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I was going to say "scale" just like every other terse response on why the US can't do anything from universal healthcare to ultra-high speed (like Korea and Ja

I was going to say "scale" just like every other terse response on why the US can't do anything from universal healthcare to ultra-high speed (like Korea and Japan levels) broadband Internet, to interstate public transit, and now energy independence. There's just too damn many people in the states for it to compare favorably to any other country. Then I saw that Brazil has 200 Million people. So there goes that argument? Moreover, I also tried to argue about it on geographic size, only to find out that the US is only nominally larger in land size than Brazil. So, maybe it's because of culture? As in, we have so many different races and religions and creeds, all with their own individual thoughts and beliefs, and all of them can't _possibly_ get together as one and get stuff done. I know, pathetic excuse, right? I've heard that so many times about why Asia gets fast bandwidth, cheap mobile voice/data and bullet trains and universal healthcare and why we can't.

ido 16y ago
So, maybe it's because of culture? As in, we have so many different races and religions and creeds, all with their own individual thoughts and beliefs, and all of them can't _possibly_ get together as one and get stuff done. So this one is also the same as Brazil then? ;)
InclinedPlane 16y ago
The US uses 9x as much oil as Brazil. And the US produces 4x as much oil as Brazil uses. The reason Brazil is able to be energy independent is because of poverty. They use less energy because fully 1/3 of the country is poor on a level that is incomprehensible in the developed world (living in shanty towns and slums without access to clean water or sewers).
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  Really, I've read that it's less than 20%[1], which isn't 1/3. Abject poverty or indigence (the "no clean water or sewers") rate, according to the link I dug up, is 7%. I mean, compare the poverty threshold is US$10000, wherein 15% of Americans fall in. Additionally, 6-7% fall in extreme poverty, where US citizens make less than 50% of the poverty threshold[2]. So, as in your argument, it's all about scale. [1]http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/09/20/2954375.htm http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/09/20/2954375.htm [2]http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/the-poorest-states-of-america/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/the-poorest-sta...
  - anamax 16y ago
    > I mean, compare the poverty threshold is US$10000, wherein 15% of Americans fall in. Additionally, 6-7% fall in extreme poverty, where US citizens make less than 50% of the poverty threshold[2]. The poverty thresholds are different. (In addition, the US, the poverty numbers don't always count govt aid received.) Would you rather be poor in Brazil or poor in the US?

ido 16y ago

So, maybe it's because of culture? As in, we have so many different races and religions and creeds, all with their own individual thoughts and beliefs, and all of them can't _possibly_ get together as one and get stuff done. So this one is also the same as Brazil then? ;)

InclinedPlane 16y ago

The US uses 9x as much oil as Brazil. And the US produces 4x as much oil as Brazil uses. The reason Brazil is able to be energy independent is because of poverty. They use less energy because fully 1/3 of the country is poor on a level that is incomprehensible in the developed world (living in shanty towns and slums without access to clean water or sewers).

muhfuhkuh 16y ago
Really, I've read that it's less than 20%[1], which isn't 1/3. Abject poverty or indigence (the "no clean water or sewers") rate, according to the link I dug up, is 7%. I mean, compare the poverty threshold is US$10000, wherein 15% of Americans fall in. Additionally, 6-7% fall in extreme poverty, where US citizens make less than 50% of the poverty threshold[2]. So, as in your argument, it's all about scale. [1]http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/09/20/2954375.htm http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2007/09/20/2954375.htm [2]http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/the-poorest-states-of-america/ http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/the-poorest-sta...
- anamax 16y ago
  > I mean, compare the poverty threshold is US$10000, wherein 15% of Americans fall in. Additionally, 6-7% fall in extreme poverty, where US citizens make less than 50% of the poverty threshold[2]. The poverty thresholds are different. (In addition, the US, the poverty numbers don't always count govt aid received.) Would you rather be poor in Brazil or poor in the US?