Let's really talk about the USA.

[obdigore]

Anyone who has to ask that first question is probably just as bad as those described by the post in question.

To be fair, I live in the US and I agree with most of what of he said. A large majority of Americans are 'content' because they are told they should be content if they get the new Iphone or w/e.

[Varabently]

At least we have the freedom to be racist is we choose too not like the stories i see from Europe where people are arrested for making a racist gesture or comment.Also racism in the US is not as bad as people make it out to be but what can you expect when you have race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

The US is far from perfect but i can not for the life of me think of living anywhere else.

Canada is very much like the US in many senses. It's a bit colder and a bit Frencher, but there's less murder and free healthcare. I think they have free college-level education too? Sounds pretty good to me.

Though I agree that lack of freedom of speech as it exists in the US is constricting.

---------- Post added 2012-12-27 at 11:53 PM ----------

I also wanted to add that there are two other reasons I believe are responsible for the US decline (if we are assuming it was at the top of education, health etc in the past). The first is our political system which rewards politicians for being reelected, not actually getting anything done. A politician's only job is to protect his lifestyle. DC wastes countless days/months/years arguing about partisan disagreements.

The second is this notion we are describing above. The US has rose-colored glasses despite evidence to the contrary. At what point do we acknowledge we are no longer the biggest dog in the pound. This arrogance is not doing us any good.

[obdigore]

The second is this notion we are describing above. The US has rose-colored glasses despite evidence to the contrary. At what point do we acknowledge we are no longer the biggest dog in the pound. This arrogance is not doing us any good.

We are still the biggest dog in the pound, militarily. There are, however, quite a few things we can do better socially and to act as if other countries (they are made up of humans too!) experiences, both good and bad, can't help us choose the best course for ourselves is foolish. But again, a great majority of the country want to think that America is the only 'free' country in the world, and that we are 'special' and that no other country could do anything as well as we can.

People who are content do not innovate. They do not rise to leadership. They do not change the human race for the better.

[Anakso]

The thing I'm most shocked about is the rape statistics. Why does the U.S have so many rapes o.o

Also slightly off topic but NZ has 2.5 times the rapes per 100k people than Australia does. That's also really surprising.

[obdigore]

The thing I'm most shocked about is the rape statistics. Why does the U.S have so many rapes o.o

Also slightly off topic but NZ has 2.5 times the rapes per 100k people than Australia does. That's also really surprising.

"So Many"? If you look per 100k population, the US has less than the UK and Sweden and about on par with NZ.

But yes, the US is certainly high in rapes compared to a lot of other 'western' countries.

[Obsession]

You forgot to mention horrible racism issues too compared to other countries.

Source?

The US has, since its inception this idea of "Manifest Destiny." I believe this has culled the sense of being the best in future generations.

It's hilarious to me that the US is waaaaay down in healthcare, but the highest expenditures. Pretty comical, but a lot of that can be ascribed to poor physical fitness and nutrition. We have to spend so much on healthcare because people don't take care of themselves. Tax the unhealthy people IMO. Or tax fatty/salty/unhealthy foods. Make meat extremely expensive so people have to eat something else.

What does manifest destiny have to do with anything?

I'd agree with a fat tax if they also tax internet usage, games, etc. I was going to list a bunch of stuff until you get the idea that supporting a tax that doesn't affect you is cool until they tax something that does affect you.

The thing I'm most shocked about is the rape statistics. Why does the U.S have so many rapes o.o

Also slightly off topic but NZ has 2.5 times the rapes per 100k people than Australia does. That's also really surprising.

From above the chart "Nor does it take the different definition of rape around the world into account." Not everything that is considered a rape in the US is forcefully doing it.

[Anakso]

"So Many"? If you look per 100k population, the US has less than the UK and Sweden and about on par with NZ.

But yes, the US is certainly high in rapes compared to a lot of other 'western' countries.

Not so surprised with Sweden or the UK, but New Zealand is really surprising.

I was looking at the actual number of rapes before, America is on top with 84k to the number 2 spots (India) 22k, which seems like a huge difference but I guess that's just Americas giant population coming into play when compared to other countries with high rape %s like Sweden, the UK or apparently NZ.

[ringpriest]

Anyone who has to ask that first question is probably just as bad as those described by the post in question.

I'm not going to comment on my infraction, but I will respond to the parts of my post that vizzle (somewhat sloppily) quoted. To begin with, "bad" isn't a particularly useful descriptor here. Are you saying that sulfuric and I are ignorant? Malicious? Wrong? Evil? That we have lousy grammar? I can't tell, but I'm going to presume that you mean you consider what I wrote to be untrue. I'm not just coming out of the blue here; America has some massive problems that its citizens prefer to ignore. Here's why stand by what I said.

Even the very concept of something like critical thinking is anathema.

Texas GOP rejects ‘critical thinking’ skills. Really. I don't know what more I can say. I suppose I could have just made that a direct quote to begin with.

willful ignorance and thoughtlessness of his descendants.

NEWSWEEK gave 1,000 Americans the U.S. Citizenship Test--38 percent failed. The country's future is imperiled by our ignorance. I don't want to spend my whole evening surfing for links, but there's plenty more that make the same point - for a First World country, U.S. citizens are pretty damn uninformed about the world, or even about what their own country is doing in their names. Here's also an amusing (but obviously cherry-picked and non-rigorous) youtube video that, um, highlights American ignorance.

Basically, large swathes of the American public are ignorant, uncivilized animals who can't be bothered to think about anything beyond their TVs.

Americans spend what I find to be a frankly insane amount of time in front of the TV. It's horrifying. The average American spends nine years of their life watching TV. America is at the top for number of hours of television watched per capita. (We're tied with Britain for that dubious #1 rank in the study I linked.) Americans watch a ton of tv, they crash and burn when compared to most other G-20 countries in terms of education and awareness, and when they come onto a random forum and ask a question about why American's think and act as they do, one of the first responses is this little gem:

OP: Cheer for your team, or get the fuck outta the stadium....

[obdigore]

Not so surprised with Sweden or the UK, but New Zealand is really surprising.

I was looking at the actual number of rapes before, America is on top with 84k to the number 2 spots (India) 22k, which seems like a huge difference but I guess that's just Americas giant population coming into play when compared to other countries with high rape %s like Sweden, the UK or apparently NZ.

You know the US has cities larger than the entire population of NZ, right?

If you are comparing crime between countries, it HAS to be done by per 100k pop, or the figures are just pointless.

You might also want to remember that some countries give numbers of reported rapes, others only of convicted cases of rapes, and some, like Sweden, consider other stuff Rape that a lot of countries dont.

[Ceece]

A lot of what the US has is outdated systems, bickering classes bickering back and forth, and whatever else I care to not mention. Far as the US goes, something needs to be done to change. I feel other countries are caught up, but we are the new third world country in today's technologies.

[mvaliz]

Americans spend what I find to be a frankly insane amount of time in front of the TV. It's horrifying. The average American spends nine years of their life watching TV. America is at the top for number of hours of television watched per capita. (We're tied with Britain for that dubious #1 rank in the study I linked.) Americans watch a ton of tv, they crash and burn when compared to most other G-20 countries in terms of education and awareness, and when they come onto a random forum and ask a question about why American's think and act as they do, one of the first responses is this little gem:

Spending time in front of the TV isn't so bad... what IS bad is what most people are watching that makes the difference. Some people watch documentaries and learning programs... most others watch Reality TV and Honey Boo-Boo.

Education and world outlook for most people are determined by what they see out the window... and for many - that window is the TV-Set, a window of an infinite set of insane realities.

You have no idea how many times I had bring people back to reality. One relative of mine was convinced by FOX news that if Obama was to be elected that he would change the national anthem to the Black Panther's theme/anthem. =/

[vastx]

A lot of what the US has is outdated systems, bickering classes bickering back and forth, and whatever else I care to not mention. Far as the US goes, something needs to be done to change. I feel other countries are caught up, but we are the new third world country in today's technologies.

What technologies?

---------- Post added 2012-12-28 at 01:33 AM ----------

Spending time in front of the TV isn't so bad... what IS bad is what most people are watching that makes the difference. Some people watch documentaries and learning programs... most others watch Reality TV and Honey Boo-Boo.

Education and world outlook for most people are determined by what they see out the window... and for many - that window is the TV-Set, a window of an infinite set of insane realities.

You have no idea how many times I had bring people back to reality. One relative of mine was convinced by FOX news that if Obama was to be elected that he would change the national anthem to the Black Panther's theme/anthem. =/

Yeah I don't seem to remember any stories about Obama superimposing his blackness into policy from Fox News. But I rarely ever watch the news anymore.

[skrump]

While I think a lot of your systems are screwed up, I think the beauty of the American culture and history and general identity more than makes up for it. Not to mention that besides all the political nonsense and drama, you're still the world's mightiest country and you're not as totalitarian as most countries would've been if they were in the same position of power. The American people is also fairly optimistic in comparison to other people, which is something I admire a lot.

But yeah, your politics suck balls.

Optimism is a side effect of mass ignorance and years of televised propaganda that led the majority of the population to believe were the best country on earth while everyone else is lacking savages, however with the general population having access to the internet they are finally coming to terms with the fact that they have been misled for years.

[mvaliz]

What technologies?

Well, medicine for a start. I watched a news story a while ago of a little blind girl from America going to China for repeated surgeries. The video was amazing, she went from totally blind to being able to identify colors up close.

[Banawani]

Education...
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0923110.html

Health Care...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_H...health_systems

Intentional Homicide...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._homicide_rate

Unemployment Rate...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...mployment_rate

Rape per capita...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics

Population and Diversity...
(other fun details too)
https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/us.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._by_population

I just don't get the uproar. The USA has greater issues with Education and Health Care than any of our "rivals." We have 23 times the amount of intentional homicide than Canada, though its said that the 270 million more occupants shouldn't affect this. Yet if so, then why is Canada rated 8 points better at health care?

What's actually interesting is that Canada has guns, nearly half the population of the UK, and yet less murders than the UK.

So why are there such great expectations for the USA when we don't lead (positively) on anything?

Yet, we have the most advanced healthcare in the world (to those that can afford it, because frankly it isn't cheap to run MRIs, CTs, etc.) Have 90% of the top 500 Colleges/Universities in the world (again to those who can afford it).

People love to compare the US to members of the EU and only separate EU nations when it is beneficial to statistics. The populations are very close, as are the GDPs and advancements (scientific, medical, educational, etc.)

---

Also, when is the last time the US was under threat (9/11 doesn't count as it wasn't an invasion). How many times has the US saved other countries from being pummeled? Why don't we just let NK take back SK? Oh because the US would get blamed for that too..

[Darthcullen]

Is the OP saying that intentional murders should go down with a higher population?

[obdigore]

Well, medicine for a start. I watched a news story a while ago of a little blind girl from America going to China for repeated surgeries. The video was amazing, she went from totally blind to being able to identify colors up close.

And when world leaders want medical care, they go to the Mayo Clinic, in the US.

[Adam Jensen]

Wikipedia is not a legit source. GG.

Sigh . . .

When are people going to learn that Wikipedia IS a legit source so long as there are references at the bottom. Check those, and if they match the article, you're fine.

---------- Post added 2012-12-28 at 12:41 AM ----------

Religion is a MASSIVE threat to corporations. People donate tons of money to churches. Churches teach people to be responsible adults. That is completely unacceptable to corporations. They relentlessly paint religion in a bad light in Hollywood to try to get people to turn away from religion. They need atheists. Atheists are much more likely to become corporate drones.

So you're saying that us atheists are immoral drones who turn to Hollywood to get our values and morals?

You know what turned me away from religion? It wasn't Hollywood. It was religion.

---------- Post added 2012-12-28 at 12:43 AM ----------

Yet, we have the most advanced healthcare in the world (to those that can afford it, because frankly it isn't cheap to run MRIs, CTs, etc.) Have 90% of the top 500 Colleges/Universities in the world (again to those who can afford it).

And therein lies the rub. Healthcare and education, for those who can afford it.

Those who can't . . . fuck those guys.

[mvaliz]

What technologies?
Yeah I don't seem to remember any stories about Obama superimposing his blackness into policy from Fox News. But I rarely ever watch the news anymore.

You and me both... I gave up network news media about 10 years ago. Now, all I do is skim the CNN headlines to see if anything major happened and so people don't look weird at me if I haven't at least "heard" the latest useless gossip. But I have a few rules I follow when skimming the CNN headlines:

•) If the headline ends with a "?" - don't read it. It's not news, it's a fluff opinion piece.
•) Do NOT read polls. Polls are not accurate, and are most certainly NOT news
•) Unless the news headline is on the same caliber as an Alien Spacecraft crashing into the White House, don't read it. :P
•) Do NOT read opinion articles... they are not news, just fluff pieces to stretch news.
•) Do NOT watch video-footage news articles. You cannot control the flow of information in them. Read only! You have control of information then!
•) Ask yourself "is this really news?" (I remember a CNN headline that read "Why women enjoy having sex.")
•) If you must read a news article... skim for the factual info. Finding about what specifically happened at an event is useful... finding information where you can send help is useful... hearing the crying sobs of a grieving family member is not useful, just fear-inducing and there to get you to react emotionally.

[ringpriest]

What technologies?

Internet access and bandwidth, for one. The U.S. has been choking on the "last mile" excuse for almost two decades now. Meanwhile prices go up, data caps go down, and the United States stagnates. We're currently ranked 14th in the world, but with very little appreciable build-out domestically while our competitors consistently improve year after year, we're going to be in the 20s soon.