Is America 'the greatest'?

• Posted by Sugar Skull March 8, 2017 - Filed in Life & Society - #America  #research  - 4,603 views
  The other day I saw a clip from the TV show, Network in which a man states that America is not the greatest, and proceeded to spout facts and figures to support his
  claim.  I decided to do some checking...and here's what I found.
  
  We now are rated the 7th best country to live in. we are 6th in quality of life. We rank out of the top ten in literacy, citizen incarceration, and education.  We were awarded the position of 19th most successful nation (the United States has a “failed state index” score of 34.8, which makes the United States the nineteenth most successful state in the world, out of one hundred seventy seven countries ranked in that category). We are 17th in educational performance. We rank 41st in the index of freedom of the press.  41st! And, no surprise, 19th in national satisfaction and 17th in citizen happiness and 12th for a thriving population. We are rated 24th in freedom from corruption. In 2013 our perceived honesty rate among nations rated us at 19th out of 177 countries considered.  We rank as 101st on the world peacefulness scale and 2nd for approval of drone strikes. We were ranked at having the 6th highest military expenditure in 2012. We are 17th in credit worthiness. In 2011 we were ranked 4th in global competitiveness.  We are 8th for the number of researchers we have here. We rank at 11th for our commitment to development. The U.S. ranks 17th in democracy.
  
  The U.S. ranks 1st in non-methane VOC emissions and 2nd in CO2 emissions from consumption of energy. The U.S. ranks 1st in flourinated gas emissions. The U.S. currently ranks 9th in greenhouse gas intensity.
  
  We are 3rd in the number of motor vehicles and 148th in gasoline pump prices. We are 1st in the number of roadways which goes along with our being 3rd in road accidents. The U.S. ranks 1st in oil consumption. The U.S. ranks 1st in nuclear power and 4th in planned and/or proposed nuclear reactors. We also rank 1st in the amount of recovered/recycled paper.
  
  The U.S. ranks 138th in reliance on exports, according to the World Bank, in 2009 the total value of exports of goods and services from the United States equaled to 11% of the country’s GDP. That makes the United States tied for one hundred and thirty-eighth with Brazil out of one hundred forty-three countries in that category.
  
  We are 83rd in in percentage of agricultural land with our ranking being 27th in food security. The US ranks 5th in male obesity.  We are being ranked 4th in urban population, and 2nd in the number of extinct bird species. The U.S. ranks 64th in rural drinking water quality
  
  We are only #10 on the scale of economic freedom and 24th in wage distribution and 10th in purchasing power of minimum wage and 11th in the amount of the minimum wage.
  
  We are 12th in the enumeration of prosperity.  However, the country itself is only at #14 in the listing of central government debt and 36th in public debt and 121st in overall government spending. We are 4th in the number of citizens that fake illness to get out of work. We are 23rd in long term unemployment. The U.S. ranks 5th in ease of doing business. We also rank at 4th for labor production.
  
  We are 26th in net migration rates (people moving in/out of the country) and are 24th in our number of foreign born citizens - who represent 14% of our total population.
  
  We are 3rd in electricity import. We are 27th in alcohol consumption
  
  We are first in citizen deaths at law enforcement's hands and the number of super rich citizens and citizen incerceration and, death by violence and small arms
  imports. We are 7th in the number of homicides.
  
  We rank 2nd in ignorance of social issues (like teen pregnancy or other cultures) with us being 12th in the age of initial sex education and 22nd in deaths due to UV radiation (keep on tanning, folks) and 11th in condom use. We are 1st in the number of plastic surgeons and number of breast augmentationsts. Safety at night for me was rated at number 12, for women at number 31. The U.S. ranks 54th in education expenditures. The U.S. ranks 72nd in girls going to grade school, with and enrollment
  rate of 92% and 85th in boys going to grade school with 91% enrollment.
  
  We are 66th in religious diversity, being 3rd in the number of Jews, 7th in Hindu's, 13th in the number of Buddhists and 52nd in the amount of Muslims, 120th in the number of Christians (however they still constitute our largest religious denomination) and 3rd in citizens with no religious affiliation.  he U.S. ranks 85th in religiosity. The U.S. ranks 4th in pornography revenues, as well.
  
  We rank 13th in believing LGBT citizens should have equal rights with the rest of the citizenry.  We are 23rd in gender equality, ranking well behind Nicaragua and the Philippines and 56th in women's pay.  We, sadly, rank 26th in the list of child well-being. The U.S. ranks 6th in lowest mean age of women at the time of their first child’s birth. Our maternal death rate as of 2015 is 49th, behind such medical bastions like Malta and a number of Arab countries with our neonatal rate of death placing us at 47th in the world enumeration. The U.S. ranks 23rd in Women’s Overall Index and 34th in Children’s Overall Index. The U.S. ranks 46th in civil liberties.
  
  We are 19th in the ranking of countries in the quality of retirement for their seniors and 2nd in child poverty. We are 6th in the public monies spent on health care (which may go towards explaining why we are 2nd in out-of-pocket healthcare costs.)  We are 30th in the number of available hospital beds and 89th in hepatitis B vaccinations.  Reserving judgment, the US still ranks at 75th for the incidence of rubella, and out of 183 countries we are 45th for the prevalence of old fashioned measles and 4th in pertussis (whooping cough). We are 14th in the prevalence of teen suicide. In 2008 the U.S. ranked 10th out of 25 countries in teenage girls who are reported victims of bullies. The U.S. ranks 62nd in prevalence of HIV....happily. The U.S. ranks 32nd in support of euthanasia.
  
  We are 11th in the number of internet users and 33rd in internet download speeds. Surprisingly, The U.S. only ranks 6th in young adults using social networking.
  
  Kinda makes you think.....