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> Second World: politically conservative, high degree of corruption, overt elitism and stark class (and often race) discrepancies. Low degree of political freed

by anamax 17y ago

> Second World: politically conservative, high degree of corruption, overt elitism and stark class (and often race) discrepancies. Low degree of political freedom. Lots of poverty and economically-motivated crime. Usually, high economic growth. These are countries that are sacrificing freedom and quality of life in order to increase or maintain relative status. > (to a large degree) the United States post-Reagan. Oh really? "high degrees of corruption"? "low degree of political freedom"? > overt elitism and stark class (and often race) discrepancies. Name three countries with comparable diversity that doesn't see that. > Lots of poverty What standard are we using? As I've pointed out, lots of US poor have a car and multiple TVs. They'd be considered rich anywhere else.

david927 17y ago
high degrees of corruption"? The US is #19 on the list: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/... "low degree of political freedom"? #20 in Freedom of the Press http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html
- anamax 17y ago
  Lists don't tell you the degree of difference. FWIW, the political freedom list has lots of ties near the top and the US is tied with the UK. Both are significantly ahead of France and Italy. You remember the UK, France, and Italy - they're supposedly far above the US. Then there's the problem that the "political freedom" list doesn't actually measure political freedom. As it says: "The United States has climbed 16 places in the rankings, from 36th to 20th, in just one year. Barack Obama’s election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor have had a lot to do with this. But this sharp rise concerns only the state of press freedom within the United States. President Obama may have been awarded the Nobel peace prize, but his country is still fighting two wars." Obama being elected or getting the Nobel Peace Prize didn't change political freedom in the US. I expect that I'll find similar problems with the "corruption" ist.

by anamax 17y ago

david927 17y ago

high degrees of corruption"? The US is #19 on the list: http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/... "low degree of political freedom"? #20 in Freedom of the Press http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html http://www.rsf.org/en-classement1003-2009.html

anamax 17y ago
Lists don't tell you the degree of difference. FWIW, the political freedom list has lots of ties near the top and the US is tied with the UK. Both are significantly ahead of France and Italy. You remember the UK, France, and Italy - they're supposedly far above the US. Then there's the problem that the "political freedom" list doesn't actually measure political freedom. As it says: "The United States has climbed 16 places in the rankings, from 36th to 20th, in just one year. Barack Obama’s election as president and the fact that he has a less hawkish approach than his predecessor have had a lot to do with this. But this sharp rise concerns only the state of press freedom within the United States. President Obama may have been awarded the Nobel peace prize, but his country is still fighting two wars." Obama being elected or getting the Nobel Peace Prize didn't change political freedom in the US. I expect that I'll find similar problems with the "corruption" ist.