Is the United States an empire?

[Scooter]

“And then you marvel at being labelled a moron.” I don’t worry about insignificant things.

It's good that you recognize your intellectual capacity is insignificant. Defining the problem is the first step to solving it.

No, I didn’t read it[/quoite]And yet you purported to know what it said. Are you claiming to be psychic now?

Ok here is your chance: How could the US move to the top of the index?

Giving you a brain transplant couldn't hurt. Just so long as it comes from someone unrelated.

[liberty]

“And then you marvel at being labelled a moron.” I don’t worry about insignificant things.

It's good that you recognize your intellectual capacity is insignificant. Defining the problem is the first step to solving it.

No, I didn’t read it[/quoite]And yet you purported to know what it said. Are you claiming to be psychic now?

Ok here is your chance: How could the US move to the top of the index?

Giving you a brain transplant couldn't hurt. Just so long as it comes from someone unrelated.

Ok here is your chance: How could the US move to the top of the index? If you don’t care for my country enough to offer a few suggestions I can understand that after all it is not your country.

[dgs49]

I'm actually rather glad you posted that list. The only questions where one could truly indicate a negative answer for the U.S. are questions where we have consciously chosen otherwise (e.g, "Is the legislature the supreme governing body...?)

USA!

[Scooter]

Ranking 18th among the 25 countries qualifying as "full democracies" isn't exactly an undiluted endorsement.

[Gob]

Years ago, Time Magazine produced an index that assigned each country a grade. The US ranked in the high nineties and Mexico ranked as fifty.
.

So what you are saying is that when Aus tops the US on a democracy index* you would be prepared to check Aus out, but yo are not prepared to accept any index which does not have the US above Aus on it?



*Aus tops the US on all current democracy indexes.

[rubato]

liberty is a good reminder of just how low the Republicans have to shoot to hit their voting demographic. Along with dgs and LJ.

yrs,
rubato

[liberty]

Years ago, Time Magazine produced an index that assigned each country a grade. The US ranked in the high nineties and Mexico ranked as fifty.
.

So what you are saying is that when Aus tops the US on a democracy index* you would be prepared to check Aus out, but yo are not prepared to accept any index which does not have the US above Aus on it?



*Aus tops the US on all current democracy indexes.

No Gob, I am saying that any index that places the US at position 19 make me suspect bias. In the US one can still criticize any person, place, race or religion they wish, In Japan back in the eighties, people were not allowed to own CB radios or work on their own cars.

[Gob]

Ok, so please find me an index you will be happy with, otherwise you seem to be cutting your nose off to spite your face mate.

[rubato]

Aus is a tiny place much smaller than Canada in population and economic importance and only a fraction of several US states. What nimrod would use that as a comparison?

Oh right.

yrs,
rubato

[Crackpot]

Looks like somone can't keep track of what position they've taken.

[Lord Jim]

iberty is a good reminder of just how low the Republicans have to shoot to hit their voting demographic. Along with dgs and LJ.

And yet we can't seem to aim low enough to hit a complete ignoranus like you....

For anyone who believes that all the stupid and/or ignorant people are in the GOP camp, I present rubato as exhibit "A" as indisputable proof that this is not the case....

Rube ,I suspect that more than anyone here, you must really miss Quad....

As long as he was here, there was at least one person on the board that talked out of their ignorant ass more than you do....

Now you've pulled into the #1 position....

[Lord Jim]

Looks like somone can't keep track of what position they've taken.

That's not the first time....

Rube couldn't keep track of his name, phone number and address it it wasn't written down and pinned to his sleeve.

[liberty]

Ok, so please find me an index you will be happy with, otherwise you seem to be cutting your nose off to spite your face mate.

I would consider an index that compares individual rights, such as: freedom of speech, right of the individual to be left alone or the right to defend one’s person and property.

You are not telling me that under these criteria that UK would rank higher than the US?

[Scooter]

You mean as opposed to an index that measures

freedom of expression

and

Extent to which citizens enjoy personal freedoms

and

Extent to which private property rights protected

?

Oh, wait, that would be the same thing.

[liberty]

I would consider an index that compares individual rights, such as: freedom of speech, right of the individual to be left alone or the right to defend one’s person and property.


like one nation’s “freedom of speech” compared to another’s. I hope you understand now.

[Gob]

Top 10 Country & Rank 2006
Norway
Iceland
Australia
Ireland
Sweden
Canada
Japan
USA
Switzerland
Netherlands

The United Nations produces an annual Human Development Report which includes the Human Development Index. The factors taken into account include life expectancy, adult literacy rate, schooling and Gross Domestic Product.

The top 15 results from 2005 are highlighted, to give an idea of the consistency/fluidity of the yearly data produced by the United Nations HDP. Norway has been the top of this list since ousting Canada in 2001.

Country & Rank 2006 2005
Sweden
Norway
Finland
Iceland
Germany
Philippines
New Zealand
Denmark
UK
Ireland
Spain
Netherlands
Sri Lanka
Canada
Australia

Gender Gap
A study of 115 countries, assessing patterns of inequality by criteria including: Salaries and economic participation, access to better jobs, political empowerment, educational attainment, health and wellbeing.

Rank Country
1 Japan
2 Hong Kong
3 Iceland
4 Switzerland
5 Australia
6 Sweden
7 Italy
8 Canada
9 Israel
10 France
11 Spain
12 Norway
13 New Zealand
14 Austria
15 Belgium
16 Germany
17 Singapore
18 Cyprus
19 Finland
20 Luxembourg
22 Netherlands
23 UK
24 Greece
28 Ireland
29 USA
30 Cuba


Life expectancy in years is listed from three sources given titles of 1, 2 and 3.

To come anywhere in the top 20 countries is to be well within in the top 10% countries in the world ranked in terms of life expectancy. Sweden and Norway manage this, Finland comes in lower at 36th.

1 Ireland
2 Switzerland
3 Norway
4 Luxembourg
5 Sweden
6 Australia
7 Iceland
8 Italy
9 Denmark
10 Spain

Quality of Life

"The survey was prepared for the Economist's "World in 2005" publication, with the remit: "Where will be the best place to live in 2005?" Researchers took into account not just income, but other factors considered important to people's satisfaction and well-being. They included health, freedom, unemployment, family life, climate, political stability and security, gender equality and family and community life."

But , an I cannot figure out for the life of me why, you woudl think that Australia is any less free then the USA. so as to preclude you from visiting? WTF do you intend doing here that would be so bad as to get you banged up?

[The Hen]

Perhaps he wants to bring his shooter?

[Scooter]

Let me try to connect the dots for the village idiot:

freedom of speech

freedom of expression

right of the individual to be left alone

Extent to which citizens enjoy personal freedoms

the right to defend one’s person and property

Extent to which private property rights protected

Yep, still the same thing

I hope you understand now.

What's funny is that you don't realize that you haven't managed to understand your own self.

[Beer Sponge]

Looks like he's new to language?

[liberty]

Let me try to connect the dots for the village idiot:

freedom of speech

freedom of expression

right of the individual to be left alone

Extent to which citizens enjoy personal freedoms

the right to defend one’s person and property

Extent to which private property rights protected

Yep, still the same thing

I hope you understand now.

What's funny is that you don't realize that you haven't managed to understand your own self.

I can see only see two possibilities for you; either you are incompetent at written communications or you are dishonest. Being a Christian, I will try to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you lack analytical ability. So here is as simple as I can make it: Compare the UK, Australia and the US with regards to freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is the right to say whatever one wishing to say. Graded on a scale of one to a hundred with one meaning no freedom and a hundred meaning absolute freedom to say whatever one wishes to say; compare the countries and tell me which ranks the highest. Use only the freedom of speech with no other considerations to alter the outcome. I believe that the US would rank in the high nineties above all other countries. A score of a hundred would not be practical such a country would be ungovernable. In such a country an individual could communicate anything he wanted regardless of content, he could speak treason in time of war, commit perjury; he could sell poison and call it medicine.

Don’t get me wrong my country is not perfect and getting less perfect every year. Just one example, we have the largest prison population in the world and lot of those people shouldn’t be there and some are completely innocent. I think the day may come when I will be looking for another country, but not quite yet.