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No universal healthcare
No universal welfare
No free or cheap university fees
High proportion of homeless
High Crime in many cities
Many cities are in a state of decay
Public transport is hideous in most of the country
Mass shootings
Lack of a standard annual leave across the country
To be honest, so many “third world” countries are much better places to live.
Work at will
long work hours
poor benefits (workers rights, paid holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, unfair dismissal)
fewer vacation days (or none)
no paid maternity leave
labor laws
work for tips
saving for retirement is workers responsibility
lower life expectancy
high % of premature deaths
high suicide rates
insufficient mental health care
high opioid dependency
high infant mortality
high teen pregnancies
low quality of primary education - basic literacy and problem-solving skills
very high rate of poverty
high crime and violence
very flawed criminal justice and number people in prison
poor diet and food quality leading to obesity and diabetes
very high healthcare costs and generally population with poor health
the US has fewer physicians, hospital beds, and psychiatric care beds than most other economically advanced countries
low % women as leaders
poor infrastructure
car dependency
highest income inequality of all rich countries
poor privacy laws
linking "god" or religion to politics or government
majority of countries in Europe are more advanced than America
etc...etc...
On a scale of 1-10, how "developed / first world" is the USA?
If you are smart, educated and hard-working, I'd give the United States a 10 out of 10. It is among the best countries in the world in terms of standard of living.
If you are average or mediocre and just want to coast through life, then it's still an okay country but your options are going to be limited. I think post #3 pretty much sums it up.
Affluent areas (which actually make up the majority of the country) are 10 out of 10.
I think poorer areas in the U.S. are still fairly high in terms of creature comforts, despite their shortcomings in admittedly key areas like healthcare, education and personal safety. By global standards I'd still give them a 6 or a 7.
Work at will
long work hours
poor benefits (workers rights, paid holidays, sick leave, maternity leave, unfair dismissal)
fewer vacation days (or none)
no paid maternity leave
labor laws
work for tips
saving for retirement is workers responsibility
lower life expectancy
high % of premature deaths
high suicide rates
insufficient mental health care
high opioid dependency
high infant mortality
high teen pregnancies
low quality of primary education - basic literacy and problem-solving skills
very high rate of poverty
high crime and violence
very flawed criminal justice and number people in prison
poor diet and food quality leading to obesity and diabetes
very high healthcare costs and generally population with poor health
the US has fewer physicians, hospital beds, and psychiatric care beds than most other economically advanced countries
low % women as leaders
poor infrastructure
car dependency
highest income inequality of all rich countries
poor privacy laws
linking "god" or religion to politics or government
majority of countries in Europe are more advanced than America
etc...etc...
Generally, Americas global power is in decline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by usuariodeldia
6-7
No universal healthcare
No universal welfare
No free or cheap university fees
High proportion of homeless
High Crime in many cities
Many cities are in a state of decay
Public transport is hideous in most of the country
Mass shootings
Lack of a standard annual leave across the country
To be honest, so many “third world” countries are much better places to live.
I have to assume, since the topic is "developed" "first-world" countries, that we are comparing to other countries in that category. Therefore I gave us a 3. If the comparison was among all countries, I'd have to rate us at about 7, but not when the comparison is just other first-world countries. Lots of people think like the people giving us a 10 - but it ain't true, joe. Opportunity exists, IF you are smart, AND lucky. Most of us in the US are being taken advantage of in the marketplace, and most don't even realize it. Or fail to see it even when it is in front of their faces.
For people who are ordinary working stiffs - about 90% of us - economic mobility (opportunity) is difficult to come by. One has to be very lucky. Hard work alone doesn't cut it.
There is one thing where I think we do better than some other developed countries - corruption - or rather, a lack of it. We still have corruption, but it is pretty marginal. People from other countries often have a hard time relating to this.
However, there are lots of ways that big business is not only permitted, but encouraged, to game the system. Extra profits go primarily to the upper echelons, and the lower echelons get shafted.
The US no longer has the most opportunities, or the best lifestyle for most people. Opportunity is measured by economic mobility. Here's a paper on that topic, as just one reference for a book's worth of stuff. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/about/n...conomic-future
I gave it a 5, kinda in the middle (I call the US a 2nd world country). I'm sticking by that it's great if you can make a lot of money (tech is a big one), otherwise Europe gives a better overall package and Asia is cheaper, sans probably Hong Kong and Singapore. Both Europe and Asia being remarkably better at what we would call QOL. I can't find a single pothole in Tokyo and we're renting a whole house for what would amount to around $650/mo in Shinjuku, home of the world's busiest train station and one of the biggest nightlife/red light districts. Amazing.
If you are smart, educated and hard-working, I'd give the United States a 10 out of 10. It is among the best countries in the world in terms of standard of living.
If you are average or mediocre and just want to coast through life, then it's still an okay country but your options are going to be limited. I think post #3 pretty much sums it up.
Yea, but there's a lot that goes into:
- becoming smart: there's some probability in there, but there is also not having prenatal or childhood exposure to things like lead or a bevy of other environmental factors that generally screw with intelligence especially at the prenatal and early childhood stage
- becoming educated: being placed in a decent school district that ups your chances of progressing academically through to a reputable college and then being able to afford such
- becoming hard-working: I guess at least some of that is having a decent role model who does the same, though I actually really don't know what goes into a child becoming hard-working or not
A lot of that is to make sure you aren't born into bad conditions and you're likely to do alright, though it is probably a far better quality of life if you make sure you're born into very good conditions. Oh, also don't be born poor and have a particularly bad health condition or disability--that's almost always a steep slope to poverty in adulthood.
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