America Is Now a 'Second Tier' Country

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: June 24, 2017 at 12:06:40 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] America Is Now a 'Second Tier' Country
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> [Note:  This item comes from friend Mike Cheponis.  DLH]
>
> America Is Now a ‘Second Tier’ Country
> Some 17 others, including all of Scandinavia, outperform the U.S. by a wide margin when it comes to well-being.
> By Eric Roston
> Jun 21 2017
> <https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-06-21/america-is-now-a-second-tier-country>
>
> America leads the world when it comes to access to higher education. But when it comes to health, environmental 
> protection, and fighting discrimination, it trails many other developed countries, according to the Social Progress 
> Imperative, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
>
> The results of the group’s annual survey, which ranks nations based on 50 metrics, call to mind other reviews of 
> national well-being, such as the World Happiness Report released in March, which was led by Norway, Denmark, and 
> Iceland, or September’s Lancet study on sustainable development. In that one, Iceland, Singapore, Sweden, and the 
> U.S. took spots 1, 2, 3, and 28—respectively. 
>
> The Social Progress Index released this week is compiled from social and environmental data that come as close as 
> possible to revealing how people live. “We want to measure a country’s health and wellness achieved, not how much 
> effort is expended, nor how much the country spends on healthcare,” the report states. Scandinavia walked away with 
> the top four of 128 slots. Denmark scored the highest. America came in at 18. 
>
> The U.S. may be underperforming, but so is the rest of the world. American progress, like that of other rich nations, 
> has stalled for four years running. Based on overall world GDP, humanity as a whole could be doing a much more 
> efficient job taking care of itself. Tough graders, these social-progress folks.
>
> Of course it’s easy enough to dismiss or belittle these occasional reports, each with their unique methodologies and 
> almost identical conclusions. Another approach, however, would be to look at them all together and conclude that they 
> represent “mounting evidence.” In that case, Houston (and Dallas, New Orleans, Tulsa, St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, 
> and New York), we have a problem.
>
> SPI produces the report in part to help city, state, and national policymakers diagnose and (ideally) address their 
> most pressing challenges. The group’s chief executive, Michael Green, said America “is failing to address basic human 
> needs, equip citizens to improve their quality of life, protect the environment, and provide opportunity for everyone 
> to make personal choices and reach their full potential.” 
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>



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