This poster is toeing a very fine line. I don’t think there’s been a single sincere post yet.
I’m sincere.
This is stupid.
Regards,
Shodan
God hates me, and I AM an American. What gives?
Maybe it’s because my ancestors were not Americans…
BZ, which God are you talking about, exactly? Not Allah, I assume…but there are still hundreds out there.
For instance, Bast couldn’t give a crap about us. But then, she’s a cat goddess, and probably doesn’t give a crap about anything.
Shiva isn’t impressed…she’s better armed than we are.
Pan is pissed 'cos we’re cutting down the forests…
Coyote may like us…but it could just be a trick.
c’mon–narrow it down a little!
I was under the impression that Shiva is male.
Og sort rubbish!
BZ00000 go in bin!
yeah, you’re right. My bad. Sorry Shiva!
[sub] I’ve got to apologise to Shiva–can you imagine the bitch-slapping I’d get if I didn’t?[/sub]
[silly answer]
Bowie had it right. Heck, he even says that “God is an American.”
[/silly answer]
[serious answer]
I was going to suggest Canada has certain advantages over the US*, but Neurotik claims Canada is too cold. It’s true, this morning’s temperature is -10 C (14 F); but my only U.S. experience is New England, so that’s not much difference.
[/serious answer]
*[sub]Certain disadvantages, too … and then some things which are either advantages or disadvantages depending on your point of view[/sub]
**
Yes.
**
Well, you see, Mommy loved Daddy, and Daddy loved Mommy…
**
**
The vast demon armies of hell are on my side.
[censored by Big Brother. He loves you, sc913. Do you love him?]
Big Brother also screwed up my coding. Damn you!
Well, at least the OP seems to refute the long-held belief of many foreigners that Americans just don’t understand irony. :rolleyes:
BZ00000 challenged:
Well, while i don’t claim that it should necessarily be the final arbiter in these debates, the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report 2001 actually places the United States sixth on the list, behind:
- Norway
- Australia
- Canada
- Sweden
- Belgium (p. 141)
These rankings are based on the countries’ Human Development Index (HDI), which “measures a country’s achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income.” Specifically, the criteria used in detemining HDI are:
- life expectancy at birth
- adult literacy rate
- combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio
- GDP per capita
These are used to give a Life Expectancy Index, an Education Index, and a GDP Index, which in turn are combined to give a country’s HDI.
Now, as i said above, this need not be the final arbiter of a country’s quality, but as BZ00000 has failed to offer anything other than his/her own overinflated sense of self-worth and the hoary old chestnut of America being God’s chosen country, i thought the UN report might at least provide the basis for looking at some more relevant criteria.
There are a couple of other interesting things to note about the countries listed in the top six. Of these, the United States is the only one whose HDI rank (6th) is lower than its GDP per capita rank (2nd); by contrast, Australia ranks 2nd in HDI while only being 10th in GDP per capita, and Sweden’s positions in the two categories are 4th and 13th respectively. In other words, the US below where it should be in terms of its wealth. (p. 141)
The UN report lists other categories in which the US does not do so well. They include:
- Human Poverty Index, where the US ranks 17th best. (p. 152)
- The probability at birth of not surviving until age 60. For the US, this figure is 12.8%, and you have to go down the table to Portugal (HDI no. 23) before you find another country with a worse figure. (p. 152)
- Percentage of population aged 16-65 lacking functional literacy skill, which in the US is 20.7%. (p. 152)
- Percentage of the population earning less than 50% of the median income, which for the US (at 15.9%) is higher than any other country in the top 50. (p. 152)
- Percentage of population below the US poverty line of $US11 per person per day. In the US, this figure is 14%, and is exceeded among top ten countries only by Australia, with 18%. (p. 152)
- Percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS. At 0.61%, the US figure is at least twice as high as any other top ten country. (p. 162)
- In infant mortality, maternal mortality, and various life expectancy categories for men and women, the US fares worse than any of the other top ten countries. (p. 166)
- Income inequality, which in the US is higher by three diferent measures (top 10% vs. bottom 10%; top 20% vs. bottom 20%; GINI Index) than in any other top ten country. (p. 182)
And, a little off the topic of actually living in the US: while America constantly pats itself on the back for its global generosity, the US actually provided less Official Development Assistance than any of the 21 other OECD Development Assistance Committee countries, as a percentage of GNP. And in per capita terms, the US provided less aid than all but three countries - the economic powerhouses of Italy, Greece, and Portugal. And of the aid given, the US also provided only 16% of its aid to the least developed countries, a figure lower than all but four of the other DAC countries. (p. 190)
Now, none of this means that the US isn’t a good place to live. I’m an Australian currently living in the US, and i’m enjoying myself a lot. But even if the UN statistics don’t tell the whole story, they still hint that living in Ameica might be a lot better for some than for others, and that there are other countries in the world that offer comparable, or perhaps even better, levels of material comfort, health, and education than the US. But of course, intelligent Americans already knew that anyway, and those like BZ00000 who continue to believe in America as nothing less than the home of God’s chosen people are unlikely to be swayed by anything as secular and rational as evidence.
[All citations and pages numbers given are from United Nations Development Program, Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001) This report can be downloaded in pdf from this site]
Why was this moved to the Pit, is the Straight Dope afraid of the debate?
God loves me?? So that explains that white stickey stuff in my hair this morning.
I curse thee GOD!
Og smote debate!
Debate? No. It was a smarmy attempt at making half-assed assertions.
Coming across as parody, because it is doubtful that anyone who believes the things put forth in your post taking that tone, it was moved to where it belongs. Parodies belong in the pit.
(BTW: asking if the Straight Dope is afraid of a debate…is the next step calling mods Nazis? Or the clique thing? I forget.)
America is the only shining beacon of freedom and hope to the world. I could understand the attitude of some of you if you weren’t Americans but you are. When you say America isn’t the best country or God’s true example to the rest of the world you are destroying something great. Please don’t knock this land we love. Would you want to live in country were you not free to do as you want without government interference? No, well let me tell you something there is no other country to live.
Cool! I haven’t seen a “Manifest Destiny” thread in awhile!
of course, it’s hard to read with my looney-detector beeping in my ear.
Well, BZ00000, no-one has ever said that debate was banned in The Pit. I posted a long response on this thread, in which i cited a United Nations report and made what i think was a reasonably coherent argument about the issue, and all you have come up with since then is:
You call that “debate”?
I was trying to be reasonable, believing you may have something of merit to say on the subject, but as this is The Pit, i think i will need to stick with my first inclination - that you are:
(a) a troll,
(b) an idiot, or
© all of the above
Oh for crying out loud!
Doesn’t ANYONE want to join the Guinastasian Empire???
