Who Really Controls Our Lives? It May Not Be Who You Think

 

America isn't a democratic republic any longer. It's a corporatocracy. I think we all understand that by now. Most studies now list us as a "flawed democracy". We've devolved into a neo-fascist state which in many ways resembles the feudalism with its two tier legal, political, and economic systems. In lieu of feudal lords and ladies, we have the super wealthy who own the two main political parties as much as they do the government, legal system, and the media.

They control the economy, set domestic and foreign policy, while their lobbyists write legislation which become laws and you can bet they don't benefit us. They've become our overlords, whether we call them oligarchs, kleptocrats or plutocrats, their goal is all the same---control, be it assets, resources, or us.   

Collectively they've stripped us of many of our freedoms, and continue to do so. They've turned us against each other because divided we can be easily manipulated and pose no threat to them. They've turned our nation into a surveillance state where we're perpetually watched, tracked, and monitored. We're so frustrated and confused we don't know who or what to believe.    

While researching my next article, I came across the video below entitled " The Illusion of Democracy: Who Really Controls Our Lives". The video, which runs 1:18.13  was posted by Best Documentary. It was originally put out under the title "Freedom of Choice" in 2014, includes the following description:

" Life is about choice. What we eat, what we read, who we elect; every day we make choices that determine how we want to live. But what if these choices are just an illusion? In an era where regulations and red tape rule every industry, where lobby groups and big business wield more influence than ever before, our daily choices have become increasingly limited. Focusing on key areas such as food, medicine, finance, and media, Freedom From Choice provides viewers with a glimpse at the myriad of ways their lives are being dictated, and tells us who stands to gain."

I encourage you to set aside some time to watch this highly informative video even if you have to do so in short 15 minute segments. I think it will help to you to understand what has been going on and continues to be going on. You may find that your suspicions have been correct all along.

Video: The Illusion of Democracy: Who ReallyControls Our Lives

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America's State of Freedom: How Do We Compare?

There has been much discussion recently about the decline and pending fall of the American Empire, but how much of that is actually true? Is the United States as we know it tittering on collapse? Well, let's take a look at some of the studies, surveys, and polls to see where the U.S. currently stands on a number of key issues.

First up is freedom. After all, that's what we're known for ---"land of the free and home of the brave" right? According to the independent and non-partisan World Population Review, the top ten freest countries in the world are Switzerland, New Zealand, Denmark, Estonia (yes, the former Soviet Republic), Ireland, Finland, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Luxembourg.  Wait. What? No United States in the top ten?  Nope.

Actually America comes in 15th place, just behind the UK and ahead of Japan and Germany. Also ahead of us are Iceland, Norway, and the Netherlands. The ten least freest countries are all in the Middle East and Africa (with the exception of Venezuela). Some include Egypt, Somalia, Iran and Iraq (naturally),Yemen, and the Sudan. 

Americans are known for their rugged individualism. It's the staple of practically every Western movie and TV show ever made.  Individualism, and with it our rights to personal freedom are at the core of what it means to be an American. So would it surprise you to know that the U.S. isn't in the top ten (again)? It's not even in the top 20 when it comes to personal freedom.

The United States has become a neo-fascist Corporatocracy. It's run (or managed if you prefer) by a relatively small clique of uber wealthy oligarchs (sometimes referred to a kleptocrats). These corporations and individuals have done their best to gradually impinge on our individual freedoms under the guise of "national security" (creating a surveillance state) and giving "personhood" to corporations.

So, the fact that we aren't in the top 20 shouldn't come as any surprise to you.  The countries with the greatest amount of personal freedom are all the "socialist"  Scandinavian countries as well as Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Taiwan, Latvia and the Czech Republic (both former Soviet satellites),  the UK and others.

When it comes to personal freedom, the United States ranked an embarrassing 24th in the world. We are just behind Italy and ahead of Uruguay and Spain.  In terms of economic freedom, we did much better, which you'd expect with us being an Corporatocracy and all.  However, we're still not in the top five.

The top four most economically free are the Pacific nations of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. Switzerland rounds out the top five. Coming in sixth place is the former Soviet republic of Georgia with the U.S. in the seventh spot. Ireland, Lithuania (another former Soviet state), and Australia rounding out the top ten. It's worth noting that most of the countries which ranked high in personal freedom ranked in the bottom half of the top 20 freest economic countries.

In looking at a report by the conservative Heritage Foundation for 2022, it's worth noting that the top economically freest countries are Singapore, Switzerland, Ireland, New Zealand, Luxembourg, Taiwan, and Estonia. The Netherlands, Finland, and Demark finish the top ten. 

The United States comes in 25th place between the UK and Georgia in the lower half of the "Mostly Free" column. We also became a debtor nation in 1985. An early warning? Germany was 16th and South Korea was 19th. The Ukraine was 130th while Russia was 113th. Both are in the "Least Free" section.

As an aside, America is also listed as a "flawed democracy". I've mentioned that this and other independent media sites are often "shadow blocked", so it should be no surprise that Reporters Without Borders should rank freedom of the press in the United States as barely satisfactory. In fact, the U.S. is ranked 43rd in the world. There are actually some third world nations ranked higher the U.S.!

Education has been called the "road to success" (or as John Wayne once said, "life is hard. It's harder if you're stupid). Either way, I have to agree. Education not only provides the individual with the keys to success, it also largely determines the success of a nation.

America has long struggled academically when compared to the rest of the world although we tend to spend more private and tax dollars on education than any other country. According to a 2021 academic report, the United States had the best overall educational system in the world followed the UK, Germany, Canada, France, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

When it comes to science and math, we ranked near the bottom of the second tier of developed nations. In the latest 2018 test of OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development),  we scored 478, which was below the average score of 489. The top five highest scoring countries were all Asian (Singapore, Macao, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan).

In science, we did a little better, scoring just above the OECD average of 489 with a 502, but was well below the top five countries of Singapore (551), Macao (544), Estonia (544), Japan (529), and Finland (522).  In literacy, we ranked at about average with Denmark coming in first.

Another indicator of our decline is healthcare. You would think that with the resources that the United States has our healthcare would be second to none. Sadly, the U.S. has one of the worst healthcare systems of any industrial nation. While the world's overall life expectancy has continued to rise (it was 82 years old in 2020), it was 77 years of age in the U.S..

Meanwhile, mortality rates in the America have remained higher than in other OECD nations despite a general decline overall due to improved technology and medicine. The mortality rate in the U.S. dropped from 1980 to 2020 by 19% while for other industrial nations the drop was 43%.   

Early or premature deaths due to diseases and disabilities were also higher in the U.S. than elsewhere. In fact, they were roughly 37% higher. In 2019 (the latest record) non-age related deaths due to disease or disability were 26,061 per 100,000. The global average was 18,987. 

The United States also had the highest infant mortality rates of any OECD country as well with just under 24 deaths per 100,000 live births. The next closest country was Canada with 8.4 per 100,000. The Netherlands and Australia had the lowest with 1.2 and 2.0 respectively. The world average was 4.5.

Where we did well was with heart attack and stroke treatment. Using 2018 data for individuals age 45 or older over the first 30 days following the event, the mortality rate per 100 in the U.S. was 4.9 compared to 5.9 among industrial nation.. For strokes it was 4.1 versus 6.4, and for hemorrhagic (bleeding) strokes the mortality  was 19.4 as opposed to 20.7 globally.

But when it came to asthma, COPD, congestive heart failure, and diabetes we had mixed results. In measuring mortality rates per 100,000, the U.S. had 37.1 deaths related to asthma compared to an average among industrialized nations of 34.7. For diabetes, the U.S. had 226 versus 137.5.

However, with COPD we had 194.1 with 228 among comparative nations. When it came to congestive heart failure, the average among industrialized nations was 272.3. The U.S. had an appalling 411.7. There are 2018 figures, which are the latest measurements.

Finally, the United States ranks last when it comes to access to medical care and quality compared to other industrialized nations with the Netherlands, Australia, Sweden, Japan, and Austria in the top five spots.  It should also be noted that the U.S. places far less attention on preventative care and alternative medicinal treatment. There are fewer beds available in hospitals than in other OECD nations.

The United States also has among the highest prescription costs of most any nation in the world, which is attributable to its poor medical care coverage. The majority of nations have some form of nationalized (or "socialized" medicine if you prefer), resulting in lower costs and faster recovery but occasionally longer waiting times for non-life threatening treatment.

One component to having a long and healthy life is having a high overall quality of life. So how does the U.S. rank? As has been the trend for many years now, those "socialist" nations of Scandinavia have not just a better education system, better health care and higher life expectancy, they also have the highest quality of life, but they're not the only ones!

Sweden ranked number one, followed by Denmark, Canada, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand.  Other top nations include Ireland (#16), Japan (#14), and the UK (#12). As for the United States, we came in at #21, just behind Italy and Portugal but ahead of Poland and Singapore. By comparison, China and the United Arab Emirates are #24 and #25 respectively.

It's no secret that the U.S. has highest percentage of its population behind bars than any industrialized nation with an average of 625 individuals per 100,000, or to put it another way, with the U.S. having roughly 5% of the world's population, we have 25% of it behind bars. The states with the highest percentage incarcerated are Louisiana and Oklahoma. 90% of those behind bars are men.   

Following the United States is China, Brazil, India, Russia, and Thailand with the most number of people in jail (China and India dwarf the U.S. in terms of population). Israel and Bahrain have the least number of people behind bars. When examining the highest rates of incarceration based population, the U.S. again is number one followed by Rwanda, Turkmenistan, El Salvador, and Cuba.

In terms of voter approval, of the top 11 foundational institutions which support the federal government, only the military and small businesses have positive numbers. Congress consistently polls terrible. The disapproval rate for Congress is currently hovering around 77%.  In other countries their numbers would be concern for a revolt or revolution. In fact, 43% of Americans believe a civil war or revolution will occur within the next ten years.  

President Joe Biden has a disapproval rate of 51.4% while his Vice President, Kamala Harris, has a disapproval rating of 48.7%. The approval rating for former President Donald Trump is 55.7%, which seems to prove that persistent negative campaigning (aka "character assassination) works.

Meanwhile, only 30% of Americans approve of the direction the country is going in.  74% of Americans are sick and tired of bi-partisan bickering and finger pointing, including 78% of Independents, 82% of Democrats, and 68% of Republicans.  The average American has a consumer debt of nearly $100,000 while corporate CEOs earn approximately 324 times more than an average employee.  In 2020, the average corporate CEO made $670 dollars for every dollar an average employee earned.

As an aside, both corporate owned parties---Democrat and Republican---are losing more voters than gaining. Independents remain the largest political bloc and continues to grow while the Democrats and GOP battle over a shrinking piece of the political pie. Americans in large numbers disapprove of corporate lobbyists writing legislation, partisan gerrymandering, partisan offices, Citizens United while supporting citizen ballot initiatives, term limits, voter approval for tax, fee, and rate increases.

A country, no matter how large or developed, can't sustain numbers like these indefinitely, and yet that's exactly what Congress, the Presidency and Big Business expect. We continue to bolster corporations with taxpayer money and cut taxes for the rich while Americans struggle to make ends meet. In terms of poverty levels among OECD nations, America is third behind Costa Rica and Hungary.  

It's clear that the ruling Oligarchy will do nothing that impinges upon their growing control on power beyond smoke and mirrors. When citizens see no hope for real and meaningful change; when their propaganda or bread and circuses no long work, what then?  

 

If you want to know more about this article's topic, please check out the links below. If you enjoyed the article, please consider passing it along to others and don't forget to subscribe. It's free! Lastly please be sure to "like" us on whatever platform you use to read anotheropinionblog.com. It helps with the algorithms and keeps our articles in circulation. Thank you! 

 

World Population Review: Freest Countries 2022

2022 Index of Economic Freedom

Press Freedom Index

U.S. Education Rankings Are Falling Behind the Rest of theWorld

How does the quality of the U.S. health system compare toother countries?

U.S. Healthcare System Ranks Last Among 11 High IncomeCountries

Incarceration rates by country

Quality of Life

FiveThirtyEight: Polls

Congressional Approval Rating

Americans are sick of lawmakers bickering. They don't have much hope that will change

Wage gap between CEOs and US workers jumped 670-to-1 lastyear, study says

Poverty rates in OECD countries as of 2019

Where Does American Stand On The World's Freedom Index? The State of American Freedom Pt 1 of 3 of Our "Where America Ranks" Series

Did you watch President's Trump's State of Union address? I watched most of it (including the Pelosi sideshow going on behind the President). I took particular note of how often Trump made reference to America being "great", which has been a central theme of his since the campaign. That made me wonder---just how "great" is America really? As most Americans already know, the United States is an Oligarchy; ruled (as opposed to governed) by a relatively small number of elites. Of course, these same elites and a few others, dominate the rest of the globe, or at least most of it. So, how does the US stack up in terms of overall freedom, income equality and social mobility, and finally, in terms of the quality of our education system? This article will be part one of a three part series which will examine those issues.

The first topic we'll look at is freedom. After all, the notion of "freedom" has been this country's mantra practically since its founding. It's why people from around the world want to come here. But just how "free" are we actually? We already know that the US has become essentially a surveillance state since 9/11, be it government agencies or corporations (as an Oligarchy, the two work in tandem anyway). As I wrote in my last article, the US has adopted a "enhanced" driver's license, which acts as a defacto national ID card, complete with a tracking chip and facial ID capability.

Our cell phones and social media monitors and records us, builds profiles of sites we visit, where we shop and purchased, not to mention even tracks us, and even anticipates our likes. Some people like that. Personally, I find it a little scary. It's too much private information in the hands of other people and computers. Our credit cards are chipped and so are our cars and trucks. Some people have watches which double not just as a time piece but also as cell phone, internet access point, and, of course, a monitoring devise. But these are more incidentals; reflections on the state of our personal freedom amid ever growing technology. What I want to know is how we ranked in terms of our basic freedoms.

One of the most important freedoms that American has been a free press, as covered under the First Amendment along with free speech and freedom of association. According to Reporters Without Borders, they researched the openness, independence, accurately, and self-censorship of the media. Out of 180 countries, the US is now ranked in the 45th spot, dropping two spots since Trump was elected President. This partly the result of a not so subtle propaganda war again the Trump White House and the proliferation of what's often called "fax news".

So, if the US is in 45th place, who came in first for the most honest, accurate, and fair media? That went to Norway, followed by Sweden in second place. Russia was ranked as 148th while China was 176th. In last place was North Korea. No big surprise there! According to the Human Freedom Index, which was compiled by the Cato and Frasier institutes, in terms of personal freedom, economic freedom, and amount of tax and regulations, the US is ranked in the 17th sport; a drop from its usual third place spot. Pretty sad for a country which prides itself as being the "Leader of the Free World" don't you think? The drop started around the time of Bill Clinton, and has continued to decline through the presidencies of George W Bush and Barack Obama, and now, into President Trump's administration.

The top spots went to Switzerland, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Ireland, and Australia. As an aside, Hong Kong was ranked number one in terms of economic freedom and second in personal freedom. In addition, Hong Kong was the top ranked place for innovation, be it technology, business, or government. At the bottom of the list was, starting at 155th place, Egypt, Yemen, Libya, Venezuela, and Syria. Venezuela, prior to Hugo Chavez, was ranked as the wealthiest country in Latin America and one of the most economic and personally freest countries. However, since the adoption of a Marxist version of Socialism, it's economic, social, and political systems has been in a free fall, making it one of the worse countries in the world to live in.

According to the website, Traveller, which is a travel site that rates the best countries and places to visit, the United States ranks 25th in personal freedom. The information came from The "Legatum Prosperity Index for 2018", which looks at a variety of factors such as crime, business environment, health, personal freedom, environment, among other factors. The report listed the US as first in terms of business environment and sixth in social capital. However, we ranked poorly in terms of governance (19th), economic quality (13th), personal freedom and natural environment (23rd each), health (35th), safety and security (43rd). In terms of education, we only made it to the 9th spot.

The top ranked countries (in order) was Luxembourg, Canada, New Zealand, Iceland, Ireland, Uruguay, Netherlands, Finland, Belgium, and Portugal. Also included among the top twenty were all the Scandinavian countries, Slovenia, Australia, Malta, the UK, Costa Rica and Spain. The least most tolerant countries included most of Africa and the Middle East (excluding Israel), along with Iran in the 5th spot, Russia in 9th place, Iraq in at 11th and China at 12th. However, according to the report, coming in first place as the least free country was Afghanistan.

In terms of healthcare, according to the World Health organization, the US ranks 37th in the world, behind countries most all European countries, as well as Canada, Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Chile, Australia, and Morocco. In fact, the US ranked in between Costa Rica and Slovenia. That's actually pretty embarrassing if you think about it; a country like the US being ranked behind and in the midst of second tier countries.

The top spots went to Italy, France, San Marino, Andorra, Malta, and Singapore. Other nations in the top tier included Japan, all the Scandinavian countries, Spain, the UK, Ireland, Columbia, Saudi Arabia, Canada, and most of Europe. It goes to show that while "Obamacare" did improve overall healthcare in the US, it fell far short when compared to the rest of the world. In terms of healthcare performance, America actually ranks dead last.

The study, conducted by the non-partisan Commonwealth Fund, examined five areas. Namely, Access, Care Process, Administrative Efficiency, Equity, and Healthcare Outcomes. The study showed that while the outspends every other country, we somehow managed to fail three of the five issues with Americans having the highest mortality rate of any country in the study; much higher than their counterparts in Europe. The report cites essentially a lack to adequate quality care as the chief cause. America would have fared far better had it adopted a single payer health system and allowed individuals and companies to purchase supplemental insurance. This would have allowed even small businesses to a means to compete with the larger ones without the extra financial burden or forcing employees to find their own coverage, and for a far cheaper price.

However, the US did come in first place in one key, albeit dubious category. American was ranked number one in terms of incarceration. We imprison more of people than any industrialized nation in the world at a rate of 655 per 100,000. That's more than China, Russia, Cuba, or even North Korea. The closest country to us is El Salvador, which jails 609 per 100,000 and Turkmenistan with prison rate of 552 per 100,000. Cuba jails 510 individuals per 100,000 while for Russia it's 409 per 100,000. The top reason for the imprisonment in the US was due to drugs, possession or sell, followed by felonies of one sort or another.

Well, there you have it. For a nation which fancies itself as the bastion of freedom, it appears the facts don't back up the hype. In most of the studies, the US typically ranks between the middle and the low end of the second tier of whatever category we're looking at with one glaring exception. The problems we face are not partisan issues. This isn't solely the fault of the Democrats or the Republicans. It can't be attributed to the extreme Left or Right. This is a systematic failure in which both sides share the blame equally. This is what the partisan bickering has brought us, not to mention the corporate control of the agenda and the demise of labor unions (say what you want about unions, they at least ensured that their members received good wages and benefits). Our next installment will focus on income inequality. I hope you will join us.


US drops to 45 in countries in ranking of countries based on freedom of the press

US freedom ranking lower than you would think

Freedom around the world: The most (and least) free and tolerant countries

Countries with the most prisoners per 100,000 of the national population, as of July 2018

The Patient Factor: World Health Organization Ranking of World Health Systems

The US Ranks Last in Health Care Systems Performance

America: Still the Home of the Brave and Land of the Free?

America. Home of the Brave and the Land of the Free. These ideals have been the hallmark of every American's socialization since childhood. Americans see themselves as strong, hardy and innovative; an individualistic "up by your own bootstraps" kind of people. In many ways, the ideals of our pioneer past have never left us: reinforced by our cultural myths and made tangible by countless books, plays, and the magic of Hollywood. There's no doubt that the US military is second to none. Not just in the world but in history. We have the best equipped, the best trained, the best fed, and the best motivated military in the world. Quite simply, American military presence can reach out and touch anyone anywhere in the world at a moment's notice 24/7/365 with the most extreme prejudice. They can also build schools and hospitals. But what about the second half of that statement---Land of the Free. Surely, we as Americans are free...aren't we?

Americans certainly think of themselves as being free, or at least most of us was brought up with that notion. We've always considered the US President to be the "Leader of the Free World". However, it seems that few still do nowadays. Certainly in the world, America doesn't carry the prestige it once did. The image of the "Ugly American", first popularized in the early 1970's as a stereotype of the occasionally rude, often patronizing and arrogant American who thought, rightly or wrongly, that the world should be made over in the American Image---whether they wanted it or not---as part of the belief in our own Exceptionalism. So then, how do we stack up when it comes to freedom?

According to the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom published annually by the Heritage Foundation, the top three most economically free economies belong, in order, to Hong Kong with a 89.6 rating out of 100. Next is Singapore at 89.4 followed by New Zealand with a rating of 82.1 (Australia and Switzerland round out the top five with 81.4 and 80.5 respectively. The United States placed 12th, between Denmark and the United Kingdom with a rating of 76.2. European powerhouse Germany ranked 16th with a 73.8 rating while Japan was 20th with a 73.3.

In terms of fiscal spending, the US ranked a 66.2 out of 100 while tiny Bahrain received a rating of 99.9. Norway had a 52.1 while Mexico's was 77.8. Russia had a rating of 86.1. Things were much improved for the United States when it came to labor freedom despite the decline in organized labor. Here the rating was an impressive 98.5. Saudi Arabia had a rating of 72.7. Russia was 58.9 while China had an unexpected rating of 63.0. The UK's ranking for labor freedom was 75.6. No other country ranked as high as did the US in this category. What about personal freedom?

In terms of property rights, New Zealand ranked first in the world with a score of 95.0. Numerous countries were tied for second with a rating of 90, including The Netherlands, Canada, Iceland and the Scandinavian countries, the UK, Singapore, and Australia. As for America, it came in with a rating of only 80.0. In terms of financial freedom, the highest marks went to Australia and Hong Kong with a rating of 90.0 each. There were numerous countries with ratings in the 80.0 range including the Czech Republic, Estonia, and the United Kingdom. As for the US, it ranked a 70.0 along with second tier nations like Panama, Columbia, El Salvatore, and Hungary as well as some leading countries such as Poland and Germany. For the record, China and Russia received a score of 30.0 while Saudi Arabia rated a 50.0. So, it's quite obvious America is not quite as free as we would like to believe it is. If you're ever looking for the real Leader of the Free World from an economic freedom perspective, you might try Leung Chun-ying. He's the Chief Executive of Hong Kong. Now, what about education?

I've always thought that the single most important investment government can make was in the quality of its education system, which only makes sense. A society which produces a well rounded graduate is going to see a more productive and innovative individual. This in turn grows businesses, which adds jobs and produces more tax revenue to improve the quality of life for the community or nation. The policy of "flunking forward" by passing kids who've underperformed all out of concern over their self-esteem does no one any good. Yes, it gets them through the system but it produces uneducated graduates who then become someone else's problem, usually society's in terms of higher crimes rates, incarceration costs, more public dollars for social services like food stamps, housing, medical care, and generational poverty. At the same, employers are stuck with unqualified workers, lower productivity, higher medical costs, and higher turnover. As a nation, we find ourselves unable to compete effectively which feeds the downward economic spiral. With that in mind, let's take a look at how we stack up with the rest of world.

According to a May 13, 2015 report by the BBC, Asia seems to have lock on world's brightest minds. In terms of math and science (15 year olds), Singapore came in tops followed by Hong Kong and South Korea. Japan and Taiwan were tied at fourth. Vietnam was 12th. The highest European nation was Finland, which ranked 6th. Estonia was 7th with Switzerland and Holland taking eighth and ninth place

Canada came in tenth. Eleventh place with to Poland. The United States was tied with Italy in the 28th spot, coming in just ahead of Portugal.

In the area of reading, top honors went to South Korea. Finland was second with Canada, New Zealand and Japan--just beating Australia--rounding out the top five. The United States came in 14, splitting Iceland and Sweden. Great Britain was 20th and Mexico was dead last in 34th place. With such poor rankings, you would think that we need to spend more money on our failing educational system. Well, you'd be wrong. America already ranks first in dollars spent per student in the world with an average of just over $15,000 spent on each student (K - 12). Nevertheless, the 2013 report released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), American teachers made about $7000.00 more a year than the other educators ($38,000 vs. $31,000). If academic success is an indicator of a nation's economic success, then clearly the US is in serious trouble.

While I'm sure there are multiple explanations for this, such has overpaid administrators and teacher unions more concerned with maintaining their political clout and protecting teacher seniority rather than improving the methodology of teaching, I think it's essential that educators need to be left to teach rather than being overpaid babysitters. First and foremost discipline must be restored and enforced with a zero tolerance for bad behavior. We must stop excusing wrong behavior and we must stop drugging students. Second, kids need to be taught at an early age the need for critical thinking skills and developing their intellectual creativity. Third, teachers should teach only in the areas they're qualified for. Lastly, teaching is critical and should be rewarded as such, both financially and in terms of respect. They shape the futures of individuals and indirectly, the future of communities and nations. However, I want to qualify that by saying incentives should be based on individual classroom performance. Gifted children should be given every tool possible to excel, even if segregated. To many students graduate from High School with a sixth or eight grade reading level and no problem solving skills. That's completely unacceptable and the school and school system must be held accountable; financially if necessary. While more emphasis must be placed on math, science, and reading comprehension, we can't overlook the arts, history and civics even if the school year needs to be lengthen.

I know life is tough. Most parents work at least one job; many work two. While I don't believe it takes a village, nevertheless, the parent has a responsibly to take an active role in their child's academic performance. Every parent and someone from the school must meet regularly. No exceptions. Personally, I like the German academic system whereby children are tested as to their abilities and interests and encouraged in that direction. And let's be honest---not everyone should or needs to go to college. Not all jobs require an advanced degree when a technical certificate will do. Therefore, I strongly recommend bringing back trade schools. We don't need more lawyers, we need more carpenters and plumbers.

One last topic I'd like to address. Respectability. It's critical for our own individual success. It's also critical for our national success since it attracts not just tourists and students, but foreign investments as well as helps build alliances. I started off discussing "the Ugly American". How do we stand these days? According to a 2015 report from Forbes, the most respected country in the

world is Canada. Norway and Sweden came in second and third. As pointed out by the report, Finland and Scandinavia have consistently ranked in the top ten for the last six years, along with Holland, Australia, and Switzerland. As for the United States, we ranked 22nd, just behind military junta ruled Thailand. Isn't that special? One of the reasons cited by the report for America's dismal showing was the Citizens United ruling by the Supreme Court which added more evidence of our broken political and economic systems. I would add that the 2014 report verifying that America was no longer a functional democratic-republic, but an oligarchy serving the interests of leading corporations and the top 1% was a strong contributor as well.

There you have it. While we are not the freest country in the world by any measure, we're not the worse off either. Most certainly, we're a far cry from what our Founding Fathers intended. Academically, we're in serious trouble when compared to the rest of the world; especially our economic competitors. We've lost our Republic when we became an oligarchy with a rising police state (these, by the way, are not signs of "creeping socialism". Quite the opposite, despite the rhetoric of some Rightwing groups. These are signs of fascism. It's not Italian or German fascism. It's not Franco's Spanish fascism or Peron's Argentine fascism, nor the fascism found elsewhere. Fascism adapts. It draws from the Left and Right based the customs, traditions and history of each country. There are two things they always have in common though. One is to demonized whatever they fear the most and secondly, they advance in increments; two steps forward and one step back. A step to the Left and a step to the Right. Probing. Always testing the resolve of the People. So, what do you think they've found here? Is there resistance or is there complicity from indifference? Is this the free America you expected?



2015 Index of Economic Freedom
http://www.heritage.org/index/explore


Asia tops biggest school rankings
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-32608772

World education rankings: which country does the best in reading, maths, and science?
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading


The World's Most Reputable Countries, 2015
http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2015/07/15/the-worlds-most-reputable-countries-2015/


How America Became an Oligarchy
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2015/04/06/how-america-became-oligarchy

Are You a Conservative?

In a conversation recently, someone whom I had just meet asked me if I was a conservative. Nothing unusual about that I suppose, especially considering this chance meeting was at a political event with some 3500 presumably likeminded individuals. Naturally, rather than give the perfunctory response, I paused and asked exactly what they meant by the term "conservative"? If it was intended to mean whether I was in favor of "conserving" our present political regime or our present form of government, then my answer was a decidedly "no". There was nothing about the present occupant of the White House or his retinue that I was especially proud of, nor could I think of anything about the current direction our government was taking that especially excited me. 

I mean, was I a supporter of our current gerrymandering system which has, in effect, perfected a professional political class, created for the benefit of a political party that I may or may not support, help me? And if I happened to be an opponent of that individual; their policies, or that of their political party, it meant that I, in effect, was unrepresented for the duration of their term, which could be for near perpetuity. Obviously, the answer was nope, I don't.

Well then, did I want to preserve a system which has created a surveillance system akin to a police state; one where I am constantly monitored, recorded, or tracked "for my own good"? Certainly not, and it doesn't stop there. It extends to a commercial world where every key stoke, every selection, every site I visit, every purchase---from books to dinner---goes somewhere; to keep track of my personal preferences without my permission, then again, I have to say no. My personal life is just that---my personal life. What I like today, I may not like tomorrow. There's no need to keep track of it or send me a reminder. And while I'm at, who I call a friend or significant other is no body's business either. 

Along the same vein, what about a government that wants to monitor what say or write (especially about my government, and of course, assuming I'm not threatening to punch someone in the nose); or try to curtail my right to own a gun or my choice, especially when I'm a veteran and trained in its care and usage? What I decide to do with it is pretty much my business. Or what if I want to get together with some friends? Once again, that's my business too. Government also has no right kicking in my door without a warrant, or deny me the right to know the charges, or provide me with either the opportunity to face, and I mean face, my accusers or to speedy trial. None of this sneaking around garbage. And why do I "think" I have these "rights"? Because the Founders of this country said so, and they enshrined it in the Bill of Rights, which was attached to a thing called a Constitution; neither one of which does it appear that those elected to represent us are familiar.

But, perhaps that's not entirely true since these same people seem to believe that artificial entities called "corporations" have many of the very same rights that I, as a person, do. In fact, they believe corporations actually have more rights than I do. Case in point: freedom of speech. It seems that some of these...ahem..."honorable" men and women think that money and the free spending of such is one and the same as free speech. Well, I don't quite see it that way, but here it goes. You see, by giving money to the person, party, or cause of your choice is the same as expressing your personal preference, i.e.: "free speech". 

However, this would imply that the poor have less to "freedom" than someone who is middle class. And, to give the appearance at least of some measure of equality, everyone is capped in the amount they give (assuming the poor can scrape enough money together to donate). Well, while that sucked even in theory, two recent misrulings by the US Supreme Court (FEC v Citizens United and FEC v McCutchan's), said that while you and I are still limited in our "free speech", corporations weren't. They can give what they want. In effect, we got snubbed and the very rich get to openly buy elections. Do I want to conserve this kind of mentality? Absolutely not!

Thankfully, we've wised up some. We've learned to see wars or "conflicts" for what they are; not spreading democracy or protecting America, but acquiring or securing assets and making certain companies and their stockholders very rich at the cost of the lives of mostly ordinary men and women who likely were otherwise unable to find a job in an artificially depressed economic market. Did anyone really believe that invading Kuwait was anything more than liberating oilfields? Human rights were the cover story to get the populace to go along. Same was true with Iraq, and has been true with efforts to become engaged in places like Libya, Syria, and the Ukraine, or for that matter, overthrowing duly elected governments in Latin America or Southeast Asia because big business didn't like their politics.

We send billions in aid overseas to countries who hate us, while we have thousands here without enough to eat. Nothing about this concept I want to save. But on the other hand, despite demands made loud and clear, nothing has been done to secure our southern border. We have some 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. ICE and border patrol agents are told to do nothing; do not engage; do not enforce existing immigration laws. Not even states are allowed to enforce existing immigration laws. Employers of illegal immigrants don't even rate a hand smacking. Unions are, contrary to common sense, pushing for amnesty alongside big business. So what gives?

Simple economics really. More labor, more competition for the few jobs out there. That drives down wages and cuts benefits. Businesses get to pick and choose from the available talent, which they can pick up for less. Unions, who are cash/members strapped, are hoping to pick up workers and thus, more union dues to keep them afloat. All this also helps to keep and maintain a docile workforce---everyone is scared of losing their jobs by rocking the boat. Meanwhile, those not working continue to use taxpayers based services which are already starting to fail. The wealthy? Don't worry about them. The disparity between the top 1% and everyone else is greater than it's ever been and they're not affected by the drain on the system. In fact, they are safe and secure behind gated communities, so crime really isn't much of problem, and neither is the price of meat, eggs, bread, or gas. So, from their perspective, all is well, and if it isn't, they have the offending policies changed. Nope, this isn't a system I want to conserve.

We asked to reformed healthcare to one that most Americans could afford, especially the poor. What we got was a system no one wants and no one can afford. We demanded better schools, and we got a dumbed down curriculum and no discipline. And when the economy tanked because of poor monetary policy, those who promoted it; encouraged it; and got slap happy rich off of it, were the ones who were bailed out with taxpayer money---they were "too big to fail" despite the public's outcry---while the average working class family lost everything. They were too poor to save I guess. Frankly, I can't see anything worth keeping here either. So, where does that leave us?

We are nothing more than liabilities on a balance sheet---to enhance the bottom line and then to be discarded. We are no longer proud citizens, but consumers whose loyalties are measured by market share and brand names, not personal sacrifice. I guess we should count ourselves lucky that we aren't forced to wear barcodes with expiration dates, at least not yet anyway. We are told what we should want; how we should look; what we should think and how we should act, all while amassing massive debt to the tune of advertising pipers to keep up with the imaginary Jones. 

Mediocrity, especially in education, has become the acceptable. And to keep people from questioning the corporate-government duopoly, we're given the illusion of choice through two "competing" political parties while the serious decisions are made elsewhere, and if that fails, we're preoccupied with bread and circuses, only now they're video games, TV shows, and fashion magazines. Am I a conservative? Well, if that means do I want to conserve or protect any of this, the answer is an emphatic no.

The U.S. vs The World: How Do We Stack Up?

As anyone who knows me will attest, I love surveys, quizzes, and polls. So, it won't come as a surprise to anyone that my curiosity was peaked when I read an article recently about best places to live, in this case, if you're a woman. The article looked at a variety of factors, such as income parity, healthcare, and so forth. The US, it seems, is 23rd on the list, down from the 17th spot in 2011. In fact, when it came to income parity, which is essentially equal income for similar work between sexes, the US was a woefully 67th, while at the same time, it ranked 6th in economic participation or the ratio between men to women in the workplace. So, naturally, I decided I'd take a look at some other ranking to see where the Good Ole U S of A stacks up to other countries on other issues.

The factor I wanted to look at first was the overall quality of life. After all, what's the sense in living there if it's a lousy place to be? It turns out the place with the best quality of life is Australia, followed by Sweden, Canada, and Norway. The US came in 6th place, just ahead of Denmark and Holland. Iceland and Luxembourg rounded off the top 15. Forbes Magazine said in a 2013 article published on January 4th that Ecuador was their top spot to retire, followed by Panama, Malaysia, Mexico and Costa Rica. Ok, so how about overall life expectancy? Being an ageing Babyboomer, that's kinda important.

The country with longest life expectancy turns out to be two countries actually, Japan and Switzerland, with an average age each of 83. However, if you're a guy, the best place to be is in the fourth ranked country, Italy. While the average life expectancy is 82, it has the highest life expectancy for men at 82. But hey ladies, Italy is pretty good to you too. It's ranked number one for gals with a life expectancy of 86! The United States is ranked 33rd in the world with an average age of 79. For men, the US comes in 36th place with an average life expectancy of 76 and 35th place for women with 81 years. But what about the quality of those years?
It turns out that Sweden is the best place to grow old in (a bit cold for my tastes). Norway, was second with Germany, Holland, and Canada rounding out the top five. The US was ranked 8th, just behind New Zealand and just ahead of Iceland. Going hand-in-hand with the best places to grow old, is which places have the best healthcare. It turns out that Hong Kong, despite its dense population has the best healthcare system, and is just ahead of Singapore and Japan.

Next on the list was Israel, Spain, Italy, and Austria, with Sweden finishing the top 10. As an aside, it also seems that Hong Kong has the highest life expectancy on the list with an average of 83.4 years. The US ranked a dismal 46th out of 48, just ahead of Serbia, Brazil and behind China, Algeria, and Iran. American efficiency in terms of healthcare dollars was a poor 20%, and yet we spend more per person on average ($8608.00 per year) than any other nation except number 9 on the list, Switzerland, which spends $9,121.00 (US dollars) per person. Along a similar line, the overall healthiest people are the Japanese, followed by the Austrians, French, Swedes, and Italians. So, what about education? Surely we have to do better in this area than anyone else.

Well, as it turns out, not so much. The best educated nation is the Finns, though close behind are the South Koreans and Hong Kong. Two other Asian giants came in fourth and fifth, Japan and Singapore respectively. Next on the list was the Brits, Dutch, and New Zealanders. The Swiss and Canadians rounded out the top 10. America came in 17th place, just behind the Belgians and just ahead of the Hungarians and Slovakians.

What's really interesting about this is that, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the US spends more per student (just over $15,000) than any other nation. Switzerland comes the closes with an average cost of $14,922.00 per student while Mexico spends among the least at just under $3000.00 (as an comparison, the US spends, on average, around $32,000.00 per person in prison). At the same time, US students score far below students in other highly developed nations and do only slightly better than students in second and third tier countries. The US literacy rate 99%, which is pretty good, we're still ranked 26 in the world. The Ukraine, for instance, is ranked 12th while Norway is ranked 1st. The report indicated that the average cost per student was $9,313.00. What's also interesting is that the US lags behind the other Western nations in math, science, reading in 25th place while the East Asian nations score top marks across the board.What was also interesting was that US teachers were, on average, among the best paid in the world too. Obviously, something is very wrong here.

Speaking of expenditures, I wondered how we compared to other nations in terms of taxes. It turned out, that we do fairly well. The US ranks 23rd on taxable income, while other nations which as we've seen score well, did poorly here. Sweden has the highest tax rate at 56.6%, followed by Denmark at 55.4% and Holland at 52%. Austria and the UK were tied at 50%. Obviously, if you want better healthcare and quality of life (though not necessarily a better education), you'll have to pay dearly for it. It's all a matter of priorities. In terms of national debt, which certainly affects everything we've discussed thus far, the US is by far the most indebted nation in the world at approximately (in millions) $15,940,978. The next closest country are our British cousins at $9,307,090.

In terms of economic freedom, which by its very definition is subjective, the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom Report, list the most economically free country as Hong Kong with a score of 89.3. Singapore comes in 2nd with a score of 88. Australia and New Zealand are 3rd and 4th respectively. The United States comes in shocking 10th, just ahead of Ireland but behind Canada, Chile and Denmark. The UK is 14th and Germany ranks 19th.

In looking at crime, the US again came in first place with some 12,408,899 crimes reported in 2011. The next closest nation was Germany with some 2,112,843. Russia was fourth with just over 1 million reported crimes while Holland had approximately 372,300 reported crimes in 2011. The US ranked first among developed nations in violent crimes such as murder. Only four countries, Estonia, Russia Mexico and Brazil ranked higher. On the opposite side of the social spectrum, I was also interested to know who were the most and least religious people in the world, regardless of their religion.

As you might guess, religiosity seems to be closely related to wealth. It is also, sometimes, tied to political dogma. The poorer a country is, the more religious it is while the richer a country is, the less likely it will be overly religious. As it turns out, Ghana, as extremely poor nation, was top with 96% of the population claiming to be religious. Close behind them was Nigeria at 93% and Armenia at 92%. While globally, religion has declined 9% since 2005, Macedonia's religiosity was still at 90% with Romania at 89% and Iraq and Kenya tied at 88%.

On the other side of this issue, Ireland, once a devoutly Catholic nation now claims a whopping 10% atheist population, alongside Austria and Iceland. Holland was 15% atheist while Germany and South Korea were 15%. Surprisingly, the once very Catholic are now 29% atheist which the Czechs are 30%. What perhaps surprised me was the Japanese are 31% atheist, and unsurprisingly, the Chinese are 47% atheist. As for the US, 65% of us said we were religious. This ranked us 60th in the world. While 65% seems to be pretty good considering, it's still at drop of 13% since 2005.

So, the next time you want to know how America stacks up against other countries, you'll know. As can be seen, however, for a nation with the amazing diversity of people and resources, we can and need to do better; much better. There's no excuse for us to spend what we do on education, yet do so poorly, nor is the there an reason we should not do better in terms of reducing crime or improving the quality of life in America.

The Most Efficient Health Care Systems in the World
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/29/most-efficient-healthcare_n_3825477.html



The Best Countries to Grow Old In
http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/10/08/the-worst-countries-to-grow-old-in/2/

2013 Index Economic Freedom Report
http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking



Top Ten Countries with the Most Debt
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-most-in-debt-map.html



Top Ten Countries with the Most Reported Crimes
http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-top-ten/countries-most-in-debt-map.html



The Top Ten Countries with the Highest Income Tax Rates
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/11/10/the-10-countries-with-the-highest-income-tax-rates.aspx



A revealing map of how students around the world test on math science and reading
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/12/03/a-revealing-map-of-how-students-around-the-world-test-on-math-science-and-reading/



U.S. education spending tops global list, study shows
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-education-spending-tops-global-list-study-shows/



Most Religious Countries and Most Atheist Countries
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/23/most-religious-countries-least-religious_n_3640033.html


Global Index of Religion and Atheism
http://redcresearch.ie/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/RED-C-press-release-Religion-and-Atheism-25-7-12.pdf