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A study is only as good as its impartiality and lack of bias.
So let's take a look at areas where the US rates highly on this study.
On basic human needs, the US and Norway are very similar in performance. Norway has a slightly better quality of electric supply, but significantly lower availability of affordable housing.
America's traffic deaths are a bit higher. Is this figure computed per capita, or per miles driven? I don't know, but considering the vast expanses of land in America, I think it's quite likely we don't compare favorably to Norway because we drive more, a LOT more.
Significantly higher homicide rate. Unfortunate, yes, and something we as a country can work on. But are enough people killed to justify the level of importance given to this one statistic? Is it possible there are enough differences in the justice system so that more homicides are caught and prosecuted?
The single worst measure in this study is "political terror". From the website, this is how they define "political terror".
The level of political violence and terror that a country experiences based on a 5-level "terror scale":
1 = Countries under a secure rule of law, people are not imprisoned for their views, and torture is rare or exceptional. Political murders are extremely rare.
2 = There is a limited amount of imprisonment for nonviolent political activity. However, few persons are affected; torture and beatings are exceptional. Political murder is rare.
3 = There is extensive political imprisonment or a recent history of such imprisonment. Execution or other political murders and brutality may be common. Unlimited detention, with or without a trial, for political views is accepted.
4 = Civil and political rights violations have expanded to large numbers of the population. Murders, disappearances, and torture are a common part of life. In spite of its generality, on this level terror affects those who interest themselves in politics or ideas.
5 = Terror has expanded to the whole population. The leaders of these societies place no limits on the means or thoroughness with which they pursue personal or ideological goals.
The study appears to rate the US around a 3. I'll leave it up to you how warranted that rating is.
In my opinion, the US takes hits on trumped up issues, while the real basic needs of society are pretty well met.
Moving "Foundation of Wellbeing" - the US rating is lower in this area than they are in the other two. Some of the ratings bringing the US down in this study, at least as compared to Norway are:
"Press freedom index" - Apparently, the US falls short in some way for having freedom of the press. Who knew?
"Outdoor air pollution attributable deaths" - This jumps out an an area where stats can be massaged and mean anything you want.
"Premature deaths from non-communicable diseases" - How do they define "premature"
"Obesity rate" - Obviously, obesity is unhealthy. But assuming no higher incidence of glandular issues leading to obesity across the world, a country with higher obesity has more individuals who are failing to take care of their health. As it is an individual issue, it's not a good factor to judge a nation as a whole, in my opinion.
"Greenhouse gas emissions" - The weight this is given is a judgement issue, as is the following, "Water withdrawals as a percentage of resources". In terms of an overall "foundation of wellbeing", I'd put other factors way ahead of these, personally.
Moving on to how the study rates Opportunity...
The US ranks higher than Norway in access to higher education, with globally ranked universities and more years of education. The US ranking is slightly dragged down by their factors of women's years in school and inequality of the attainment of education.
Personal freedom and choice is a significant subcategory in Opportunity. Early marriage, satisfied demand for contraception, freedom over life choices, corruption and freedom of religion. US mainly falls short in that latter three in comparison to Norway. Based on what appears to be the political leanings of this organization, I'm guessing unfettered abortion and euthanasia are considered a plus for purposes of this study. That's a value judgement not everyone may agree with. The US is ranked lower in freedom of religion than Norway. My guess is that would be traced to the assumption that the US favors Christianity. It also seems like all religions are treated as being created equal, with regard to the impact of their practices on society as a whole. Maybe it's just me, but I appreciate restrictions on sharia law being applied in the US. I guess that's oppressive.
Under personal rights, speech is significantly more free than Norway, and political rights are about the same. Private property rights are somewhat lower. (I wonder how many personal property rights in the US are constrained under the guise of protecting the environment?) They also rank freedom of movement lower in the US. It appears that domestic travel is generally not significantly impeded by the US, but US sanctions restricting travel of Americans to certain countries (e.g. Cuba) takes the US down a peg. I question whether the very limited restrictions on foreign travel should drag the US ranking down as far as it does. Freedom of assembly also rated lower than the US. There are only 3 possibilities for this ranking in the study used for this ranking, so the middle score probably takes down the US in the overall quality of life ranking more than a more nuanced approach would. Plus, I don't believe the lower score the US received in the study was warranted. This is the basis for the highest possible ranking :
"1) There is government respect for the rights of peaceful assembly and association for virtually all citizens. Government respect for these rights entails that public meetings, including those of political parties and opposition groups, are generally held unimpeded.
Professional, academic, trade, and political associations are also allowed to operate without government interference unless the activities of these associations threaten public safety or public order. Citizens are allowed to freely protest government decisions and actions. Permits to demonstrate are routinely granted to both opponents and supporters of the government.
2) The government uses transparent and non-discriminatory criteria in evaluating requests for permits to associate and/or assemble. That is, the requirements for obtaining a permit or organizing a public gathering/meeting are usually published in an ordinance, statute, or other legally binding document. Citizens are permitted knowledge of these requirements and these requirements are applied consistently to everyone on a non-discriminatory basis. If the process for approving or denying the registration of an assembly or association is non-transparent, but there are no reports that a government has discriminated unfairly against certain groups or individuals, a government receives a score of TWO."
But, in the study materials, it notes that Germany is dinged for limiting public assembly because it does not allow Neo-Nazi groups to have public demonstrations. I suppose it's possible that if government entities in the US refuse the KKK or WBC permitting for public demonstrations, that could be the reason for the ranking. I'll let you all decide if that is a negative for our overall quality of life.
The overall ranking for Tolerance and Inclusion in the US is not drastically different than Norway. The Community Safety Net factor is only slightly lower in the US than Norway. That might come as a surprise to those who tout Norway for taking care of its people - the US is not far behind on the whole, according to this study. There are somewhat lower rankings for tolerance of homosexuals and violence against minorities. I would guess the fact that gay marriage isn't accepted nationwide is the main reason for the lower ranking. I'd have to drill down further on the violence against minorities, but that is a factor determined by individuals committing the violence, and not necessarily a reflection of national policies. It is very unfortunate that some people use race as an excuse for violence, but IMO violence is violence. All violent crime affects quality of life. If you are beat down in an alley, your quality of life is impacted just as much no matter what race commits the act or the reasons for it.
So to make a long story short, the value an individual places on any of the parameters for what creates the quality of life in a country will differ from the value another person places on those same parameters. Any arbitrary weighting and/or inclusion of certain factors, based on what a person or group deems pertinent to quality of life, doesn't take into account that not everyone is going to agree these factors are relevant.
So take studies like this with a huge grain of salt.
90% of Canadians support universal healthcare. Our budget will be balanced this year, and we will start paying down our deficit. How is that balanced budget thing going in the USA?
Canadian top corporate tax rate is 15% versus 35% in the USA. Our personal tax rate is comparable, depending on which State or province is included.
Canada spends 33% less on healthcare as a percentage of GDP with better results; Canadians live longer.
Lower taxes, better results from healthcare, longer lives. Yeah, Canada's conservatism works and is not an unworkable theory life the Tea party presents.
I get the feeling this thread was merely a means for an excuse to post this. I'm right, aren't I?
I would add that after taking a look at the study, I can think of many quality of life factors I would consider important that were not included. I imagine I am not alone in this.
The US may or may not rank highly on all of them, but it is an indication that few are going to completely agree on what parameters to use to rank quality of life, nor how they should be weighted.
90% of Canadians support universal healthcare. Our budget will be balanced this year, and we will start paying down our deficit. How is that balanced budget thing going in the USA?
Canadian top corporate tax rate is 15% versus 35% in the USA. Our personal tax rate is comparable, depending on which State or province is included.
Canada spends 33% less on healthcare as a percentage of GDP with better results; Canadians live longer.
Lower taxes, better results from healthcare, longer lives. Yeah, Canada's conservatism works and is not an unworkable theory life the Tea party presents.
I see you're still trying to pretend that Canada is in any way comparable to the United States.
Canada: with 1/10th the population of the United States and 76% white population. The entire country wouldn't even be the largest state in the United States if it merged with the USA.
Canada, whose biggest minority groups are Asians who voluntarily emigrated to the country, and you use the kind of scoring systems for immigration that would be deemed racist, illegal and exclusionary if tried in the United States.
Why doesn't Canada start opening it's doors a bit wider to the poor and destitute from Latin America and Africa? Experience a never-ending flow of impoverished people "seeking a better life," and then convince it's citizens that they should continue to open their wallets and provide services to people who look less and less like them (see what's happening in Europe right now as immigration is coming to a head, and the rise in nationalism).
Come talk to us when Canada has a third of a billion people from all around the world with extremely different viewpoints vying for attention.
See how long those vaunted statistics last.
BTW: 35% is the STATUTORY rate. It does not take into account the fact that through accounting and deductions, many corporations in the United States manage to get their EFFECTIVE tax rate to well, well below 15%, and sometimes to ZERO.
According to the Governmental Accounting Office, the average effective tax rate for a US corporation is actually 12.6%:
Canada has had a Conservative government for a decade now.
But your conservatives seem to seek compromise and not be so rigidly ideological based on politics. I would welcome with open arms the intelligent conservatives who care about results, not political points.
90% of Canadians support universal healthcare. Our budget will be balanced this year, and we will start paying down our deficit. How is that balanced budget thing going in the USA?
Canadian top corporate tax rate is 15% versus 35% in the USA. Our personal tax rate is comparable, depending on which State or province is included.
Canada spends 33% less on healthcare as a percentage of GDP with better results; Canadians live longer.
Lower taxes, better results from healthcare, longer lives. Yeah, Canada's conservatism works and is not an unworkable theory life the Tea party presents.
1. Canadians have longer lives... is a myth, if you break down the genetic and race demographics
the USa has an AVERAGE life expectacny of 79.1, just recently up from 78.9
the difference between us and france ....1.6 year
the difference between us and canada.....1.6 year
the difference between us and germany...a HALF a year
the difference between us and the untied kingdom...4 months
OVERALL usa 79.1...Canada 80.5
in the USA, the asian american female has a life expectancy of 86(the HIGHEST in the WORLD)......(((higher than the 82 in the actual country of japan))) ...........whites are around 83...........hispanics around 76............and blacks have a LOW LIFE expectancy around 66m/68f.............giving us the AVERAGE of 79.1.............if you took the (12-15% population) of blacks off that list.........we would have one of the top three life expectancies in the world....
((((Link to those break downs)))))(((( http://www.businessinsider.com/huge-...ectancy-2014-1 ...... http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/usa/life-expectancy (this chart even shows that Hawaii leads the use with an overall of 81.48...and Minnesotan males live the longest of the states(( btw mississipi, which has the highest black population also has the LOWEST life expectancy))...) ...)))))
demographic plays BIG ROLES
we also have the HIGHEST teen pregnancy (in the modern world)(first world nations) ...which leads to low baby weight, and high infant mortality.....and the highest DEMOGRAPHIC with teen pregnancies...the african americans (especially southern AA)
life expectance is more about genetics and LIFE STYLES, than health care (ie hamhocks, fried twinkies, and fried chicken, mcdonalds, fatbacks certainly dont help)
most other countries (like europe)..they walk/bike
most other places dont have 4 tv's to a house
posting about life expectancy..means actually very little to medicine....... and the reason....... is not about or due to health care............its about.........LIFE STYLE (especially EATING, and EXERCISE), and demographics (ethnics), to include eating habits, GENES, TEEN PREGNANCIES, traffic accidents, cancer, etc..
ALL effect those numbers for life expectancy
2.our outcomes (diagnosis and TREATMENT, and RECOVERY) is some of the BEST in the world
a) we rank in the top 10 of RECOVERY from cancer
b)American women have a 63 percent chance of living at least five years after a cancer diagnosis, compared to 56 percent for European women.
c)American men have a five-year survival rate of 66 percent — compared to only 47 percent for European men.
d)Among European countries, only Sweden has an overall survival rate for men of more than 60 percent.
e)For women, only three European countries (Sweden, Belgium and Switzerland) have an overall survival rate of more than 60 percent.
those(b-e) figures reflect the care available to all Americans, not just those with private health coverage. Great Britain, known for its 50-year-old government-run, universal health care system, fares worse than the European average: British men have a five-year survival rate of only 45 percent; women, only 53 percent.
But what about Canada???
a)For women, the average survival rate for all cancers is 61 percent in the United States, compared to 58 percent in Canada.
b)For men, the average survival rate for all cancers is 57 percent in the United States, compared to 53 percent in Canada.
In the United States, 85 percent of women aged 25 to 64 years have regular PAP smears, compared with 58 percent in Great Britain.The same is true for mammograms; in the United States, 84 percent of women aged 50 to 64 years get them regularly — a higher percentage than in Australia, Canada or New Zealand, and far higher than the 63 percent of British women.
which country has the highest cancer rate (cases not recovery)...denmark..they are the SICKEST (in terms of cancer) in the world
yes I said traffic accidents....you think that the 2x amount of traffic accidents we have compared to the rest of the world is NOT going to lower the top level???
funny japan is higher than any of the european countries...in life expectancy..and the 3rd lowest in infant mortality....connected...hmmmmm....certainly genetic
life expectancy is not about health care.. but about healthy living...
Yep, it's mind boggling that some Americans, who've never even been outside of their little podunk city, swear from here to kingdom come that their city has everything that anyone could possibly ever want....
Location: In a little house on the prairie - literally
10,202 posts, read 7,926,708 times
Reputation: 4561
Quote:
Originally Posted by TriMT7
Aww, that's cute.
Repeat, cupper: "1/10th the population. 1/10th the population. 1/10th the population" (for Canada).
The mantra for Norway?: "1/64th the population. 1/64th the population. 1/64th the population."
Guess your a bit confused on what per capita or percentage of GDP means. Was it the USA education system you said you went through?
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