>> Subjective Well-Being Index: 15

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>> Subjective Well-Being Index: 15

Posted on: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 20:03:27 -0700

On 2007-10-29 18:15:06 -0700, john_kulp@... (John Kulp) said:
Why don't you give us a short outline of Swedish health care? Most of
us don't have much information. gb
> Most of these rankings are just plain subjective and in the eye of the
> beholder. That doesn't excuse the jingoistic attitudes you're talking
> about which I find quite offensive myself, based as they are on
> complete ignorance. But take the ratings with a grain of salt. As
> you saw, Sweden ranks very high on most of them and, since my wife is
> Swedish and works for an airline, we got there about 10 times a year.
> And I can guarantee you, neither of us would change our medical care
> for what a Swede receives for starters no matter what these ratings
> show.
>
>
>
> On Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:22:51 -0700, Cambrasa
> wrote:
>
>> America has a lot going for it. I'd choose to live in America over
>> many countries.
>>
>> But I keep bumping into Americans who claim that "America is the
>> best", "the greatest", "the freest", "the most democratic", "the most
>> advanced", or that "America beats the world at everything". Why do so
>> many Americans believe this? Can they back up such bold claims with
>> hard evidence?
>>
>> To answer this, I've tried to compile a few world rankings from a wide
>> range of sources. The truth is that America rarely makes it into the
>> top five, let alone number one. Don't get me wrong. America does
>> pretty well in all international comparisons, but that does NOT mean
>> it's THE BEST. There are quite a few countries that are - at least -
>> as great as America.
>>
>> But instead of trying to learn from those countries in an effort to
>> beat them, millions of Americans choose to believe in a delusion of
>> grandeur and invincibility. This kind of blind patriotism is not a
>> sign of strength. It is a sign of weakness, complacency, and
>> ingnorance (how many who make this claim have actually heard of the
>> countries on the list below, let alone travelled there?).
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> USA Rankings on
>> ----------------------------
>>
>>
>> Adult Literacy Scale: 9
>> (1:Sweden 2:Norway) - OECD
>>
>> Democracy Index: 17
>> (1:Sweden 2:Iceland) - The Economist Magazine
>>
>> Democracy Audit: 15
>> (1:Finland 2:Denmark) - World Audit
>>
>> Index of Economic Freedom: 9
>> (1:Hong Kong 2:Singapore) - The Heritage Foundation/ Wall Street
>> Journal
>>
>> Economic Freedom in the World: 5
>> (1:Hong Kong 2:Singapore) - The Frasier Institute
>>
>> Competitiveness Index: 6
>> (1:Switzerland 2:Finland) - World Economic Forum
>>
>> Journalistic Press Freedom Index: 32
>> (1:Finland 2:Norway and Netherlands tied) - Reporters without Borders
>>
>> Global Press Freedom Rankings: 24
>> (1:Finland/Sweden/Iceland tied) - Freedom House
>>
>> Human Development Index: 10
>> (1:Norway 2:Iceland) - UN
>>
>> Quality of Life Survey: 13
>> (1:Ireland 2:Switzerland) - The Economist Magazine
>>
>> Wealth Ranking (GDP(PPP) per capita): 3
>> (1:Ireland 2:Norway) - International Monetary Fund
>>
>> Healthcare Quality Index: 37
>> (1:France 2:Italy) - WHO
>>
>> Human Poverty Index: 16
>> (1:Sweden 2:Norway) - UN
>>
>> Student Reading Ability: 12
>> (1:Finland 2:South Korea) - OECD PISA
>>
>> Student Problem Solving Ability: 26
>> (1:South Korea 2:Finland) - OECD PISA
>>
>> Student Mathematics Ability: 24
>> (1:Hong Kong 2:Finland) - OECD PISA
>>
>> Student Science Ability: 19
>> (1:Finland 2:Japan) - OECD PISA
>>
>> Broadband Internet Penetration Rate: 12
>> (1:Korea 2:Netherlands) - OECD 2005
>>
>> Index of Technological Achievement: 2
>> (1:Finland 3:Sweden) - Nation Master
>>
>> Political Corruption Index: 17
>> (1:Iceland 2:Finland) - Transparency International
>>
>> Productivity (GDP(PPP) per hour worked): 4
>> (1:Norway 2:France) - University of Groningen
>>
>> Environmental Sustainability Index: 45
>> (1:Finland 2:Norway) - Yale University ESI 2005
>>
>> Life Expectancy: 29
>> (1:Japan 2:Hong Kong) - UN Human Development Report
>>
>> Infant Mortality Rate: 32
>> (1:Sweden 2:Finland) - Save the Children
>>
>> Mother's Index: 26
>> (1:Sweden 2:Iceland) - Save the Children
>>
>> Children's Index: 30
>> (1:Norway 2:Sweden) - Save the Children
>>
>> Women's Rights Scale: 17
>> (1:Sweden 2:Norway) - World Economic Report
>>
>> Timeline of Gay Rights Progress: 6
>> (1:Sweden 2:Norway) - Vexen
>>
>> Privacy Index: 30
>> (1:Germany 2:Canada) - Privacy International
>>
>> Subjective Well-Being Index: 15
>> (1:Puerto Rico 2:Mexico) - University of Michigan's World Values
>> Surveys

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