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USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.

WoodPeckr

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USA is "No. 1" in nothing but weaponry, consumer spending, debt, and delusion.

Interesting thought provoking article suggesting the #1 status of the USA is fading.

America No. 1?

America by the numbers

by Michael Ventura

02/03/05 "ICH" - - No concept lies more firmly embedded in our national character than the notion that the USA is "No. 1," "the greatest." Our broadcast media are, in essence, continuous advertisements for the brand name "America Is No. 1." Any office seeker saying otherwise would be committing political suicide. In fact, anyone saying otherwise will be labeled "un-American." We're an "empire," ain't we? Sure we are. An empire without a manufacturing base. An empire that must borrow $2 billion a day from its competitors in order to function. Yet the delusion is ineradicable. We're No. 1. Well...this is the country you really live in:

The United States is 49th in the world in literacy (the New York Times, Dec. 12, 2004).
The United States ranked 28th out of 40 countries in mathematical literacy (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004).
Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005).
"The International Adult Literacy Survey...found that Americans with less than nine years of education 'score worse than virtually all of the other countries'" (Jeremy Rifkin's superbly documented book The European Dream: How Europe's Vision of the Future Is Quietly Eclipsing the American Dream, p.78).
Our workers are so ignorant and lack so many basic skills that American businesses spend $30 billion a year on remedial training (NYT, Dec. 12, 2004). No wonder they relocate elsewhere!
"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 European Dream, p.70).
"Europe surpassed the United States in the mid-1990s as the largest producer of scientific literature" (The European Dream, p.70).
Nevertheless, Congress cut funds to the National Science Foundation. The agency will issue 1,000 fewer research grants this year (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004).
Foreign applications to U.S. grad schools declined 28 percent last year. Foreign student enrollment on all levels fell for the first time in three decades, but increased greatly in Europe and China. Last year Chinese grad-school graduates in the U.S. dropped 56 percent, Indians 51 percent, South Koreans 28 percent (NYT, Dec. 21, 2004). We're not the place to be anymore.
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" (The European Dream, pp.79-80). Pay more, get lots, lots less.
"The U.S. and South Africa are the only two developed countries in the world that do not provide health care for all their citizens" (The European Dream, p.80). Excuse me, but since when is South Africa a "developed" country? Anyway, that's the company we're keeping.
Lack of health insurance coverage causes 18,000 unnecessary American deaths a year. (That's six times the number of people killed on 9/11.) (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005.)
"U.S. childhood poverty now ranks 22nd, or second to last, among the developed nations. Only Mexico scores lower" (The European Dream, p.81). Been to Mexico lately? Does it look "developed" to you? Yet it's the only "developed" country to score lower in childhood poverty.
Twelve million American families--more than 10 percent of all U.S. households--"continue to struggle, and not always successfully, to feed themselves." Families that "had members who actually went hungry at some point last year" numbered 3.9 million (NYT, Nov. 22, 2004).
The United States is 41st in the world in infant mortality. Cuba scores higher (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in America than in Europe (NYT, Jan. 12, 2005).
The leading cause of death of pregnant women in this country is murder (CNN, Dec. 14, 2004).
"Of the 20 most developed countries in the world, the U.S. was dead last in the growth rate of total compensation to its workforce in the 1980s.... In the 1990s, the U.S. average compensation growth rate grew only slightly, at an annual rate of about 0.1 percent" (The European Dream, p.39). Yet Americans work longer hours per year than any other industrialized country, and get less vacation time.
"Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European Dream, p.69)........

link to rest of the article: ....it only gets worse..... :(

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8191.htm
 

onthebottom

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Oh I don't know:

90 of the top 100 universities in the world are in the US.

The US has the largest economy.

The US has among the highest per capita GDP

The US has the fasted growing large economy

The US provided 60% of all world growth from 1995-2000

The US has among the highest rate of home ownership

The US is third in spending on education per capita

The US is the most productive economy in the world

The US has the most and three times more Nobel Prize winners than the next country

The US spends more on R&D than any other country

..........

OTB
 

WoodPeckr

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OTB

I do hope your happy talk & numbers are correct but that article is very disconcerting and does not bode well for the future global postion of the USA.
 

onthebottom

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WoodPeckr said:
OTB

I do hope your happy talk & numbers are correct but that article is very disconcerting and does not bode well for the future global postion of the USA.
The US is BY FAR the best positioned large country going forward. Our debt as a % of GDP is lower than most G8 countries, we have a vast higher Ed system, strong R&D and an open and productive economy. The US also has a very mobile society, in that you can move up over time. I'd have to do the research but remember reading that the US has a much more mobile society (bottom 20% moving up) than Europe.

You can't name a single country better prepared to compete and win in the future than America.....

OTB
 
Y

yychobbyist

onthebottom said:
You can't name a single country better prepared to compete and win in the future than America.....

OTB
China
India
Burkino Faso

In that order.
 

onthebottom

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onthebottom

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MrLuvr said:
In 20 years, the US is going to be a has been.
Yeah, right LMFAO.....

Another liberal arts student working in the fast food industry...

In fact, I think the US will continue to increase its lead over Europe, we are growing much faster, have much lower unemployment and have a younger workforce.

OTB
 

langeweile

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Who knows where the USA and the world will be in 20 years from now?

I put my money on the USA, before I put it on Europe.
If the USA has to struggle to fend off China and therelikes. Imagine Europe's struggle. Wages and social costs in Europe are a lot higher than in the USA.
If Canada doesn't wake up, they will be following Europe to their doom. :)
 
Jan 24, 2004
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onthebottom said:
Yeah, right LMFAO.....

Another liberal arts student working in the fast food industry...


OTB
That's right. Keep in mind, Luvr, you must make a least six figures in order for your opinion to count.

"Open ecomony", indeed.
 
Y

yychobbyist

Drunken Master said:
That's right. Keep in mind, Luvr, you must make a least six figures in order for your opinion to count.

"Open ecomony", indeed.
Six figures in USD too!
 

onthebottom

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Drunken Master said:
That's right. Keep in mind, Luvr, you must make a least six figures in order for your opinion to count.

"Open ecomony", indeed.
yychobbyist said:
Six figures in USD too!
One way to know when people have no rational arguments to make ;-)

OTB
 
Jan 24, 2004
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onthebottom said:
One way to know when people have no rational arguments to make ;-)

OTB
Riiiiiight - because dismissing anybody who disagrees with you as a "liberal arts student" or "not cleaver [sic] enough to make six figures" is the epitome of rational discussion....

OTBill, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your inability to spark intelligent discussion is not likely a function of the logic or perspicacity of your arguments. It's far more likely a function of the fact that you're a jackass.

Sorry.
 

onthebottom

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Drunken Master said:
Riiiiiight - because dismissing anybody who disagrees with you as a "liberal arts student" or "not cleaver [sic] enough to make six figures" is the epitome of rational discussion....

OTBill, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your inability to spark intelligent discussion is not likely a function of the logic or perspicacity of your arguments. It's far more likely a function of the fact that you're a jackass.

Sorry.
Bite me DM.

Read my posts, read the posts I'm responding to:

MrLuvr said:
In 20 years, the US is going to be a has been.
And I’m the jackass.

OTB
 

Vietor

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Who is Jeremy Rifkin? He has had no formal training in science or technology. Dr. Jay Gould, an imminent scientist, described an earlier Rifkin book as "a cleverly constructed trail of anti-intellectual propaganda masquerading as scholarship". Even the LA Times had this to say, "Who is Rifkin and what are his credentials? He has a long history of opposing things, but as to his credentials, he has none." Other descriptions of his work: "flagrant flimflam", "logical garbage" and, my favorite, Rifkin is a "dangerous loon." These, of course, are opinions and are offered as such; not facts. Relying upon Rifkin, or for that matter the NYT, for facts requires a precipitous leap.

Instead, check the number of patents issued each year and where they originate. Investigate who is developing new medications. Look at the amount of international charitable contributions, not by nations, but individuals. We can certainly do better, but notwithstanding Mr. Rifkin's opinions, to which he is entitled, I believe that the continent of the future is ours.
 

assoholic

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If the US continues to disregard the rest of the World they will unite against her. Is that what we want , China , India, Russia and Europe all aligned against the US ?
The US is becoming more fundamentalist and I see a real riff developing between the US and the rest of the world. That over time will only deepen, with the likes of Dubya pandering to them.
 

langeweile

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assoholic said:
If the US continues to disregard the rest of the World they will unite against her. Is that what we want , China , India, Russia and Europe all aligned against the US ?
The US is becoming more fundamentalist and I see a real riff developing between the US and the rest of the world. That over time will only deepen, with the likes of Dubya pandering to them.
Unlike in canada we don't have to wait for the POTUS to step down. He is gone in 4 years from now.
Traditonally the pendelum will swing more to the left with the next election.You are worriyng about nothing.

US and fundamentalist??HUH
Nobody was crying foul and called the USA socialist when the "D's" held the house for 34 years.

Europe will collapse under his own weight of self imposed socialism. Europe is done in 20 years or sooner.
 

Don

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WoodPeckr said:
OTB

I do hope your happy talk & numbers are correct but that article is very disconcerting and does not bode well for the future global postion of the USA.
You may be right - every power eventually falls or subsides.

But where does that lead us? We rely on a prosperous US unlike any other country. We should not be so smug at the prospects of the downfall of the US
 
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