Actual first world countries: * have minimal levels of poverty, homelessness, and hunger due to social safety nets for normal citizens (not just businesses) * have a large middle class * have universal healthcare and, generally, free secondary and post-secondary education to those who are accepted, healthcare is focused more on lifestyle changes than pharmaceuticals * have, in general, ONE justice system (not parallel systems for rich and poor people), the rights of the public are more important than the rights of police * generally have freedom of movement without fear of harassment or numerous security checks as part of daily life during peacetime * have functional and inexpensive mass transit * tend to have strong labor unions and living wage laws, mandated vacations for workers, and usually a shorter work week. Citizens have generally low levels of debt * seek to minimize the overt influence of money on their political process * fraud, especially the large-scale institutional variety, is less common and provokes outrage when it comes to light * have minimal crime, especially violent crime, and almost no state-sponsored killings (police shootings, executions, etc.... IIRC no other first world country actually carries out executions anymore) * maintains public interests * general government transparency * low levels of military spending relative to GDP Third world countries: * are characterized by massive disparities between the rich and the poor, with a small or nonexistent middle class * are characterized by large areas of concentrated poverty, have problems with homelessness (even when theres plenty of land and/or housing), starving people (especially children), and little or no social safety net * quality health care is generally only available to the wealthy, health care outcomes tend to be not as good, health care focuses more on selling products. Secondary, post-secondary, and often even primary schooling is prohibitively expensive / requires debt slavery * have completely different interaction with justice systems based on your class and/or wealth (from initial interaction with police, jail, all the way up through trial and sentencing)... police are above the law * restricts the movement of citizens, especially their ability to live where they choose, * have inefficient mass transit and generally inefficient transportation systems * crush their labor unions, have weak or no worker protections, nothing even close to a living wage, long work weeks, and little or no vacations. Debt slavery (where people work but end up OWING money) is common * tend to have corrupt politics and be characterized by graft and bribery * fraud at both large and small scales is so common that people dont even really care * have problems with crime, especially violent crime, and tend to be characterized by a general lack of safety * public assets are transferred into the hands of private parties (often as part of the orgy of fraud) * lack of government transparency * often high levels of military spending relative to GDP So honestly look at these two lists and tell me which one the US belongs in.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:40:26 +0000
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