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Another MasterCard Commercial I’d Like to See |
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Out of the 13 countries in Western Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Swtizerland, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and Great Britian), the number that have a lower infant mortality rate than the United States : 13
That have a higher life expectancy than the US (for both men and women): 13
That have a lower murder rate: 13
That have a lower poverty rate: 11
Hearing conservative politicians use Western Europe as a cautionary tale against developing social programs: Priceless
(cross-posted at Discipline for Justice)
Postscript:
The US has an infant mortality rate of 6.8. The worst in Western Europe is Great Britian with 5.0. The best is Sweden with 3.1.
The US has a life expectancy of 75 for men and 80 for women. All of Western Europe falls between 76 and 79 for men and 81 and 84 for women.
The US has a murder rate of 42.8. The worst in Western Europe is Portugal with 23.3 The best is Switzerland with 9.2.
The two countries with more poverty than the US (12.0%) are Portgual (18.0%) and Spain (19.9%).
Edit: My original list actually contained 12 nations in Western Europe, and I left out Belgium altogether. The numbers above now accurately reflect how the US compares to all 13 nations.
What are the rates for those rural areas where conservative politicians typically come from?
What about Luxembourg?
My apologies to Luxembourg for leaving them out. I haven’t looked it up, but I’m pretty sure they would be ahead of the US in all these areas.
Also, don’t forget Ireland
Dude, where’s Ireland? If you’re going to say “Out of the X countries in Western Europe”, then X needs to be correct.
If not, change the text to “Out of X hand-picked countries in Western Europe” which weakens your argument but at least is correct.
I guess it’s always nice to pick and choose the statistics we like to try and reinforce our points. Like pulling out murder rates as the gold standard criteria instead of using the CRIME RATE. Lower poverty rate is so subjective. Using your own source, China is a model society because it has a lower % of its population below the poverty line than the US and most of Europe. Alternatively if you use the GDP or standard of living as the measure, the US is sure to be one of the best.
food for thought…
Several good points Jim. However if we take into account standard of living, I think we also need to look at avg individual debt. Many people in the US live well above their means.
I can’t speak on the other stats, but I’m pretty sure the infant mortality rate is an apples-to-oranges comparison. There’s no standard on what constitutes an “infant mortality.” The US’s record-keeping is far more detailed and more inclusive as to what qualifies as a “live birth.” Therefore, our infant mortality rates appear higher when in reality there’s no way to know for sure (and frankly, reason to suspect otherwise).
As already mentioned, what about Luxembourg and Ireland? And Iceland, Austria, Monaco, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Andorra and the Vatican State?
Clarification - In my 2nd sentence, I should have said, “There%u2019s no practical standard on what constitutes an ‘infant mortality’.”
What was wrong with Belgium?
I can see you’re one of those folks from the “reality based community.”
WESTERN EUROPE people, not the EU! Austria should be in the list, but Britan and Ireland aren’t part of mainland europe. Also Monaco, Lichtenstein, San Marino, Andorra and the Vatican State have populations less than 100k (most less than 50k!) so they aren’t really a good example for statistical comparison ().
As someone who has travelled the world and seen much of America and Europe I find it both hilarious and incredibly saddening that people can somehow think social health care is anything but a good thing, is that your decision or what your media and government tell you you should think?
Looks like someone just barely passed Human Geography 101.
C’mon guys, stop looking at the trees at notice the forest!
Where the feck is Ireland? Furthermore, there is no country of “Great Britain”. That is the name of an island. If you mean the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” (commonly called the “UK” for short), I agree with your sentiments, but you really should strive for some accuracy when making claims like this.
Yes, but with the infant mortality rate, you have to remember that US statistics often include abortions amongst their stats, which skews them a lot.
who cares if i wanted to be like these other countries i would move there maybe thats were you should go.
Quote some figures that make the U.S. look bad and watch the deluded patriots freak out in the comments. The U.S. is Number 1 in everything according to them. According to anyone not blinded by patriotic fervour the U.S. is number 1 at imprisoning its citizens. Number 1 at spending taxpayers money on unnecessary weapons instead of caring for their citizenry. Number 1 at producing poor quality television shows, poor quality movies, poor quality music, unfunny comedians… I could go on but it would be pointless, all non U.S. citizens will be smiling in agreement and all yanks will be bitching and moaning.
The United states of America will never be the best country in the world as long as they remain incapable of seeing their flaws.
Sometimes I wonder why comments are allowed…
That’s nothing like a Mastercard commercial at all. It’s just a commentary. Why would you make that the title? There is no money involved. What’s priceless is seeing people do stupid things like that.