BUSINESS: America: #22; 49; 54 and Falling Fast

Many Americans think the USA is still #1 in the world for everything that counts. Other Americans express their deep concerns about the state of the nation - only to be told their views are "anti-American." A recent article originally published in the Austin Chronicle reveals the USA's world ratings in everything from health care to science and business. Many Americans will find the truth, and the numbers, shocking.






The facts are astounding. For example, "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European."

More intriguing, "Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea hold 40 percent of our government debt." That debt currently stands at $7.7 trillion dollars, and is increasing by $2.2 billion dollars per day.

As the writers point out, it would be suicide for any politician to admit the truth: We're broke, in debt and losing the race for progress and prosperity. Life in America is often uncivilized. In many critical categories, our standard of living is barely on par with South Africa and Mexico.

But the #1 spin keeps us buying, spending and silent.

Ignorance is bliss.




IMPORTANT NOTICE

There seems to be some misunderstanding regarding the source and motives of this post.

To clarify: The article is about US demographics.


Definition: Demographics

1 : the statistical characteristics of human populations (as age or income) used especially to identify markets
2 : the demographic profile of a market (as the viewers of a TV show).




Demographics studies are done by business and governments. They are used to make a variety of decisions. Most of the studies referred to in the article were done for business, by business. These demographics were and are used by international corporations to make decisions about doing business in the USA.

Sometimes these decisions have to do with deciding what to try and sell in a particular location; sometimes they are used to decide what laws to lobby government to pass or change, for the benefit of a particular business or industry.

It does not matter whether or not anyone thinks the studies are accurate. These demographics tell us how business looks at the US market. International and other businesses make their decisions about how and where to do business the US based on these demographic studies.

If we can get past our assumptions and presumptions, this information is potentially useful to us. It can help us to understand how business sees us, and why things happen - like why bankruptcy laws are modified and why anti-class action laws are created, for example.

There is more information about US demographics in this book:
America By The Numbers: A Field Guide To The U.S. Population Social Science Data Network







Credit and Thanks to Kozmo: Is America #1?



Related News Links:
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www.brillig.com

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OP/ED: Bushkrieg: Shock and Awe in America

[edit on 8-3-2005 by soficrow]

[edit on 9-3-2005 by soficrow]

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Excellent post!! Unfortunately, it will fall on many deaf ears. People are still drunk on patriotism and national pride that they cant see past their own self richeous image of themselves and what they think their nation is. Education, social services, and health care are in terrible shape and somehow it will all be blamed on us liberals.

i totally agree on that, don worry, realisation will eventually come on the us people.

All you un-American commies listen up! We're still number one!

America is the world leader in..percentage of citizens behind bars. At the end of 2003 there were about 2.1 million people in prison in America. That number increases by about 4% annually, according to the innapopriately named Department of Justice.

Yep, thats right. We're number 1! Yay America!

We surpassed Russia not too long ago, and now we're number 1! Anyone who says America isn't number one need only look at recent prison statistics. America incarcerates more people on a daily basis than any reasonable person could think possible. Not only that, we incarcerate them for offenses ranging from herb use to story writing.

America is an ideal. A rose colored vision of perfection that was never accurate, but for a while it was believable. It's no longer believable. It's a farce. The staunchest believers in the American ideal are not coincidentally the most blind to reality. They will never be persuaded, not even by facts and figures. They will never be able to admit they were wrong, because it would invalidate the illusion of their lives. America was a dream.

"I had dreamed a dream, and now that dream is gone from me."

Let the flag for hypocrisy fly high from every school and courthouse!

We're number 1! We're number 1!

Sofi that is outstanding, we have been preaching about the realities of our country and inner cities, all you have to do is get in your nice car and go for a walk in the poor neighborhoods.

I live in a small town I can see the struggle everyday with the low income and also the even believe or not the middle class.

How in the world we have to struggle with two jobs just to resemble what our parents used to live with 30 years ago?

It seems that we are going backward instead of ahead, and nobody cares.

Our nation keeps spending but not of the spending is to benefit our society and our trouble citizens.

We are giving all away to corporations and all the profits are for everybody else but us.

Yes we are call socialist for complaining.

Well I will die complaining because is the truth we are losing our great nation to the corporation monopoly.

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
America is the world leader in..percentage of citizens behind bars. At the end of 2003 there were about 2.1 million people in prison in America. That number increases by about 4% annually, according to the innapopriately named Department of Justice.

Is that it? Maybe most of your increases are due to the people who realise how bad your country is becoming and try to rise up only to be brought down by your corrupt government. I have no proof of this but Im sure people would say it wouldnt sound silly hearing it.

Originally posted by Channy

Originally posted by WyrdeOne
America is the world leader in..percentage of citizens behind bars.

Maybe most of your increases are due to the people who realise how bad your country is becoming and try to rise up only to be brought down by your corrupt government.

Don't think so. People arrested under the Patriot Act aren't counted (they just don't exist any more).

....These stats are mainly related to poverty or disability, I think. Like - one retarded kid in Texas went to prison for life because he was arrested 3 times for stealing a chocolate bar.


.

Question:

Should average white americans take notice and miss even one night sleep about it?

Aren't many of those numbers reserved for regarded as irrelevant coloured people or is a huge white underclass developing as well???

? Just what is the scale of the problem ???




[edit on 8-3-2005 by Countermeasures]

WyrdeOne,

You are so funny, and to think that Bush this morning on his speech talk about the "holy land" and the liberation of the middle east and how he is going to make a world a democratic one like the US.

Yes he mention the holy land what a crusader, we better start opening those wallets people because our freedom spreading is going to become very expensive

good post, and it brings up sum good points being our that our health care etc. sux

but u must keep in mind even the peoplke in the ghetto account for the fact that americas population is in the top 10% richest people in the world...that is even if u live in the worst ghetto/trailer in americ, when broken down you are still one of the richest 10% people in the world

aside from this too many other countries rely on USA and vise versa for us to fall like people are calling for.

the fact is that if we fell or w/e u wanna call it other nations would struggle just as much

atm hong kong is the best thing going as far as economy, but u have to relise the reason for this is there lack in regulation in starting new biss, and this will someday haunt them with social problems

china...aka the "new super power" will not be that great as with there going Laogai and communistic fate they are bound to fail...

the truth of the matter is america has seen is golden age(which is now gone), and that is that but at the same time were not gonna just be another russia/rome etc. b/c times have changed and with the going world economy were going to just average out abit, but still be a huge player in the game.

Originally posted by Countermeasures
Question:

Should average white americans take notice and miss even one night sleep about it?

Aren't many of those numbers reserved for regarded as irrelevant coloured american citizens ? Just what is the scale of the problem ???

Last time I checked blacks and latinos accounted for 65% of the prison population. I assume that figure is still reasonably accurate. To answer your question, should white people care...

I'm going to let the question stand as testament to the problem.

As long as people manage to die from obesity there is enough food to go round, in this respect its still like ghettoheaven, comparing Van Nuys with Kinshasa

But if that makes really happy ?


[edit on 8-3-2005 by Countermeasures]

Originally posted by Zach

but u must keep in mind even the peoplke in the ghetto account for the fact that americas population is in the top 10% richest people in the world...that is even if u live in the worst ghetto/trailer in americ, when broken down you are still one of the richest 10% people in the world

Thanks for the compliment Zach - but no - what the article says is that poor Americans have trouble keeping up with South Africa and Mexico. ...The idea that our poor is rich compared to their poor is not really true.

Countermeasures

Should average white americans take notice and miss even one night sleep about it?

Absolutely. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link. ...And our little chain is rotting everywhere.

...You really should read the article - I could not cover even a tenth of it. But here's a bit more:

* "Sixty-one of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European, while only 50 are U.S. companies" (The European Dream, p.66). "In a recent survey of the world's 50 best companies, conducted by Global Finance, all but one were European" (The European Dream, p.69).

* "Fourteen of the 20 largest commercial banks in the world today are European.... In the chemical industry, the European company BASF is the world's leader, and three of the top six players are European. In engineering and construction, three of the top five companies are European.... The two others are Japanese. Not a single American engineering and construction company is included among the world's top nine competitors. In food and consumer products, Nestlé and Unilever, two European giants, rank first and second, respectively, in the world. In the food and drugstore retail trade, two European companies...are first and second, and European companies make up five of the top ten. Only four U.S. companies are on the list" (The European Dream, p.68).

* The United States has lost 1.3 million jobs to China in the last decade (CNN, Jan. 12, 2005).

* U.S. employers eliminated 1 million jobs in 2004 (The Week, Jan. 14, 2005).

* Three million six hundred thousand Americans ran out of unemployment insurance last year; 1.8 million--one in five--unemployed workers are jobless for more than six months (NYT, Jan. 9, 2005).


America by the Numbers



....It's almost pointless to talk about American business - there isn't any to speak of.

.

Actually our nation is a nation of plenty and a nation that food is not a problem, but then why so many families and children in particular go to bed at night with an empty stomach?

Because we have American people that can not even afford to live in American.

Originally posted by Zach
but u must keep in mind even the peoplke in the ghetto account for the fact that americas population is in the top 10% richest people in the world...that is even if u live in the worst ghetto/trailer in americ, when broken down you are still one of the richest 10% people in the world

You're both right and wrong. Yes, trailer dwellers have more american dollars than most people in Africa. But, does that translate into a better standard of living? No. You NEED a great deal of money to survive in America. In many other 'uncivilized' nations you don't need money at all. You can still procure bush meat in many places, farm without paying taxes, live off the land. America is a trap.

Americans are resorting to criminal behavior more and more because it's one of the only viable alternatives to starvation. Housing assistance opened in my town for the first time in three years last month. They closed in less than a week, having filled all their slots. There were people lined up around the block hoping to get section 8 vouchers, but all were turned away because there simply was no more state money left. Section 8 won't open up again for another couple of years, and in the meantime..there are people without housing who have no recourse.

Food stamps pays about 100 bucks a month, and that's if you're employed. If you don't have a job you can't get benefits. I'm not a fan of welfare. I think the country can be fixed so that oppurtunity abounds. I think we can have a country where people can get work, where people can afford medicine. The gap between rich and poor is worse here than anywhere else in the world with a few possible exceptions. It used to be you could survive on a factory job, now those jobs don't even exist. All the mills in my town closed, now you work at McDonalds (or Burger King, or Walmart) or you don't work.

We've got a problem right now. Pretending it doesn't exist won't make it go away.

Originally posted by Countermeasures
As long as people manage to die from obesity there is enough food to go round,

Obesity is a disease most often caused by misfolded leptin, a hormone protein that affects the production of adipose tissue (fat). ...All the evidence suggests that it is a 'complication' of form of Mad Cow disease - and also, that Mad Cow is epidemic in America.

...Just one of the many bits of information withheld from the American public to prevent panic and "protect the economy."



.

The USA has the largest economy on the planet. If America was such a bad place why is it attracting record investment dollars from over seas?

Originally posted by cryptorsa1001
If America was such a bad place why is it attracting record investment dollars from over seas?

Prove it.

A couple of people have said America has plenty of food. That's not true anymore. It used to be, but in 2004, for the first time ever, shortfalls in grain production necessitated a huge import spree. We're no longer even capable of feeding ourselves. I think this is due in large part to the subsidies program.

Paying people not to grow food...

Does that make sense? Sure it does..if you're a commodities investor looking to drive up prices at the expense of sustainable production levels.

#1 or not, I still like it here.

When are you guys going to finish these "USA is not #1" threads, btw? You're starting to look really dumb

Originally posted by Odd
When are you guys going to finish these "USA is not #1" threads, btw? You're starting to look really dumb

I imagine we'll all shut up when the problems get fixed. Would you rather we not speak up and simply be happy with the gross ineffeciency?

Thanks but no thanks. I call 'em as I see 'em.

Now back in the corner with you.