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REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS
WE'RE NUMBER ..... 36! The best and worst countries to be a kid
Saturday, June 17, 2017 7:25 PM
1KIKI
Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.
Saturday, June 17, 2017 8:20 PM
6STRINGJOKER
Saturday, June 17, 2017 10:02 PM
Saturday, June 17, 2017 10:23 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: And yet, politicians still talk about US exceptionalism ... and people still believe it. Worse, you can't even point out the facts about the US without being called a Putin-lover by propagandists. Why the frantic, endless obsession with pretending the US is perfect?
Saturday, June 17, 2017 10:50 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: 1. A major reason many of the countries that score above us are in any position to do so is because America exists. Even the rabid Putin haters here can agree with that. Without America, the world would largely be controlled by Russia and/or China and the world would be quite a different place.
Quote:2. Those studies are based off of a median of over 320 million people in America compared to much smaller populations in other countries. If you were to cut out say the lower 20% of the ones dragging the stats down in this country, we would score much, much higher on the list. I think in these smaller countries that are able to exist as they do because America is a thing, the quality of life overall for their citizens is much more even than in America. There is a HUGE difference between the top and bottom in this country that most other countries do not have.
Saturday, June 17, 2017 11:29 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: Well, first of all, the US didn't 'win' WWII for the world.
Quote:And second the US has a long and sordid history of getting rid of even moderately socialist freely-elected governments, and propping up dictators. Or, more recently, toppling governments and leaving smoking ruins and nests of ISIS in place.
Quote:Would YOU say the countries I listed are better off because of US 'help'? (I culled out the unsuccessful attempts.)
Quote:The statisticians were better than that. They used percentages, not absolute numbers. So the size of the country is immaterial.
Quote:And the question is, WHY does the US have such a chasm between rich and poor? Size doesn't explain it.
Saturday, June 17, 2017 11:48 PM
Quote:1. A major reason many of the countries that score above us are in any position to do so is because America exists. Even the rabid Putin haters here can agree with that. Without America, the world would largely be controlled by Russia and/or China and the world would be quite a different place.
Saturday, June 17, 2017 11:54 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:03 AM
Quote:Russia and China know better than to start moving west and attacking Italy or Norway.
Quote: One huge benefit they have because of the US and the UK is THEY have almost Zero military spending. I'd imagine that things like Universal Healthcare are a lot more affordable when 55% of your country's yearly budget isn't going to military spending.
Quote: The United States Probably Has More Foreign Military Bases Than Any Other People, Nation, or Empire in History https://www.thenation.com/article/the-united-states-probably-has-more-foreign-military-bases-than-any-other-people-nation-or-empire-in-history/
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:39 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: The US has a bloated, crippling military bill for sure, but our military isn't deployed to protect poor little old 'them' against big bad Russia and China.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 5:07 AM
Quote:One huge benefit they have because of the US and the UK is they have almost Zero military spending.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 7:46 AM
SECOND
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: Quote:One huge benefit they have because of the US and the UK is they have almost Zero military spending. So, to get back to this point - there are many countries that DON'T have this 'benefit' and still seem to do OK with both their military and their child welfare, and 2) the US's outrageous military spending isn't due to our supposed protection of other countries from Russia and China. And ... what excuse does the US have again, for picking the priorities it picks?
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:39 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: Quote:One huge benefit they have because of the US and the UK is they have almost Zero military spending. So, to get back to this point - there are many countries that DON'T have this 'benefit' and still seem to do OK with both their military and their child welfare, and 2) the US's outrageous military spending isn't due to our supposed protection of other countries from Russia and China.
Quote:And ... what excuse does the US have again, for picking the priorities it picks?
Sunday, June 18, 2017 10:00 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: Quote:And ... what excuse does the US have again, for picking the priorities it picks? I couldn't tell you. I'm not a mind reader, and I'm just about as purposefully far away from power and money as you can possibly get in this country without being homeless. They don't tell me their secrets or their motives, and I don't defend or make excuses for their actions. All I can give are my speculations, of which I already have given some. Second's explanation for it is as good as any that I could come up with in a moment's notice if I were pressed on it, although I think it's an oversimplified explanation of it. My main reason for thinking that his thoughts on the matter here can be applied is because he's accepting that ALL political parties and their elites are in on it, and he's not just pointing fingers at one side or another.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 11:31 AM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: 1) Which countries don't have this "benefit" that still seem to do OK with both their military and their child welfare? You will have to be more specific. The list you first gave were countries I agree have been interfered with and exploited by the US and others and do demonstrably poor on tests like these.
Quote:And to better make the point - here's the entire list of every country that looks after its children better than the US. Norway Slovenia Finland Netherlands Sweden Portugal Ireland Iceland Italy Belgium Cyprus Germany Republic of Korea France Spain Japan Switzerland Australia Greece Luxembourg Denmark Israel United Kingdom Lithuania Croatia Estonia Poland New Zealand Hungary Latvia Malta Belarus Singapore Qatar Bosnia & Herzegovina Were all 38 of them under what you seem to think of as the beneficent US umbrella? Was Slovenia? Sweden, Ireland, Cyprus, Switzerland, Australia, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Croatia, Estonia, Poland, New Zealand, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Belarus, Singapore, Qatar or Bosnia & Herzegovina? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Member_states_of_NATO#Founding_and_chang es_in_membership THE ANSWER IS NO. THEY WEREN'T. So, how did THEY manage?
Quote:2) It may not be due to our protection of other countries from invasion by Russia or China, but as I stated one is a happy byproduct of the other, and you did not refute that point.
Quote: I couldn't tell you. (what excuse the US has, for picking the priorities it picks) I'm not a mind reader, and I'm just about as purposefully far away from power and money as you can possibly get in this country without being homeless. They don't tell me their secrets or their motives, and I don't defend or make excuses for their actions. All I can give are my speculations, of which I already have given some.
Quote: Second's explanation for it is as good as any that I could come up with in a moment's notice if I were pressed on it, although I think it's an oversimplified explanation of it. My main reason for thinking that his thoughts on the matter here can be applied is because he's accepting that ALL political parties and their elites are in on it, and he's not just pointing fingers at one side or another.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 12:23 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 2:21 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: And to better make the point - here's the entire list of every country that looks after its children better than the US. Norway Slovenia Finland Netherlands Sweden Portugal Ireland Iceland Italy Belgium Cyprus Germany Republic of Korea France Spain Japan Switzerland Australia Greece Luxembourg Denmark Israel United Kingdom Lithuania Croatia Estonia Poland New Zealand Hungary Latvia Malta Belarus Singapore Qatar Bosnia & Herzegovina Dood - I did. See 1).
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: The other thing I wanted to point out, Jack, is how NATO is funded. It's very Communistic - from each according to their ability, to each according to their need. The total tab is calculated according to 'how much do these troops, these facilities, these actions cost'. The bill is then split according to relative GDP. In terms of economic impact, each country is experiencing the exact same drain relative to its total economy. You might be thinking of Germany and Japan. The popular misconception is that they don't have armies. They both DO have armies. Germany's is not allowed to operate outside of NATO's jurisdiction, while Japan's army is constitutionally forbidden to engage in offensive operations. The end result is that while the US DOES have a bloated and crippling military budget, it's not because it's generously sacrificing itself to lift the burden of maintaining a military from all those countries who are doing so well ... since the US doesn't have mutual defense agreements with about half of them. Nor are mutual defense agreements like NATO excessively burdensome on the US economy, since countries pay per GDP ratio - the countries' budgets are equally burdened. Nor are Germany and Japan specifically exempt from maintaining a military. And the vast majority of US installations around the globe have nothing to do with either Russian or Chinese territorial expansion. The US has such a yuge military footprint and budget, but not for any of those 'reasons'.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 2:30 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:04 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:09 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: I don't know what you're talking about then. That list reads like a Billboard list of the top countries that benefit from a strong Military in America.
Quote: My brother almost was killed under cover in Bosnia in the military back around 2002-2003.
Quote:I already said I agree that we don't maintain the superior military force out of the kindness of our hearts. That is a byproduct of it though.
Quote:Our specific installations around the globe might have little to do with Russia or Chinese expansion attempts, but I already told you that we'll never know if they were going to try to expand without us because we're already everywhere. We have the superior force and could center our attention anywhere almost immediately.
Quote: I don't agree at all with our huge military spending and our constant meddling with other people's affairs. If that's what you're thinking I'm saying here, I want to correct the record on that.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:31 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 3:46 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: I don't know why you keep bringing up NATO. NATO is like flies on a cow's ass compared to the US Military.
Quote:We don't have to talk about Russia or China anymore. That's only a theoretical anyhow.
Quote:My only point is that all of these small countries on your list would be spending a lot more of their resources on WAR if they did not have the US to rely on, whether or not we are directly or indirectly benefiting them.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 6:30 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1kiki: But the US military does other countries absolutely NO GOOD if the US has no commitment to defend them. Not only that, but countries think of the US military presence as a threat to their well being. They DON'T want tensions escalating between the US and Russia because they - rightfully - understand that if war breaks out, over a cause that's not theirs, it won't be fought on Russia's or the US's soil, but on theirs. They see the US military presence not as protection, but as something that paints a target on their backs. IN SHORT - THEY DON'T FEAR RUSSIA because they have no reason to. But the DO fear an unnecessary and provocative US military presence.
Quote:Then why did you bring it up, Jack? YOU claimed the US military was protection against China and Russia.
Quote:But they wouldn't, Jack. In fact, I've quoted articles from those countries about how LITTLE they fear Russia. But not because of the US military. In fact, the US military and US bellicose policy towards Russia makes them nervous. They want the US to go away, and take its army, ABM sites and nuclear weapons, on the way out.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 7:35 PM
Quote:They do not fear Russia or China or each other because they've been conditioned by the mighty stick of the US military for the last Century.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:02 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:21 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:29 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:31 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 8:57 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 9:18 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 9:22 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: LOL HuffPo
Sunday, June 18, 2017 9:23 PM
Sunday, June 18, 2017 9:39 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1KIKI: To get back to the topic - It's pretty obvious the US is failing its children. When even Slovenia with a score of 985, Cyprus at 978, Lithuania at 971, Croatia, Estonia, Poland, Belarus, Qatar and Bosnia & Herzegovina do better than the US at 941, I think people need to take stock. There were five factors evaluated: under-5 mortality, malnutrition that stunts growth, out-of-school children, child labor, early marriage, adolescent births, displacement by conflict and child homicide. The US fails - and fails HUGELY - with teen births - followed by infant mortality, kids out of school, and lives cut short due to violence. Half of all adolescent births occur in just seven countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and the United States. The US is in stellar company. Looking at he charts, the US has a similar teen pregnancy rate to Bhutan and Djibouti, while Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have a teen birth rate about half of ours, and Tunisia's is less than a third. And those are very poor countries. What's our excuse? Could it be simply cultural and not economic? After all, the US purveys highly sexualized people in the media, disdains sex education in the schools, restricts contraception, and provides no role models for girls that don't involve 'hot babe'. Are we screwed up, or what? The next largest factor in the US's shockingly low ranking is infant mortality. Despite having 'the best medical system in the world', infant mortality has been, and still is far higher than any industrialized nation, and higher than many developing nations. Slovenia's infant mortality is less than half that of the US's, for example. We expect that other first world countries might do better because ... whatever ... but not that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be on par, or that Chile's would be less than a quarter of ours.
Sunday, June 18, 2017 11:36 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1KIKI: I picked it out of several because it's heavily linked to information sources. Not that you care for linking your own crap you poop out of your ass, and not that you care to look up any - actual, yanno - FACTS.Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: LOL HuffPo
Monday, June 19, 2017 8:43 AM
Monday, June 19, 2017 6:01 PM
Quote:So what's your point or do you have a solution or just venting on the US?
Monday, June 19, 2017 7:06 PM
Quote:Originally posted by G: Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: Oh yeah G. You mean like Obama's Hope and Change, right? HOLY OMG WOW! You recognized another political slogan! No sh*t buddy. Now see if you can find two birds that are alike! ==============================
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: Oh yeah G. You mean like Obama's Hope and Change, right?
Monday, June 19, 2017 7:16 PM
Monday, June 19, 2017 7:48 PM
Quote:On the topic of why kids are fucked in this country, you got any stats of how many children in America are raised without a dad in the picture?
Monday, June 19, 2017 8:12 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 1KIKI: I know you have a personal animus against women who work, and women who aren't married, stay-at-home mothers. But far more goes into how well a society looks after its children than your narrow biases about females and motherhood account for.
Monday, June 19, 2017 8:20 PM
Quote:Originally posted by 6stringJoker: You don't know anything.
Quote:My beef is with split housholds or households where both parents work all day.
Quote: I have nothing wrong with stay at home mothers or fathers, and I have no problem with women working. My brother is a great stay at home dad and his wife makes 3-4 times as much money in her field than he could ever make with his education.
Quote: My problem is with single parents raising kids,
Quote: and how 95% of the time they're given to the mothers without any questions asked.
Quote: And I don't give a shit about marriage at all. That's just a piece of paper in my eyes. Some of the best parents I know have never gotten married.
Monday, June 19, 2017 8:35 PM
Monday, June 19, 2017 8:48 PM
Tuesday, June 20, 2017 12:02 AM
Quote:Originally posted by G: Quote:Originally posted by 1KIKI: Quote:So what's your point or do you have a solution or just venting on the US? 'Venting'? Is every single criticism of the US 'venting'? I gotta say - you gotta stop projecting your own motives onto others. Call it constructive criticism. Constructive criticism would be for people who can make a difference. I don't see any here, so venting. ==============================
Quote:Originally posted by 1KIKI: Quote:So what's your point or do you have a solution or just venting on the US? 'Venting'? Is every single criticism of the US 'venting'? I gotta say - you gotta stop projecting your own motives onto others. Call it constructive criticism.
Thursday, July 27, 2017 2:00 PM
SIGNYM
I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.
Quote:When President Trump promised last fall that under a Trump administration America would "would win so much you'll get tired of winning," we suspect this is not what he had in mind. According to the latest international obesity study from the Organization For Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), America is by far the fattest nation in the world with just over 38% of the adult population considered 'obese.'
Thursday, July 27, 2017 3:12 PM
Quote:I bet you're a lot of fun on a long trip.- G
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