U.S.A. not #1

The following article has some incredible statistics on the good ol U.S of A. Now before anyone gets their knickers in a knot I am not anti-american. I believe the Americans have achieved wonderful things and also made many mistakes along the way. I do however detest the american gov't since I attribute alot of the global problems solely on their past & current agendas. American citizens are not the intended targets here but the unfortunate casualties of ignorance:

"The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004)."

"The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D)
expenditures; and new capital raised"

"The World Health Organization "ranked the countries of the world in terms of overall health performance, and the U.S. [was]...37th." In the fairness of health care, we're 54th. "The irony is that the United States spends more per capita for health care than any other nation in the world".

"U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower"

"The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher"

"Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable"

The last 3 quotes are disturbing, especially the childhood poverty. I would have expected better from #1

Full article:
www.citypages.com...

What say you American citizens?

brill

I can see the patriots hearts swelling already....

The only really surprising thing on that list is that Mexico counts as a developed nation.

No, you're not anti-American. You just posted this to inform everyone how great a country we are, right?

I'm not Anti American but from where i stand it sounds like the American people are being screwed by the very people they put there to govern them

I have been to America only once and stood on those great towers.....
One of the best moments of my life...................

You have/had a great country but it don't take alot to work out it's not the same place anymore

Its a hole that suckered millions into emigarting there only to be used as tool to make the rich richer!

Lovely place that oh so warm and loving! NOT!

Originally posted by brill
"The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher"

There may be a problem with that particular statistic according to the article below:

Cuba vs. the United States on Infant Mortality

It is odd if both Cuba and the U.S. have similar birth weight distributions that the U.S. has more than 3 times the number of births under 1,500g, unless there is a marked discrepancy in the way that very low birth weight births are recorded. Cuba probably does much the same thing that many other countries do and does not register births under 1000g. In fact, this is precisely what the World Health Organization itself recommends that for official record keeping purposes, only live births of greater than 1,000g should be included.

The result is that the statistics make it appear as if Cuba's infant mortality rate is significantly better than the United States', but in fact what is really being measured in this difference is that the United States takes far more serious (and expensive) interventions among extremely low birth weight and extremely premature infants than Cuba (or much of the rest of the world for that matter) does.

Originally posted by Corinthas

Lovely place that oh so warm and loving! NOT!

Please explain to the rest of us about your extensive experience living in America. We'd really love to hear more about it. It must have been years and years for you to develop such a strong opinion - and what states were they again?

Originally posted by Partyof1
No, you're not anti-American. You just posted this to inform everyone how great a country we are, right?

No I just posted it to show people that since the perception is that the US is #1 (and they are in many areas) these few points reveal that a lot of people still suffer, especially the youth. All nations have their flaws I just thought the US would better lead the way in education and providing a future for the youth of tomorrow.

brill

"The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher"

One of the facts you find most disturbing, there is a reason for this, read this and you will find out why.

www.overpopulation.com...


Some quotes

The primary reason Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the United States is that the United States is a world leader in an odd category -- the percentage of infants who die on their birthday. In any given year in the United States anywhere from 30-40 percent of infants die before they are even a day old.

Why? Because the United States also easily has the most intensive system of emergency intervention to keep low birth weight and premature infants alive in the world. The United States is, for example, one of only a handful countries that keeps detailed statistics on early fetal mortality -- the survival rate of infants who are born as early as the 20th week of gestation.

How does this skew the statistics? Because in the United States if an infant is born weighing only 400 grams and not breathing, a doctor will likely spend lot of time and money trying to revive that infant. If the infant does not survive -- and the mortality rate for such infants is in excess of 50 percent -- that sequence of events will be recorded as a live birth and then a death.

In many countries, however, (including many European countries) such severe medical intervention would not be attempted and, moreover, regardless of whether or not it was, this would be recorded as a fetal death rather than a live birth. That unfortunate infant would never show up in infant mortality statistics.

So basically comparing Cubas mortality rate even comparing many other counties mortality rate to the U.S. is almost apples and oranges.


Another article possibly explaining why.

washingtontimes.com...



[edit on 6/3/05 by Skibum]

Quoting WHO statistics is promoting ignorance, not denying it. If you think Cuba is a better place to have a baby than the USA because of infant mortality and child literacy then your focus is so narrow as to render you blind.
Add into your statistics the hundreds of thousands of undocumented Mexican/Central American immigrants that come into the USA every year with nothing but the clothes on thier backs, and don't end up starving to death but living progressively better lives.
Finally, WHO definitions of "poverty" are so wildly elastic as to be meaningless. To be poor in the USA is simply not comparable to that standard in the rest of the world.

Yes you can throw numbers out there about all kinds of different things. THey probly are true in many cases. But look to whom the world looks to for help and who has done more to help the world then any other country in the world. Who has been the pioneer for democracy that has helped form the governments of Europe and the rest of the world. If it was not for the despised USA where would the would be. Hmm lets think. It could be under the rule of the Kaiser if we didnt help in WWI. Or it could be under the rule of Nazis if it wasnt for us in WWII. HOw about a communist dictatorship if we werent involved in the cold war? Who has gone out and helped the less developed countries more then many countries combined. Who has the moral resolve to take chances and risk their world popularity to do soemthing they think is right. No im not talking about iraq I am talkin about the many times we have been asked for help by the world community.

In all those cases America has stepped up to go and help out others with no thought of self gain. Yes a few politicians had things to gain but here in america one person cant just drag us into war it takes the regular citizens to approve. For decades all americans wanted to do was sit here at home and have fun and make money. We were fine enjoyin wealth and stayin out of the "civilized" european problems. No but we were called to help and i love the appreciation we have gotten for the past 30 yr.

As in previous years, the IMR for the US is higher in 1999 than for the other 23 countries in the table. A major reason for the higher rate is the higher percentage of LBW infants born in the United States relative to other developed countries. The lack of progress in reducing this percentage indicates that improvements in IMR relative to other developed countries are unlikely in the near future. Reporting variations among countries, particularly in the reporting of VLBW infants dying soon after birth, may also explain some of the differences in rates, although the magnitude of resulting differences is unknown. (45-47) These smallest infants account for a significant proportion of infant deaths in the US and other countries, so variations in reporting of these events as live births or stillbirths have the potential to significantly impact overall infant mortality rates.

www.findarticles.com...

Statistics are wonderful. I think they can only be considered valid if all factors are weighed equally. One small difference in what or how data is collected can seriouly change the final statistics.

Now I'm not saying that the U.S. is number one in any or all of these categories but I think if you research the data collection methods and actually see what data has been collected and the differences of the various studies you might find that simple differences in methods, accounts for alot of the discrepancies.

Originally posted by Partyof1
No, you're not anti-American. You just posted this to inform everyone how great a country we are, right?

I think he posted this to show that like other countries, the United States has its social issues and challenges, and that in some areas, it could learn from other countries who do better... just as in some areas, other countries could learn from the U.S.

I think the poverty level of children is blown out of proportion also. If a child is born into poverty in USA, I would assume he/she still has a better home and more and better food than the poverty level of some other countries.

I'm not saying they are great homes, but I still think that the level of poverty is quite different, in our favor.

As far as literacy goes...is that includeing all the non-english speaking citizens that we have here?
There are a lot of factors to consider before makeing your numbers into "hard evidence".





[edit on 6-3-2005 by elaine]

The European Union leads the U.S. in...the number of science and engineering graduates; public research and development (R&D)

I would certainly hope so considering the population differences between the two entities. What is the population of the EU 450 million or something like that. U.S. population is less than 300 million. So this little statistic seems to be a little out of proportion now doesn't it? Might as well say that since the rest of the world has more so and so, this is proof that the U.S. sucks.

I'm sorry, but I still stand by the fact that America is the greatest country in the world. We have more opportunity for anyone than any other country. We've had more people come here with nothing but the shirt on their back and make themselves a great living than anywhere else.

The only problem with America is all the lazy citizens who feel like everything should be handed to them. America is everything that you want to make of it. There are so many opportunities and benefits here that people are just too lazy to take advantage of.

The reason for child poverty is that these lazy people who are sitting around expecting everything to be handed to them are spitting out a new kid every year that they can't afford to have.

I'm not saying this is the case for everyone who is poor right now in America, because God knows bad things can happen to anyone and it can be beyond their control. But thats part of a capitalist system.

The problem with our elected officials is that once they get into office they don't deliver on their promises. And we don't hold them to it. We need to start voting people out after their first term if they're not delivering on what they said they would do. But come campaign time we fall back in love with them because of all those nice commercials with the sad music and the babies being kissed.

I love living in America couldnt imagine living anywhere else. Until you live here dont say things like we are being used or what not. Come live here and experience being an American yourself before you say we are worse than Cuba.

Nice Stats.

I believe most people consider the U.S. #1 because of their influence through our military, culture, and diplomats.

But, hey, everyone can have their own opinion.

It is no secret that our current culture influences the entire world. No secret that our economy does the same.

But, hey, it's up to your opinion, right?

-wD

"Nearly one out of four Americans [believe] that using violence to get what they want is acceptable"

For some reason I do not believe this at all. That Percentage seems way to high.

25%????