America vs the Rest of the World

I read a fascinating article a few days ago. It was about how America compared to other countries in the world. Far from being the number one in everything, the only thing it was number one in was in having the greatest military capacity in the world. It spent more on arms than all the other countries of the world combined. In everything else, it was a long way down the list. Also, in the 30's, America was number two on the list for having the least deaths for mothers during childbirth. Now, it is number forty eight. So, this hub is comparing America to other countries in the world. Further, please note that nothing in this article is either my opinion or someone else's opinion. It is all based on hard figures and academic research by professionals who know what they are doing. Opinion has nothing to do with it. These are facts. All the links are references demonstrating the facts.

Health System
America’s health facilities are not the best in the world. Hospitals and medical facilities in Australia, Europe, Canada, and New Zealand, as well as some in the east, like Singapore and Thailand are far better. They have a short waiting list equal or better facilities. In addition, their health care is paid for by business and taxes. Everybody gets free health care. In the United States, only Medicare fits this model.

Vacation Time
The United States is the only country amongst the industrialized nations where paid vacation time is not mandatory. In South Africa, three weeks paid vacation leave plus payment for all public holidays plus three weeks paid sick leave is enforced by law. In the UK, they have the same, only it’s four weeks leave and in Europe, it’s an average of six weeks leave. In some countries like Finland, it’s approaching two months vacation time. Australia, Israel, Morocco and numerous other countries get a mandatory three weeks paid leave each year. Of course, in addition, all public holidays are paid double time, by all companies, if staff are required to work.

Education
University in most countries of the world is either free or heavily subsidized. However, not as many people get to university. In Germany, for instance, only 10% qualify for university. However, as most people know, the German economy dominates the European economy, and the European economy is almost the size of the American and Chinese economy combined. In Germany, trade schools, in which students are taught skills that enable them to earn a good living, flourish. If one has a trade, one does that trade well, and one is highly respected for it. This is different to the United States model where there is no respect for those that do not have a four year degree. Ironically, the American four year degree is not highly thought of elsewhere in the world as the standard of it is very poor. However, the American Masters degree is considered one of the best in the world.

Finland has the best education in the world.

Debt
America has the highest debt rate in the world. This is because an enormous percentage of American tax dollars go towards supporting the military. Each United States citizen would need to contribute about $45,000 to get rid of that debt. This compares to about $21,000 per capita for Canadians. However, although European countries have a lower overall debt, because they have fewer people, the per capita rate is much higher. For instance, In the UK, the per capita rate is $150,000.

While the Wikimedia list is outdated, it does show that while the US debt is the highest in the world, the per capita repayment lies in the medium range. Countries in eastern Europe have very little debt.

Unemployment

The differences in unemployment globally is not worth mentioning. While Germany’s unemployment rate may be 2% lower than Americas, it is still high. This is the result of the manufacturing processes moving to the east. It is not coincidental that the eastern European countries which still retain their factories are the least in debt.

The Best Constitution
Yes, there are some countries that do not have freedom of speech, but they don’t tend to be well developed countries. All major industrialized countries have freedom of speech. The best constitution in the world is the South African constitution. It was designed at Codesa and had a team of international lawyers working alongside 19 different parties in South Africa. Together they set up the best constitution in the world. India has the second best constitution in the world, providing coverage for its multitude of different people.

Essentially, the American constitution has become extremely limited in the modern world. In the past forty or fifty years, other countries have moved on. America has not. America still retains a constitution that was relevant for the 19th century but not for the 21st century. Today, the South African and Canadian constitutions are imitated by other countries. The American constitution is way down the list. It has become all but irrelevant.

Media

In America, the most informed news viewers are the ones that watch the Colbert show and the least informed are the ones that watch Fox News (This is not my opinion. Everything in this article has been taken from other sources.) Canada has the highest literacy rate with 99.38%, so it’s the most educated in the world. In America, Iranians are the most highly educated.

Best Country to live in

The best country in the world to live in is Finland. The second best is Australia. Third in line is Japan. America ranks number 11 according to Newsweek who did an extensive study involving many different illuminaries in establishing that fact.

Click here for another Article comparing the European and American Economy

Click here for article comparing economy of Europe, China, and the US.

US Technology is behind that of Europe
On a personal note, when I first came to America in 2003, I was shocked to find that so much of the technology was behind that of England and Europe. In fact, nothing in America was ahead of any other country that I had lived in. In the past twenty four hours, I have read two articles that detail this. Perhaps, the reason why this has not been spoken about before is the fury with which Americans decry this when one mentions it. And, perhaps, the reason it is coming out of the woodworks now is that with the crash in the economy, the slow realization that things are not right, people are more willing to listen. See attached links for articles.

As mentioned above, over the last while, as it becomes that the American economy is not going to recover, more has been written about what is happening here. The issue of poverty in America is approaching that of third world countries. More than 40 million people are using food stamps to buy food. Nearly 20% of the people of New Mexico are on food stamps. That is an extreme level of poverty. Consider, as well, that by the time one qualifies for food stamps, one is all but homeless. The accompanying article was published yesterday - May, 27th, 2011. Wake up, America.