has no money to spend.
Access-gate research question: Can people obtain adequate nutritious food when they cannot pay, and are free/public/productive-food routes large enough to be ordinary rather than exceptional?
Abundance Gap: +18.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
School lunch, fishing, gardens and communal sharing provide real non-market reach, but imported purchased food remains a large part of ordinary nutrition.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightWater & Sanitation Abundance
+47.9
Safe water, sanitation, reliability, capture, reuse, storage and living-landscape water capacity.
TBFC target: Safe water and sanitation should be dependable life infrastructure, not conditional on household purchasing power.
Access-gate research question: Can households retain safe water and sanitation when income falls, and which payment, disconnection or infrastructure barriers interrupt access?
Abundance Gap: +12.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Public water/environmental systems provide meaningful capacity, while infrastructure reliability and household costs remain.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
5% weightEnergy & Household Capability
+37.2
Whether usable, reliable energy reaches households and removes burdens across water, food, health, cooling, cooking and movement.
TBFC target: Essential household energy should support cooking, cooling, water, food preservation and care without money becoming the switch that turns basic capability on or off.
Access-gate research question: Can households retain essential energy for cooking, cooling, water and food preservation when they cannot pay, and how often does price or disconnection reduce capability?
Abundance Gap: +18.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Electricity is broadly available but bill- and fuel-dependent; renewable projects improve resilience without clearing the paywall.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
7% weightHealth & Care Reach
+48.6
Whether prevention, primary care, medicine, maternity care, dentistry and specialist capability reach people when needed.
TBFC target: Prevention, maternity, dentistry, medicine and necessary treatment should be reachable because care is needed, not because payment can be produced.
Access-gate research question: Can necessary care be obtained because it is needed, or do price, insurance, employment, debt or other financial tests materially delay or prevent access?
Abundance Gap: +12.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
The Department of Health and LBJ Tropical Medical Center provide the core public system, but fees, limited specialist capacity and off-island referrals keep care from being fully frictionless.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightEducation & Human Capability
+53.8
Foundational learning plus practical, technical and enduring civilization capability retained by people.
TBFC target: Foundational learning and useful capability should be reachable as part of civilization life rather than purchased according to family income.
Access-gate research question: Which essential learning and capability routes are genuinely reachable regardless of family income, and where do fees, debt or paid enrichment create decisive access gaps?
Abundance Gap: +8.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Public schools and American Samoa Community College provide broad foundational/local capability, though advanced study often requires off-island spending.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
4% weightMobility & Reachability
+27.2
Local, regional and national movement that connects people to family, services, work, learning and public life without consuming excessive time.
TBFC target: Ordinary local and regional movement should be available for family, care, learning and civic life without travel becoming a paywall.
Access-gate research question: Can ordinary people reach family, care, learning and public life without high recurring fares, vehicle costs, debt or fuel dependence?
Abundance Gap: +16.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Local roads and buses exist, but vehicles, fuel and inter-island/off-island transport remain strongly payment dependent.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
8% weightFamily Formation, Continuity & Child Stability
Fertility agenda · target 5.0
Family continuity is measured partly by whether children are actually multiplying. New and re-reviewed profiles use total fertility as 40% of Family Formation: 2.1 births per woman is the replacement floor and earns positive but limited credit; the authored target is 5.0.
Read A Civilization Built for Mothers and Fathers
+37.3
Conditions that let people form stable families, raise children, share parental time and continue family life without punishing material barriers.
TBFC target: People should be able to form, continue and multiply family life. Trott Bailey Family Civilization uses 5.0 children per woman as the fertility target; 2.1 is the replacement floor, not the aspiration, while housing, care, food and time should not be withheld behind financial thresholds.
Access-gate research question: How strongly do housing, childcare, health, food and work-income requirements delay or destabilize family formation and continuity, and is total fertility moving above replacement toward the 5.0-children-per-woman civilization target?
Abundance Gap: +16.0
Family Fertility Method 1.0.0: 60% lived-family rails + 40% fertility performance (29.91/100 from TFR 2.290, 2023, estimated).
Published indicators
World Bank / UN Population Division — Total fertility rate, American Samoa · 2023
SourceVerified evidence
The 2023 TFR of 2.29 is above replacement and family networks are strong, but economic opportunity, health and migration pressures still constrain family continuity.
World Bank / UN Population Division — Total fertility rate, American Samoa
5% weightLand Access & Spatial Freedom
+35.5
Whether land and settlement choice reach ordinary people rather than opportunity being functionally trapped inside expensive commercial centres.
TBFC target: Suitable productive land and settlement opportunity should not be functionally reserved for those able to outbid everyone else.
Access-gate research question: Can ordinary families gain secure use of suitable productive ground without first accumulating enough money to purchase, finance or outbid others?
Abundance Gap: +16.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Communal land offers unusual protection from open-market alienation for Samoan families, though it is status- and family-governed rather than universally accessible to all residents.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightPeace of Mind, Happiness, Beauty & Delight
+61.9
Peace of mind, social support, everyday safety, public beauty, recreation, nature, culture and delight reachable without constant payment.
TBFC target: Beauty, nature, recreation, rest and public delight should belong to ordinary life rather than appearing mainly after payment.
Access-gate research question: How much everyday rest, nature, recreation, culture and public beauty is freely reachable, rather than principally accessed through paid venues, travel or private property?
Abundance Gap: +10.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Beaches, villages, mountains and communal cultural life provide strong ordinary public delight.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightLiving Ground, Biodiversity & Resilience
+54.6
Whether soil, forests, wetlands, habitat, pollinators, species and water-holding landscapes are strengthening rather than being consumed.
TBFC target: Regenerating soil, water, habitat and food-bearing landscapes should be maintained as shared life-supporting capacity rather than only where a transaction makes them profitable.
Access-gate research question: Are regenerative land, water and habitat functions maintained as life-supporting infrastructure even when no direct commercial return is available?
Abundance Gap: +12.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
AS-EPA provides environmental stewardship capacity; cyclones, reefs, waste, coastal exposure and imported consumption remain important risks.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
5% weightJustice, Safety & Institutional Friction
+39.4
Physical safety, usable justice, legal identity, reliable public administration and low needless institutional burden.
TBFC target: Usable justice, legal identity, safety and ordinary administration should remain accessible regardless of wealth.
Access-gate research question: Do fees, legal costs, bail, fines, documentation costs or ability to hire expertise materially change access to justice, safety or public administration?
Abundance Gap: +12.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Local customary and territorial institutions can be accessible, but status, land, federal-program and administrative complexity create friction.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
4% weightDurability, Repair & Material Return
+29.9
Whether useful materials, infrastructure and goods are maintained, repairable, recovered and cycled instead of repeatedly becoming waste.
TBFC target: Repair, maintenance and useful material circulation should protect capability instead of forcing repeated repurchase as the default route to continued use.
Access-gate research question: Do repair and maintenance remain practically accessible, or do pricing, proprietary restrictions and replacement incentives turn continued use into repeated purchasing?
Abundance Gap: +16.0
Category Method 0.0.1: 25% Capacity, 35% Reach, 25% Friction, 15% Return/Regeneration.
Verified evidence
Family repair practices and resourcefulness are positives, while imported parts and materials keep maintenance costly.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightInternational Accessibility, Migration & Human Welcome
+14.9
How easily visitors, migrants, refugees and neighbours can enter, remain, regularize status and participate in ordinary civic and economic life.
TBFC target: A country should have a humane vision for visitors, migrants, refugees and neighbouring families: practical entry, legal identity, family continuity, protection from statelessness, a route into ordinary life and a real place to contribute and grow with the society.
Access-gate research question: Who can enter and stay, how wide is visa-free/eVisa/eTA reach, can newcomers regularize status and work, are refugees and children protected from statelessness, can families remain together, and does the country have a practical long-term vision for newcomers to join ordinary life and contribute?
International Scoring 1.0.0: 25% entry accessibility, 30% migrant practical life, 25% refugee/neighbour welcome, 20% flexibility/continuity. No eVisa >100-nationality adjustment claimed unless independently verified.
Verified evidence
Unlike most U.S. territories, American Samoa operates its own immigration system; entry and durable residence are document- and permission-gated, and birth generally confers U.S. national rather than automatic U.S. citizenship status.
American Samoa Government / Department of Commerce
6% weightExternal Footprint & Non-Extractive Global Conduct
+38.6
Documented effects a country, its public institutions or materially supported programs have beyond its borders: beneficial contribution, mutuality, external harm, accountability and repair.
TBFC target: A civilization should increase useful local capability beyond its borders through medicine, training, disaster help, technical cooperation, peace-building and other mutually useful contribution, while avoiding extraction, exported harm and displacement.
Access-gate research question: Do the country’s actions abroad increase health, skill, safety, resilience and locally retained capability, or do they export extraction, coercion, environmental harm, displacement, debt or other burdens?
International Scoring 1.0.0: 25% positive contribution, 25% mutual benefit, 35% non-extractive/low-harm conduct, 15% accountability/repair, judged relative to capacity.
Verified evidence
Pacific regional cooperation and environmental stewardship are positives, while aviation/shipping, U.S. strategic presence and imported consumption create a mixed external footprint.
American Samoa Government / Department of CommerceTrott Bailey Family Civilization Target
The end state: life beyond monetary gatekeeping
Trott Bailey Family Civilization treats money as an exchange tool rather than a prerequisite for access to life. The long-run abundance target is that food, water, shelter, care, education, mobility, land access and ordinary public life remain reachable even when a person cannot pay.
This target is an authored civilization standard. The diagnostic evidence score can now draw from all 16 weighted categories. The five-part Money Gate remains a separate domestic threshold asking whether food, housing/land, healthcare, transportation and water/energy are genuinely reachable without payment before any civilization can cross zero.
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