U.S.A. not #1

Originally posted by brill
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

All I can say is, it's our diversity that makes us suck. Remember 48% of the voters voted for Kerry, so we still have alot of work to do.

Lived in the US...

didn't like it

Came back to the UK.

I admit the country has it's pro's, but it's just not for me

Came back to the UK.

Were you scared at the amount of dentists we have? LOL sorry that was too easy and too cheap of a shot. Please don't let me ignorance reflect on the rest of America.

In fact, I know a pair of Siamese twins that went to England. The reason they went was so the other one could drive!

We could be better, we need to change goverment from a republic of democratic states (no just the blue ones) to a full Democracy but theres one problem, our voting system is screwed up! We would need to have a well balanced and tightly controlled voting system to run in democratic mode. This is something neocons don't understand when they call the US a democracy and Bush dose not know what it means. He is spreading Republic ideology around the world where relegion plays a part in laws and rule by elected officials based on who has the most money and nastiest commercial. Democracies are for the people and of the people, government is secular with respect to religions where the people choose their religion freely without government intervention, and believe the people make the rules based on the voted they cast. We have one problem with this now, DC dictates what is put on the major networks where the average voter hears the drone of information that lacks journalism but is loaded with sound bites. Large numbers of people listen to neocon radio shows distort the truth, and if you listen to this, even for entertainment, you start to believe it. Don't just go to liberal sources for truth, look it up yourself. I caution you to avoid pundits, they look like news sources, but they are opinions, some based on fact, others are political bent. If you are wondering why we are falling in the ranks, heres my list.
1) Look at the gang that is running the show in DC. (War mongering, torture, bad environmental policies, unqualified mandates, horrible foriegn policy, careless practices with federal budgets, etc).
2) We lost health care to the likes of Newt G and Rush L. for all the lies they spread. Yes it would have cost more taxes, but we are now paying 3 times what we should be with the HMO bamboozle.
3) Education = Sound Bite of the Day (All children left behind the world).
4) Law enforcement was left behind and fire protection.
5) Homeland Security - a reinvention of what the national guard was created for, now they are getting their A$$es blown up in Iraq (Support the troops and their families).
6) All declarations of freedom described under or constitution have been stepped on with the exception of bearing arms.

From one coona$$ to another, you got that backwards, only 48% got it right.

And....?

Every country's people call themselves number 1. Well, any country that the people have a sense of Nation. That would eliminate the tribal parts of Africa. I'm pretty sure noone in friggin' Equador is going "Yes! We are last!" Almost any country's people will believe their country is number 1...except for some people in ours.

There comes a time when this type of "America is wrong" debate becomes just so tired. I know some people have an axe to grind with our country, but you folks just complain. You have shown zero initiative as far as trying to solve problems. You can suggest things all day long, but it does nothing. When was the last time you went and became an activist for your causes? The few things I am terribly passionate about, I strive to change them...be it writing letters to Congress men...calling attention to matters I feel are unjust to people who can help me change them. When was the last time you went out and formed a rally?

Look, I just want this anti-country rhetoric to stop. You can disagree with the politicians. You can disagree with their policies. You can even outright hate the entire government. But you cannot possibly BE this against your own country.

And for those people are outside of our borders, we have more nukes than you...so shut up.

Well, what can I say? I've never been one to say that the U.S. is 100% better than every other country. As you've demonstrated, that would clearly be ignorance. The only thing I CAN comment on is how they determine these statistics. Take health-care for example. How is 'good' health care measured? By expense! The cheaper the better; that's the standards they live by. People insult us because of our 'bad' healthcare, when really we have some of the most skilled doctors and nurses anywhere (my mom's one of them). Our healthcare just costs us more money; therefore, it's labeled as 'bad'. I've seen and heard many accounts of Canadians waiting WEEKS to see a doctor, because the system is so backed up. (Other than the rich ones, of course. They're right at the front of the line).

But hey, there are some 190 countries... We've done much better than half on all of the stats mentioned. Can't be number 1 at everything I guess.

So the US isn't the biggest and best at everything.

What it DEFINATLEY is nubmer one at is being the worlds most powerful and influential country.

Name one country that could sucesffuly make the US do something by threatening to invade it? Nope? YOU LOSE!

See, the US can do as it bloody pleases because there is no longer anyone who can threaten it, the USSR is dead, China isn't that powerful. Although they could threaten to stop making everything the US imports... Good God, that'd cause Choas!

Also, remember, statistics can say whatever you want them to say. Cuba having a lower infant mortality rate? Illiterate Nation? That I can beleive... Look at Bush's literacy... But we are talknig developed nations here. Think of all the Undevelpoed ones. US don't look so bad now, does it?

Originally posted by Teh_Gerbil
So the US isn't the biggest and best at everything.

See, the US can do as it bloody pleases because there is no longer anyone who can threaten it, the USSR is dead, China isn't that powerful. Although they could threaten to stop making everything the US imports... Good God, that'd cause Choas!

Do you mean we would have to give up shopping at Walmart"

[edit on 19-3-2005 by AlabamaCajun]