James Gustave Speth: We're Number One!

[marmar]

from YES! Magazine:




To see where America stands not so proud, consider the advanced, well-to-do democracies of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the rich countries’ club. To focus on America’s peers, I am excluding the former Soviet bloc countries as well as Mexico, Turkey, Korea, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Greece. In the remaining group of 20 affluent countries, America is, indeed, Number 1 or close to it in a number of categories: the 26 indicators of poor performance listed below.

To our great shame, America now has:

* The highest poverty rate, both generally and for children;
* The greatest inequality of incomes;
* The lowest government spending as a percentage of GDP on social programs for the disadvantaged;
* The lowest number of paid holiday, annual and maternity leaves;
* The lowest score on the UN’s index of “material well-being of children”;
* The worst score on the UN’s gender inequality index;
* The lowest social mobility;

......(snip)......

Many observers find these results troubling for what they portend for U.S. competitiveness in the world economy and our national influence abroad—our so-called “soft power.” But the results are even more telling for what they say about our care for each other and for future generations of Americans and, even more, for what they say about our political leaders. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/on-american-superiority

[EstimatedProphet]

1. Bad statistical argument

To focus on America’s peers, I am excluding the former Soviet bloc countries as well as Mexico, Turkey, Korea, Iceland, Luxembourg, and Greece.

You can't simply dismiss observations because they don't agree with the result you want.

[fasttense]

2. That struck me as strange too.

The countries he left out are all member nations of the OECD. I can understand if he used something like total GDP or population size but this seems arbitrary to remove countries because he doesn't like them?