Can a 2nd World Nation Lead the Green Revolution? U.S. May Not Be Good Choice.
Which nation is going to lead the global “sustainable revolution”? While I’m well aware that this revolution is a pipe dream, with ‘leaders’ like Clinton and Obama (both are total fucking disasters who mirror perfectly the ignorance of their ‘liberal’ constituency) in love with tar sands and liquid coal, it’s a fun thought experiment.
As a citizen of the United States, I tried to envision a revolution lead by Old Glory. But then it hit me: Her glory days are over. In fact, after doing a bit of research, I’ve come to the conclusion that the U.S. is no longer a first world nation. Here’s what I found:
INFANT MORTALITY RATE: The United States is not only last among first world nations, it’s way down the list in the middle of the second-tier nations at #37. Nestled between Croatia and New Caledonia, the United States is decidedly second rate when it comes to taking care of its newborns. (Source: U.N. World Populations Prospects: 2006)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: What do you think? U.S. ranks top five? Top ten? Not even top twenty. According to the U.N., the U.S. has fallen to #38, just above Portugal and Slovenia. First world nations ring in consistently with life expectancies three years longer than the U.S.. Could it be the water? The PVC? The complete lack of monitoring of our food supply for carcinogens, heavy metals and other nasty shit that isn’t allowed in the E.U.? Nah, it’s our health care system that Hillary will fix. Ahem.
PRESS FREEDOM: An important indicator for so many reasons. Here, the United States ranks #44, behind Namibia, South Africa, Benin and forty other nations. (Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005). We in the U.S. take it for granted that our press is a shining example of freedom and democracy, but we rarely examine this notion for truth.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: The U.N. measures Human Development using a fancy metric that combines longevity, literacy and GDP. Norway, Sweden and Australia top this list, with the U.S. coming in at number eight. Not too bad, but certainly lower than most U.S. citizens would expect. (Source: U.N. Human Development Report 2004)
LITERACY: According to the International Adult Literacy Survey, the mean prose literacy scores of U.S. adults with a high school diploma or GED (but no college), ranked 18th (tie) out of 19 countries. That’s awesome!!! A nation of semi-literates is expected to lead the green revolution? I think not.
EDUCATION: Among adults age 25 to 34, the U.S. is ninth among industrialized nations in the share of its population that has at least a high school degree. In the same age group, the United States ranks seventh, with Belgium, in the share of people who hold a college degree. Twenty years ago, the U.S. ranked first in both categories. This marks a RAPID slide. Just wait another twenty years! (Source: OECD.org)
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So, there you have it. When it comes to leading the revolution, we’re better off looking at Norway, Sweden, Japan, the E.U.. The time for U.S. leadership has come and gone. What’s more, I think this is a good thing for the world. The Greeks and French–both second-tier nations–for example, have solid quality of life. And neither nation tries to hold the U.N. over a barrel when things aren’t going their way. A less dominating United States with a diminished consumer appetite will be a blessing. Sadly, I doubt we’ll slip a few rungs without trying to take down the rest of the world with us (this is exactly what is happening in the Middle East).
Maybe Gore should run for office in Norway, where he can do some good.
[tags]climate change, ipcc, united nations[/tags]
Tags: Ruminations