America Earns Worst Ranking

     Days ago, the New York Post reiterated a recent study about which "wealthy" countries are suitable to raise a family in.  The United States of America got the second-to-worst ranking, out of 35 nations.  Knowing that Lewis and I intend to relocate to Europe, friends of mine (from college) forwarded it to me as encouragement.  Tap on any of the images to make them clearer.  The statistics should galvanize people into action.

Many European nations had the lowest homicide rate and the highest rating for Law & Order.  Naturally (and unlike America), there were no school shootings.  

America (which costs more and has the most expensive police/military) was at the bottom of the rating.  The only country that was worse was Mexico (due to drug cartels).  America suffers from 6 murders per 100,000 people.  Between 2009 and 2018, it had 288 school shootings.  Almost every single other nation had none.  Despite advertising itself as "Land of the Free", the USA is the fourth-worst for Human Rights.

Speaking of money, the costs of living in America make it the absolute worst country to live in.  Northern European nations won the top ratings.

American families spend 30% of their incomes on childcare.  Scandinavian nations spend less than 10% because costs are lower.  Compared to Canada, American mothers are twice as likely to die in childbirth... even though American families pay three-times as much to deliver a baby.  America's for-profit medical system and burgeoning pharmaceuticals industry (which prefers drugs instead of curative/preventive methods) are other contributing factors.  

     Americans consume 80% of the global opioid supply and 99% of the world's hydrocodone supply... as well as two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs (despite America's costly War On Drugs).  Nearly half of the population is exposed to air pollution that exceeds the World Health Organization's limits.

Everyone knows how most American students do poorly on global test scores, but it was surprising to see that Slovenian and Dutch students are in the top ranks. 

Alas, Massachusetts--the "best" state in America for public school education--had a meager 49% of 8th graders who could score proficient in reading exams.  California was sued for its failure to provide good education; less than half of its students met minimum standards of literacy!  (That explains why the American public is easily duped and conned by its politicians and corporations).

     That impacts the cost of living in America, since urban families who want to avoid the substandard public school system must pay $40,000+ per year for private/parochial high schools (while still paying their exorbitant school taxes).  

     Unchanged since the robber-barons manipulated the Industrial Revolution, income disparities in America are vast.  The top 10% earns as much as the rest of the 90%.  Since 1999, the suicide rate increase by 33%, while it decreased in most other countries.  

For "Amount of Free Time", America got the worst rating.  It notoriously has the least amount of vacation time (two third-world countries are in the same category).  The USA is the only country in the list without government-mandated "paid leave" of any kind!  It's one of the few countries that has no paid maternity leave.  Only 38% of American organizations offer paid parental leave for childbirth.  The ones who do get a paltry average of only 3 weeks.  Even with its efficient work ethic, Germany still gives 42 weeks.  Similarly, Japan gives 36 weeks.  South Korea and Italy give 25, and France gives 19.

     Compared to how much "paid time off" workers get in other countries, American employees are woefully under compensated.  America is the only first-world nation that doesn't mandate its workers any paid vacation time.  The United Kingdom guarantees 28 days, France gives 25, Germany gives 20, Chile gives 15, Israel gives 11, and Mexico gives 6.  America gives 0.  Even America's public holidays are not guaranteed to be paid.  For most American employers, it's customary to get 15 days of vacation per year.  That's not even the minimum amount required by law in 19 of the world's wealthy countries.  

     The test-maker--who is American--summed it up nicely...

Lewis and I agree: America's system doesn't align with its self-promoted ideology.  Only a fool would keep paying for something that's not working.  

My friends replied:
"I don't think my grandparents thought that when they immigrated from Europe to the U.S. that Europe would be the better option in their lifetimes."  

"My Italian grandmother regrets coming here because her friends in Italy have a healthier retirement, affordable doctors, and higher-quality food."

"It's tragic what greed has done to our country, which once held such promise.  My grandpa fought wars for this country, but his friends who returned to Japan have better lives."

"My ancestry is from Germany, and those relatives lived through the incineration bombardments of World War II.  Despite that, their city--which is poorer than Chicago--rebuilt itself nicer than before and has infrastructure that surpasses Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York City--while costing much less to reside in."

"This does not surprise me.  I thought about emigrating America many times.  I truly feel my family will be better off somewhere else.  The only thing that keeps me here is my parents."


To my friends, I say: Don't be afraid of change; go out and find ways to improve your life and contribute to an upstanding society.