Time to wake up.....USA is falling behind

[johnsweeting]

I'm a moderate in my political views but I think it is time that we realize that USA has totally changed in the last 10 years and we need to know better what is going on in the world. I'm amazed how Americans still think that we have the most freedom and wealth when the opposite is true.

Here are some facts:

1. The USA is behind 14 countries when it comes to total wealth per person in dollars. Countries like Switzerland, Norway, Sweden and Australia are ahead and some countries are well ahead of us. Compare Norway and Switzerland to the US.

13 MB PDF document with data about the wealth per person and Gross domestic wealth per person  (13 MB):

http://www.google.se/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBsQFjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.credit-suisse.com%2Fnews%2Fdoc%2Fcredit_suisse_global_wealth_databook.pdf&rct=j&q=credit%20suisse%20global%20wealth%20databook%20pdf&ei=KyefTqueOLHN4QTAsdXgCA&usg=AFQjCNG9pmWpCx8v8flFNp4xDZLydwoGGg&cad=rja

2. In the Republican debate last night (October 18, 2011) they discussed that USA needs to give less money to "poor" countries but we give much less than other "rich" countries.  

For example USA gives 0.21% of GDP but 18 countries give more and Sweden 5 times the US amount (1.12% of GDP). Remember that 14 countries have higher wealth (GDP per capita / per person than the US)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_charitable_countries

3. Press Freedom - USA is in 20th place:

http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2010,1034.html

4. Corruption  - USA places 22 behind most rich western European countries:

http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2010/results

5. Countries ranked how much they enjoy life - USA is 23:

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/20-most-happy-countries-in-the-world

Lets not talk about unemployment and crime rates which the US is finishing really high.

6. USA has the most people in prison per capita:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_incarceration_rate

Comments anyone   ???

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

Do you know who wins the race?

The guy that runs the fastest.

Some people, on the other hand, don't like getting winded and sweaty.

That's our fight: to convince people to run and run as fast as they can to strive for their personal best rather than sitting there waiting for the winner's ribbon to be walked over to them.

[JohnnyReb]

Any comments to the contrary will get you called "Racist".

[RightCoast]

Still the greatest country in the world.

[johnsweeting]

Still the greatest country in the world.

ok..So you mean having 14 countries in front of the USA in terms of wealth per person, having the most people in prison, less freedom than other countries and having less Social mobility which is the American dream (see text below) as being the best you are delusional.

Rick Perry spoke that Social mobility (moving up to a higher income class)  in last night's debate and he said that it is better in many European countries than the US. I found this text at a trusted site which describes it:

The likelihood that a child born into a poor family will make it into the top five percent is just one percent, according to 'Understanding Mobility in America', a study by economist Tom Hertz from American University.
By contrast, a child born rich had a 22 percent chance of being rich as an adult, he said.
"In other words, the chances of getting rich are about 20 times higher if you are born rich than if you are born in a low-income family.
He also found the United States had one of the lowest levels of inter-generational mobility in the wealthy world, on a par with Britain but way behind most of Europe.
"Consider a rich and poor family in the United States and a similar pair of families in Denmark, and ask how much of the difference in the parents' incomes would be transmitted, on average, to their grandchildren," Hertz said.
"In the United States this would be 22 percent; in Denmark it would be two percent," he said.


Maybe you need to rethink your thought.....

[DixieBelle]

Hey stop by the Welcomes and Introductions thread and tell us who you are. That would go a long way towards engaging our members in real discussions. Otherwise, it looks like hit and run posting.

[RightCoast]

Maybe you need to rethink your thought.....

I don't need to rethink a damn thing Jackwad, maybe you need to rethink were you vomit on the interweb.

[JohnnyReb]

Well John Sweet Thang, there is a certain portion of out population that pulls our numbers way down. But if you mention it you get called racist. They always vote democrat for the promised freebies. They are also the major cause of the school performance numbers in southern schools being so low.

As long as bleeding heart liberals and damn socialist can use them things won't change. Until then no one dare try to address the problem....but maybe, if a conservative one of their own gets elected president......... He can use "THE WORD" as it was originally used to describe them.... .

[DumbAss Tanker]

We pay a lot to support illiterate losers who have a desire for easy money and slack moral standards as to things like property rights.

You get more of whatever you pay more for.







Between this guy and that run-on-at-the-mouth rascal from NZ, does it seem to anyone else that we have more geniuses showing up to lead us into the light than normal lately?  Just wondering.

[TVDOC]

Well John Sweet Thang, there is a certain portion of out population that pulls our numbers way down. But if you mention it you get called racist. They always vote democrat for the promised freebies. They are also the major cause of the school performance numbers in southern schools being so low.

Not just "southern" John, they have the same effect on any urban area school system, and thus the entire country state by state..........

This same demographic group accounts for approximately 50% of the violent crime in the US........were they magically gone, America would have the same crime statistics (per capita) as Sweden.......

The unfortunate result of "multiculturalism" and unfettered illegal immigration over the past three decades, compounded by a permanent dependant entitlement class. Nations having a "homogeneous" racial/cultural population will be immune to these problems.......

doc

[MrsSmith]

I'd give Europe a couple more decades of immigration and low native birthrates before I'd hold them up as examples for the US.  I'm betting the overall picture won't be pretty.  Far better for us to continue to fight for our Constitution and the traditional American life...and expect any immigrants to adjust to our country, not the other way around.  It'll be tougher, but the final result will be better for US.

[Freeper]

Here's my comment, if things are so much better over there, planes leave every day to any European destination that tickles your fancy.