46 replies to this topic

[spud the mackem]

Orcseeker, on 09 November 2012 - 01:19 AM, said:

Prosperity isn't a measure of total wealth. Would you say a country with one millionaire living comfortably surrounded by those living in third world conditions prosperous? (hypothetically speaking)

  In this world prosperity is the measure of wealth, and with wealth comes power.Look around you and unless you are the millionaire we all live to some extent in a poor situation,I worked for 50 yrs but I'm still not a millionaire,just an ordinary guy living on a pension just above the bread line, and the millionaire up the road couldnt care less,but at least I'm happy,whereas he's worried about where his next million is coming from,or whether the stock market will crash and leave him pennyless.

[The New Richard Nixon]

The Scandinavian countries seem right

[preacherman76]

Corp, on 08 November 2012 - 09:24 PM, said:

Well that list can't be right. All the nations ranked above the US are socialist!!! And as we all know socialism dooms nations to unspeakable fates.


Anyway given the economic trouble the US has been dealing with it's no surprise it slipped but it still has a long, long way to go before coming close to Third World status.

So you are saying we are dropping on this list cause we arent socialists? You cant think of any other possible reasons?

[Orcseeker]

spud the mackem, on 09 November 2012 - 08:58 AM, said:

In this world prosperity is the measure of wealth, and with wealth comes power.Look around you and unless you are the millionaire we all live to some extent in a poor situation,I worked for 50 yrs but I'm still not a millionaire,just an ordinary guy living on a pension just above the bread line, and the millionaire up the road couldnt care less,but at least I'm happy,whereas he's worried about where his next million is coming from,or whether the stock market will crash and leave him pennyless.

Still you see what I mean about the millionaire and the 3rd world level poor. The Scandinavian countries are quite switched on and generally have quite a good balance of wealth within their countries, due to them being small and easily managed.

It does take a lot of hard work to get to where they are. Though these days to get to that level you actually need a reasonable amount of money in the first place in order to get anywhere.

[OverSword]

spud the mackem, on 09 November 2012 - 12:08 AM, said:

Non of the immensely rich Countries are even mentioned, like Saudi Arabia,South Africa, etc so where are they getting the figures from ?.and I cannot honestly believe that Germany is 14th, and Ireland has just been bailed out  and stands at  10th, so who's taking the ****.

After I had posted the article I was wondering about Ireland being on that list too.  Perhaps Ireland is on the list because while not necessarily wealthy, thier people are healthy and have easy access to efficient social programs which guarantee thier well being.  Honestly I have no idea what life is like in Ireland so this is all just guess work.

[questionmark]

OverSword, on 09 November 2012 - 03:16 PM, said:

After I had posted the article I was wondering about Ireland being on that list too.  Perhaps Ireland is on the list because while not necessarily wealthy, thier people are healthy and have easy access to efficient social programs which guarantee thier well being.  Honestly I have no idea what life is like in Ireland so this is all just guess work.

It has nothing to do with the amount of riches but the prosperity index is a combination of

    Economy
    Entrepreneurship & Opportunity
    Governance
    Education
    Health
    Safety & Security
    Personal Freedom
    Social Capital

[Mike D boy]

Parts of the US resemble third world countries or the former Soviet bloc anyway, not surprised the latest report on the level of prosperity the US has shown itself. Americans' fear of socialism caused irresponsible government policies and corporations run themselves to the ground insisting they are "people" instead the actual people are employees work to have the executives make more money. I wish the USA is a social democracy alike Canada (anyone interested in moving there) and the Scandinavian countries, where cold weather it seems makes better policy judgements (LOL!).

[Corp]

Zaphod222, on 09 November 2012 - 12:13 AM, said:

No, they are not. Where did you learn your definition of "socialsm"? Unionised government run education system perhaps?

Look for North Korea on the list, to see where ultimate socialism gets you.

They're socialist democracies, countries that have socialist leaning policies such as government run health care. Or in the eyes of the American right the thing that dooms a country. Which based on the list clearly isn't true. And yes our education system is unionised and is run at the provincal level. I believe most education systems within the Western world have the same set up.

As for North Korea they're more of a monarchy than socialist these days and really have nothing in common with the socialist democracies of the Western world.

preacherman76, on 09 November 2012 - 11:32 AM, said:

So you are saying we are dropping on this list cause we arent socialists? You cant think of any other possible reasons?

No that's not what I'm saying at all. I'm only pointing out that unlike want some of our members think having socialist policies does not mean the end of the world.

Edited by Corp, 09 November 2012 - 06:15 PM.

[Wyrdlight]

Prosperity is not merely wealth.

Its linked to education, unemployment, tv and internet access, religious and social freedoms etc.

Most of the scandinavian nations have extremely high literacy rates, numbers of university graduates per head of population, stable employment figures and overall are more "level" in terms of the numbers of rich vs poor.

[DieChecker]

OverSword, on 08 November 2012 - 08:58 PM, said:

http://www.businessi...y-index-2012-11

• Norway
  
• Denmark
  
• Sweden
  
• Australia
  
• New Zealand
  
• Canada
  
• Finland
  
• Netherlands
  
• Switzerland
  
• Ireland
  
• Luxembourg
  
• United States
  
• United Kingdom
  
• Germany
  
• Iceland
  
• Austria
  
• Belgium
  
• Hong Kong
  
• Singapore
  
• Taiwan

I think this list is Bogus... It has several catagories that make up the ratings, and under "Health" the USA is Number 2, and under "Education" the USA is Number 5.  So our Health is only beat by Luxembourg, and only Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia beat our Education. That totally does not sound right to me, so I'm calling Shinanegans on this List.

Looks like Switzerland would have been number one, but they got a Education rank of 32.

It appears almost like someone was tossing darts to determine the numbers...

Edited by DieChecker, 12 November 2012 - 12:39 AM.

[DieChecker]

Simbi Laveau, on 08 November 2012 - 11:19 PM, said:

They started calling the middle class here,"the working poor" ,around 2005.
No one paid attention . Working poor meant you made less than 50,000 a year I think .
50K a year used to be making a living ,now it doesn't cover everything. So many previously accepted salaries,are now considered crap

I make just over 50k a year, and I have no problems. No debt. Low interest mortgage. Wife does not have to work. Kids get to go to Christian schools. We live fairly simply and just don't go out and buy a new 100 inch TV every year, and a new 30,000 dollar car every year. We live within our means... Which is a totally foreign concept to our Federal Government and an extremely large population of our people. There are so many "poor" with TV screens that take up an entire wall of their house.

[questionmark]

DieChecker, on 12 November 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

I think this list is Bogus... It has several catagories that make up the ratings, and under "Health" the USA is Number 2, and under "Education" the USA is Number 5.  So our Health is only beat by Luxembourg, and only Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia beat our Education. That totally does not sound right to me, so I'm calling Shinanegans on this List.

Looks like Switzerland would have been number one, but they got a Education rank of 32.

It appears almost like someone was tossing darts to determine the numbers...

Correct, because all education counts. Can you name a top Swiss university? A top Swiss non-elitarian (boarding) school? And there is where they end up pretty far down the list. If you establish the education level of a country what you go for is the medium. Any third world country has a elite educated in Yale, Oxford or Cambridge... but they don't make the grade because most of the rest are illiterate.

[DieChecker]

questionmark, on 12 November 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

Correct, because all education counts. Can you name a top Swiss university? A top Swiss non-elitarian (boarding) school? And there is where they end up pretty far down the list. If you establish the education level of a country what you go for is the medium. Any third world country has a elite educated in Yale, Oxford or Cambridge... but they don't make the grade because most of the rest are illiterate.

But the US (in this list) is ranked 5th in Education?? and 2nd in Health??

Is "No Child Left Behind" responsible for this?

Edited by DieChecker, 13 November 2012 - 06:33 AM.

[questionmark]

DieChecker, on 13 November 2012 - 06:33 AM, said:

But the US (in this list) is ranked 5th in Education?? and 2nd in Health??

Is "No Child Left Behind" responsible for this?

No Child Left Behind is just the last error in a long list of errors. The first was in the 60s when they made parents believe they could enjoy life and the government (or church, depending where you are) would take care of the education of their children, the second was to leave the community out of it, and I could go on with a list as long as my arm to end up with No Child Left Behind.

[MichaelW]

DieChecker, on 12 November 2012 - 12:39 AM, said:

I think this list is Bogus... It has several catagories that make up the ratings, and under "Health" the USA is Number 2, and under "Education" the USA is Number 5.  So our Health is only beat by Luxembourg, and only Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia beat our Education. That totally does not sound right to me, so I'm calling Shinanegans on this List.

You think the US has the best education system on the planet?