Failing to address basic human needs
What is the US good for?
At present I would say very little. We’re good at some things, but as a country we’re turning out to be decidedly second rate.
America leads the world when it comes to access to higher education. But when it comes to health, environmental protection, and fighting discrimination, it trails many other developed countries, according to the Social Progress Imperative, a U.S.-based nonprofit.
The results of the group’s annual survey, which ranks nations based on 50 metrics, call to mind other reviews of national well-being, such as the World Happiness Report released in March, which was led by Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, or September’s Lancet study on sustainable development. In that one, Iceland, Singapore, Sweden, and the U.S. took spots 1, 2, 3, and 28—respectively.
Of course we did. No social health insurance, endemic angry racism, a low minimum wage, massive private debt, a gruesomely high poverty rate, chronic gun violence, and an overall fuckyou attitude to anyone who’s not rich white and powerful. I’m not impressed by our performance in “access to higher education,” either, when it comes with such terrible strings attached.
The Social Progress Index released this week is compiled from social and environmental data that come as close as possible to revealing how people live. “We want to measure a country’s health and wellness achieved, not how much effort is expended, nor how much the country spends on healthcare,” the report states. Scandinavia walked away with the top four of 128 slots. Denmark scored the highest. America came in at 18.
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Of course it’s easy enough to dismiss or belittle these occasional reports, each with their unique methodologies and almost identical conclusions. Another approach, however, would be to look at them all together and conclude that they represent “mounting evidence.” In that case, Houston (and Dallas, New Orleans, Tulsa, St. Louis, Baltimore, Chicago, and New York), we have a problem.
SPI produces the report in part to help city, state, and national policymakers diagnose and (ideally) address their most pressing challenges. The group’s chief executive, Michael Green, said America “is failing to address basic human needs, equip citizens to improve their quality of life, protect the environment, and provide opportunity for everyone to make personal choices and reach their full potential.”
We give much better chances of going to prison though.
Uh, no. In Australia for example, the government pays for all university education as an interest-free loan, and payment of this loan only becomes compulsory if a person’s income rises above a certain threshold. The payment takes the form of a percent or two of annual income added to the individual’s taxes until the loan is fully paid off or their income drops back below that threshold for any reason. And if a person wants to pay it off as a lump sum, they get a substantial reduction on the total debt.
I’ll bet most of the western world has some similar (or better) methods, granting much better access relative to America’s system.
The Dutch system of educational funding (at least when I in University from 2000~2005) is that student loans ought to be paid back, unless one graduates within a certain time-frame in which case the loan becomes a gift. The payments can add up to quite a significant amount per month, especially for those with low-income jobs. Sounds to me like the Australians have figured out a better system.
And, lately, American ‘higher education’ seem to be declining into crude job-training businesses, a step or two above Trump U.
This, also coupled with a consumerist mindset that sees the student not as scholar, but as consumer. They need to e happy. They need to receive a product. The worst of it is – the product is misidentified as a diploma. The proper product is an education, and the diploma is merely a certificate of authenticity.
And education is being driven further down by the desire to compete with University of Phoenix type for-profit schools that tell students they can get a degree in a little over a year without ever leaving their home!
yup, race to the bottom
Wonder how many of us whose taxes support the military-industrial complex above all else, and the lower middle class and below parts of our society who supply most of the recruits to our armed forces, ever ask what, exactly, are they sending their money, sons, and daughters to defend?
‘Murica! (?)