Where does the USA Rank in...?

[celtic_crippler]

A lot of us grew up being told that the U.S. was #1! That we're the best!

I'd like to think that, but sadly I don't think that's the case.

I know back in '96 or '97 I had to write a term paper for Political Science and the subject matter was on the affects of educational based legislation - both positive and negative (mostly it was negative because the legistlation was mostly negative) entitled "Keep Them Dumb & Docile."

At that time my research showed that the U.S. was ranked 14th in the world when it came to overall education.

Briefly digging around I found this updated article from 2008; not about education as a whole but rather secondary eduction which is interesting and also related because another thing I discovered was that the number of college graduates the US had in any given year had a direct impact on our nations GNP. More graduates = Higher GNP so why pass legislation that makes it harder for people to go to college? (like reducing the amount of funds available through Pale?)

The United States is no longer the world leader in secondary education, according to the rankings of an international organization.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development places the United States 18th among the 36 nations examined, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Link to the entire article: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/19/US-slipping-in-education-rankings/UPI-90221227104776/

Some may percieve my message the wrong way. I do not hate America; quite the contrary, I love my country and that's why this matters.

I want the U.S. to be #1, but I'd rather we actually be #1 instead of just saying it and I believe that the first step in fixing a problem is to actually identify what the problem(s) is/are.

What's on your mind? What's important to you? Healthcare perhaps? Find out where the U.S. ranks in some regard to something you care about and post your findings here.

..should make for some interesting if not insightful posts.

 

[Empty Hands]

The sad thing is for both healthcare and education, we spend more per capita than any other nation. Yet the actual results place us somewhere down the list. Clearly, massive inefficiencies are going on.

 

[tellner]

We've been falling education, standard of living, access to health care, economic mobility, poverty and just about every other indicator for decades. Our high-water mark was in the mid 70s. About all we have left is our ignorance. With enough bloviators screaming "USA! USA!" a lot of people still think we're the envy of the developed world.

 

[MA-Caver]

A lot of us grew up being told that the U.S. was #1! That we're the best!

I'd like to think that, but sadly I don't think that's the case.

I know back in '96 or '97 I had to write a term paper for Political Science and the subject matter was on the affects of educational based legislation - both positive and negative (mostly it was negative because the legistlation was mostly negative) entitled "Keep Them Dumb & Docile."

At that time my research showed that the U.S. was ranked 14th in the world when it came to overall education.

Briefly digging around I found this updated article from 2008; not about education as a whole but rather secondary eduction which is interesting and also related because another thing I discovered was that the number of college graduates the US had in any given year had a direct impact on our nations GNP. More graduates = Higher GNP so why pass legislation that makes it harder for people to go to college? (like reducing the amount of funds available through Pale?)



Link to the entire article: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/11/19/US-slipping-in-education-rankings/UPI-90221227104776/

Some may percieve my message the wrong way. I do not hate America; quite the contrary, I love my country and that's why this matters.

I want the U.S. to be #1, but I'd rather we actually be #1 instead of just saying it and I believe that the first step in fixing a problem is to actually identify what the problem(s) is/are.

What's on your mind? What's important to you? Healthcare perhaps? Find out where the U.S. ranks in some regard to something you care about and post your findings here.

..should make for some interesting if not insightful posts.

Keeping them dumb and docile... well it stands to reason... stupid people (if kept happy) are a helluva lot easier to control than smart people who may question the authority over them. If smart people aren't given satisfactory answers (detailed) then well... guess what? So dumb 'em down and keep 'em happy while they're working on world conquest.
A lady I talked to has three children. She told me that in-so-far all three of the children were kept back from advancing grades because they were at a reading level HIGHER than the rest of the children. She agreed with me with the idea that "no child left behind" simply means keeping your child as smart as the dumbest kid in their class.
As far as the secondary education... well basically the same reasons.

Health care... hey if you can afford it you'll get the best in the world. If you can't... take two of these and call the free clinic in the morning.

We've been falling education, standard of living, access to health care, economic mobility, poverty and just about every other indicator for decades. Our high-water mark was in the mid 70s. About all we have left is our ignorance. With enough bloviators screaming "USA! USA!" a lot of people still think we're the envy of the developed world.

In a sense we still are the envy because while they're disappearing at an alarming rate we still have many freedoms that others do not. No we're NOT #1 anymore but we could be... if we got off our collective asses and start controlling the government and the banks better.

 

[CuongNhuka]

In a sense we still are the envy because while they're disappearing at an alarming rate we still have many freedoms that others do not. No we're NOT #1 anymore but we could be... if we got off our collective asses and start controlling the government and the banks better.

I think the rest of the countries (the ones that are beating us) have free health care, and basicly no private schools. I know that in Poland (which is someone in the top 3) has a set amount of money that is attached to a student. If he goes to a public school, the money follows him. If he goes to a private school, it goes with him and pays for tuition. So, while they're are private schools, they're cheap, maybe free.

So, to say that we can catch up by downsizing the government is actually going against the facts we have from these other countrys.