(December 18, 2015 at 2:28 pm)Chad32 Wrote: Yes he's comparing us to other first world nations. Not third world nations. His bar is higher than that. We're supposed to be a developed first world nation, but we do considerably pooer than other places like Europe, Japan, Sweden, and such. Still being better than places like North Korea isn't saying very much.
I don't understand why people believe that the U.S. is comparable to Europe and Japan (of all places!). These are vastly different areas, historically, ethnically and culturally, than the Americas. Both Europe and Asia (namely Japan and South Korea for the sake of this argument) have native populations that have been established for centuries. Many countries in each region are also nowhere near as ethnically diverse as the U.S. Seriously, Japan is one of the most homogeneous, mono-cultural countries on the planet! How is it in any way comparable to the U.S. other than that they're both first world countries?
The U.S. has far more in common and is more comparable to younger countries with similar histories of European colonization, native displacement, and slave importation.
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." ~ Benjamin Franklin
