We're #1, We're #1

Is America the exceptional, #1 country in the world?

Of course it is!

David Morris of the Institute For Local Self-Reliance has published the truth about American exceptionalism.

It turns out, the US is #1 in all sorts of ways.

www.businessinsider.com...

I'm pretty confident in stating I believe most of us here on ATS feel the United States is heading in the wrong direction.

Please take a look at the charts from the link posted above, which show areas that we are kicking butt in. Problem is these areas are absolutely nothing to be proud of.

I love my country and always wish it to be a great country. A great country with mostly content citizens. Yet, I feel a very dark cloud descending upon us. All of us.

How did things get so mucked up, so quickly? And right under our noses to boot.

Take a look, it won't take but one minute to digest the information and let me know your thoughts.

Here's the link one more time: Ten charts to angry up the blood

reply to post by Hessling


Personally i just think that when the population grows and the technology of a country is advancing quickly, its gonna be hard to handle it all without getting into trouble.

Just my idea on whats going on.

Its threads like this that dont get the attention they deserve. Each one of those charts on that page is worthy of its own thread and endless discussion but it doesnt touch anyones :"hot buttons"
Its not about Obamas birth certificate or the Royal Wedding or whatever issue the system tries to distract us with.

Anyway, good thread.

Quickly? Things have been down hill since 99..

reply to post by TriForce


It feels so overwhelming, all the ways we've seemed to have lost our priorities.

I know the charts reflect trends we've all been aware of for years. However, when I really looked at them and fully realized the implications upon our society I just got downright angry and depressed.

Maybe we can turn this ship around. It just seems that in the current political climate it's a long-shot to bet on.

Thanks for the reply.

Originally posted by ShogunAssassins
Quickly? Things have been down hill since 99..

That's quickly. To some of us, '99 was just like yesterday.

I wonder why people are so proud of the US sometimes. I mean, I'm proud of our heritage, but I am not so nationalistic that I don't notice we are NOT the country we used to be and we do NOT take care of our own. We don't even take care of our veterans! How is that something to be proud of? I'm ashamed and embarrassed at some of those statistics! I am sad that I live in a country that treasures one thing about all else... Money.

We pay lip service to caring for our veterans and children and then we toss them out on the street without health care...

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

That's quickly. To some of us, '99 was just like yesterday.

An excellent point.

That's what creeps me out more than anything about what seems to be happening to us.

Since JFK we seemed to be on a slide. Then after Watergate the slide became steeper and steadily steeper.

Nowadays it's like a total free-fall. Things are spinning out of control at breakneck speed these last few years. We see it, we sense it and yet......................................

First and foremost, because I'm a stickler for facts, and Alternet(left) is just as bad as CNS News(right), I'd like to know how this data was extrapolated, and how the comparisons were made.

I want to know what circumstances were taken into consideration and which were discarded. Figures like this that are often put on partisan propaganda sites usually leave a thing or two out while putting a thing or two in that doesn't belong.

Statistics are so easily manipulated.

Edit:

I say this because although the site this story is on is the Business Insider the source material for the charts comes from Alternet.org.

Originally posted by Hessling
We see it, we sense it and yet......................................

I would seriously hate to be very young in this country today or to have children that are going to have to deal with the backlash. If and when our society completely collapses, I am older and have lived a full and joyous life. I will be OK with what's to come. I imagine I would feel quite differently if I had kids or was young myself.

We see ti, we sense it and we watch it happen...

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


I know exactly what you mean.

For a while I regretted never getting married. Never having any kids. A house with a white picket fence and so on.

With the current situation, I've begun to think not going down that road was the smartest move I ever made.

Sad to admit that, but I think you are spot on so I'll say it anyway.

Originally posted by Hessling

I'm pretty confident in stating I believe most of us here on ATS feel the United States is heading in the wrong direction.

Please take a look at the charts from the link posted above, which show areas that we are kicking butt in. Problem is these areas are absolutely nothing to be proud of.

I love my country and always wish it to be a great country. A great country with mostly content citizens. Yet, I feel a very dark cloud descending upon us. All of us.

Very ironic that later in the day it's announced that Osama is dead.

reply to post by Hessling


Sad,sad,sad with a siding of more sad. The only inaccuracy in the links is the infant mortality rate. The USA uses a different system then the rest of the world. The only time a child is viewed as "stillborn" in the US is if the baby is dead in the womb.

While in EU countries if the baby dies shortly or roughly after birth it is viewed as "still born" and doesn't count against them.