Valley Oak
04-09-2015, 09:08 PM
.
I'm surprised that the US ranked as high as 16th! I even began to suspect that there was something wrong in their data or research methods to end up with such a good result for the US.
----------------------------
Just How ‘Socially Advanced’ Is the U.S.? You Might Be Surprised (https://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/where_does_the_us_rank_among_the_worlds_most_socially_advanced_nations_201)
Although the United States, in the words of columnist Nicholas Kristof, is “the most powerful colossus in the history of the world,” it lags significantly in quality of life for its citizens. In the Social Progress Index 2015 (https://www.socialprogressimperative.org/data/spi#performance/countries/spi/dim1,dim2,dim3) the U.S. does not make the top 10, or even top 15. The global study measured “basic human needs,” “foundations of wellbeing” and opportunity.
Overall, the U.S comes in at 16th, and some indices are particularly startling.
As Kristof writes (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/opinion/nicholas-kristof-enjoying-the-low-life.html?ref=opinion) in The New York Times: “The index ranks the United States 30th in life expectancy, 38th in saving children’s lives, and a humiliating 55th in women surviving childbirth. O.K., we know that we have a high homicide rate, but we’re at risk in other ways as well. We have higher traffic fatality rates than 37 other countries, and higher suicide rates than 80. We also rank 32nd in preventing early marriage, 38th in the equality of our education system, 49th in high school enrollment rates and 87th in cellphone use.”
The top countries in the study are Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand and Canada. Of the 133 countries rated, Central African Republic comes in last, right after Chad and Afghanistan.
“One way of looking at the index,” says Kristof, “is to learn from countries that outperform by having social indicators better than their income levels. By that standard, the biggest stars are Costa Rica and Uruguay, with New Zealand and Rwanda also outperforming.”
In a time of ever-greater economic inequality, it’s worth remembering that everything isn’t just dandy if some Americans are doing extremely well. What counts is how we are doing as a people.
COUNTRIES:
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
Iceland
New Zealand
Canada
Finland
Denmark
Netherlands
Australia
United Kingdom
Ireland
Austria
Germany
Japan
United States
Belgium
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain
France
Czech Republic
Estonia
Uruguay
Slovakia
Chile
Poland
Costa Rica
Republic of Korea
Cyprus
Italy
Hungary
Latvia
Greece
Lithuania
Mauritius
Croatia
Argentina
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Panama
Brazil
Bulgaria
Jamaica
Serbia
Malaysia
Kuwait
Montenegro
Colombia
Romania
I'm surprised that the US ranked as high as 16th! I even began to suspect that there was something wrong in their data or research methods to end up with such a good result for the US.
----------------------------
Just How ‘Socially Advanced’ Is the U.S.? You Might Be Surprised (https://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/where_does_the_us_rank_among_the_worlds_most_socially_advanced_nations_201)
Although the United States, in the words of columnist Nicholas Kristof, is “the most powerful colossus in the history of the world,” it lags significantly in quality of life for its citizens. In the Social Progress Index 2015 (https://www.socialprogressimperative.org/data/spi#performance/countries/spi/dim1,dim2,dim3) the U.S. does not make the top 10, or even top 15. The global study measured “basic human needs,” “foundations of wellbeing” and opportunity.
Overall, the U.S comes in at 16th, and some indices are particularly startling.
As Kristof writes (https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/09/opinion/nicholas-kristof-enjoying-the-low-life.html?ref=opinion) in The New York Times: “The index ranks the United States 30th in life expectancy, 38th in saving children’s lives, and a humiliating 55th in women surviving childbirth. O.K., we know that we have a high homicide rate, but we’re at risk in other ways as well. We have higher traffic fatality rates than 37 other countries, and higher suicide rates than 80. We also rank 32nd in preventing early marriage, 38th in the equality of our education system, 49th in high school enrollment rates and 87th in cellphone use.”
The top countries in the study are Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, New Zealand and Canada. Of the 133 countries rated, Central African Republic comes in last, right after Chad and Afghanistan.
“One way of looking at the index,” says Kristof, “is to learn from countries that outperform by having social indicators better than their income levels. By that standard, the biggest stars are Costa Rica and Uruguay, with New Zealand and Rwanda also outperforming.”
In a time of ever-greater economic inequality, it’s worth remembering that everything isn’t just dandy if some Americans are doing extremely well. What counts is how we are doing as a people.
COUNTRIES:
Norway
Sweden
Switzerland
Iceland
New Zealand
Canada
Finland
Denmark
Netherlands
Australia
United Kingdom
Ireland
Austria
Germany
Japan
United States
Belgium
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain
France
Czech Republic
Estonia
Uruguay
Slovakia
Chile
Poland
Costa Rica
Republic of Korea
Cyprus
Italy
Hungary
Latvia
Greece
Lithuania
Mauritius
Croatia
Argentina
United Arab Emirates
Israel
Panama
Brazil
Bulgaria
Jamaica
Serbia
Malaysia
Kuwait
Montenegro
Colombia
Romania