I said I wouldn't do soapboxes that were heavily referenced to other articles and research. I wouldn't get involved in debate style columns where the only thing that mattered is who came up with the most citations.
Well, I still don't see it as a "quote contest", but there are several points I want to make that are highlighted by an article I recently read.
First, it behooves us to set American exceptionalism aside and take a hard look at where our nation really ranks.
Professor Michael Porter of Harvard Business School and Professor Scott Stern of MIT have led a team of colleagues and advisers to develop a Social Progress Index, that ranks countries by their progress in different quantifiable outcome categories.
The following is their criteria for defining social progress, directly quoted from Professor Porter's recent article found on Huffington Post, titled CHART: In terms of Social Progress, America is Not #1:
"We define social progress according to three broad dimensions: Does a country have the capacity to satisfy the basic human needs of its people? Does a country have the institutions and conditions in place to allow its citizens and communities to improve their quality of life? And does a country offer an environment in which each citizen has the opportunity to reach his or her full potential?"
On Health and Wellness, America ranks Number 70, even though we spend more on health care than any other country. To me, it's in good part because we have to slough off a huge portion of money to the private insurers, as if they were the mob who took all the cream from the top.
On Access to Basic Knowledge, we rank Number 39. Stupid laws like No Child Left Behind aren't helping. Parents who are more interested in making sure THEIR kids are allowed free reign than be disciplined don't help either. Even in the age where Nerds rule, it is amazing to me the number of people in this country who still don't value an education. And our investment and support of public education continues to dwindle. And this is occurring at the same time that other countries are understanding this basic fact - the nations that are the most educated are the nations that move forward. While some nations advance in solar panels and other alternative energies, space exploration, moving forward with communication technology (we rank Number 23 on Access to Information and Communication), we in the United States can't decide whether we want to repave roads or shore up our aging bridges.
On Personal Safety, we rank Number 31. The study indicates that this is due in part to our high number of traffic deaths. I would add that we also have the highest number BY FAR of gun related deaths and accidents.
On Ecosystem Sustainability, we rank Number 69. We should be ashamed and mortified by that, as we face the cataclysmic changes that are occurring due to the horrifying consequences of man-made global warming. And the fact that some who just read that last sentence dismissed it and shrugged shows the mammoth problem we are facing in this country.
Overall, when all factors are considered, the United States ranks 16th on the Social Progress Index. There are over 130 nations on the index, so I suppose it could be worse. It is hardly the outcome you would guess when you talk to the American Exceptionalists.
The authors make it clear that the solutions to these problems, the raising of America's ranking, doe not lie in the purview of either strictly liberal or conservative solutions. We have to work together to combine government AND market-oriented solutions.
No problem, eh? Our political process is filled with players willing to set aside their own ideological fanaticism and work together for the betterment of the whole country.
Yeah. Right.
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